Interview with Prof. Li Dan | The Advantages of SME Financial Engineering Programme

The Internationalization of Faculty Team and Curriculum Systems

Unlike most universities of China where not all professors have overseas educational backgrounds and only some of international textbooks are used in classes. All of our professors received their Ph.D. degrees from prestigious universities from abroad. Our teaching materials and the settings of the curriculum are completely in line with international standards. Although some universities of China also introduce textbooks from abroad, their teaching methods are based on traditional system currently, Prof. Li Dan elaborated on the uniqueness of the Financial Engineering programme of CUHK-Shenzhen. She further explained that other universities have professors with overseas educational backgrounds, but that is only a small number. However, the faculty of our university, recruited from all over the world, have experiences of studying and working abroad. She commented that the Financial Engineering Programme jointly launched by School of Management and Economics (SME), School of Science and Engineering (SSE) and The Institute for Data and Decision Analytics（IDDA）, has gathered a strong contingent of faculty. For example, the professor in charge of Basic Machine Learning is regarded as the guru of machine learning in the U.S. 

Prof. Li mentioned, as CUHK-Shenzhen gives top priority to teaching and research, professors are committed to the study of leading-edge issues, which in turn are presented as their research output in classes. In addition, our students have the opportunities to apply for assistant researchers to work together with professors. It not only enhances their study capability but also helps them get recommendation letters for further study abroad. 

The exchange with overseas universities is another way to help students broaden their horizons. “Through foreign exchange programmes and summer programmes abroad, they can better understand foreign cultures and benefit for further study overseas. ” Prof. Li said.

Cutting-edge Streams of the Programme to Meet Market Demand

According to Prof. Li, the Financial Engineering Programme provides two streams which are Quantitative Finance and FinTech. The graduates of quantitative finance commonly have job opportunities at banks, securities, asset management companies, hedge funds, etc. The graduates of fintech mostly wish to work for financial companies that shall be transformed and updated by technology or financial departments at technology companies, such as JD Finance, Alipay, and Tencent. Prof. Li Dan pointed out that the market has a huge demand for fintech talents. 

“The integration of finance and technology gains momentum currently. For example, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are active incumbents in adjusting to an industry increasingly transformed by fintech, which triggers huge demands for fintech talents,” Prof. Li said. As a hub of technology and innovation, Shenzhen is commonly boosted as one of China’s finance centers. With geographical advantages, the Financial Engineering Programme has built a close relationship with well-known companies in Shenzhen, such as Tencent and Ping An Technology. It also formed a close partnership with Ali and JD, two e-commerce giants of China. Our students have great opportunities to improve their applied skills and employment. 

A Closer Look At the Financial Engineering Programme

The uniqueness of the Financial Engineering Programme among others lies in its independence. Taking other programmes as an example, students apply to join SME firstly, after one year’s study, they then choose the specific programme within SME. However, the students who want to study Financial Engineering need to claim their application for this programme right after the college entrance exams. They will enrolled into the programme after they begin university studies.  

This programme provides two streams：Quantitative Finance and FinTech. The students are required to have a solid foundation of mathematics statistics and basic programming skills. Quantitative Finance emphasizes financial theories, derivative instruments, and pricing, while FinTech focuses on the application of new analytical methods of data science to fintech industries. 

It is understandable that year 1 students of this programme cannot fully adapt to English teaching. Prof. Li Dan said we have already discussed this problem with SSE, as a consequence our professors shall give them more attentions. Our teaching assistants shall provide tutorials after classes for them. Besides, the senior students of this programme initiated a Financial Engineering Club to offer guidance and help for year 1 students in selecting courses or to help them solve problems during their study.