Quant Guide 2021: Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen

Shenzhen, China

Photo: Jundouchen

 

 

The Master of Science in Financial Engineering at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, has leapt in popularity since the last edition of the Risk.net Quant Guide was published: applications have more than doubled, up to 1,139 for the latest programme, versus last year’s figure of 503.

The programme has become more selective in turn, extending 155 offers this year against last year’s 230. Far more offer holders accepted their offers this year, too: 111 accepted in 2020, and 93 students – all but one of whom is a domestic citizen – enrolled.

Programme staff have also been busy revamping the curriculum. While the programme has gone through the sorts of coronavirus-related logistical changes that readers of the guide might expect – online classes, a greater emphasis on recording, virtual office hours, remote exams, and so on – some more fundamental adjustments have taken place.

The master’s has been split into two study streams, says associate professor of practice Raymond Tsang. One focuses on quantitative finance, and the other on the field of financial technology. Whichever stream is chosen, a core group of compulsory modules are taken by all students, as was the case last year. This group includes classes in optimisation theory, stochastic modelling and an introductory module tackling the particulars of China’s financial markets. New modules for this year, adds Tsang, include classes in blockchain technology, artificial intelligence and regulation technology.

Three new teaching staff have also joined the programme’s roster of academic instructors: Chris Hongqiang Ding, a specialist in machine learning and data mining; Yanchu Liu, a former PhD student of programme director Nan Chen; and associate professor and assistant dean of the university’s school of data science Zizhuo Wang.

View this institution’s entry in the 2020 guide

View other universities and a guide to the metrics tables