The Department of Statistics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong was founded in 1982. Our primary mission is to provide quality education and develop cutting-edge researches. Statistics in this information age has proven to be an indispensable tool in business, social studies, engineering, medicine, clinical studies, genetics and marketing. To meet the increasing demand of all-rounded statistics graduates, two undergraduate programs, namely, Statistics and Risk Management Science are being offered. Postgraduate programs leading to M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees are also offered to students who intend to become experts in the area of statistics.

While some of our graduates continued their study and pursued a higher degree, most of them joined the work force after graduation. As evidenced from the career development of our previous graduates, they were well received in various sectors of the community. Many of them are now holding key positions in business, finance and banking, research and marketing, civil service, and other private sectors.

Besides nurturing all-rounded students, the Department is also devoted to quality research, emphasizing on the collaboration with institutions worldwide. Many of the ongoing distinguished projects reflect our constant effort to develop useful statistical techniques in areas including economics, medicine, business, finance, engineering and social sciences. In recent years, some of our large-scale projects associated with the private sector and government institutions also consolidate our emerging status as a center of excellence for statistical consulting in the local community. In addition, members of the department have received significant international recognitions and participate actively in the activities of the international communities.

Risk Management Science Program

To meet the demand of Hong Kong society, starting from September, 1999, the Department of Statistics is launching a new Risk Management Science stream. This new stream will then be developed to a new Risk Management Science Program starting from September 2000. The new program is designed for students who plan to pursue a career in financial institutions, securities companies and insurance companies and also aspire to an education in scientific methodologies. The rationale behind the establishment of this stream is the reality that in recent years many major financial institutions and insurance companies have systematically recruited people with strong science background, people with degrees in mathematics, statistics, physics and computer science for a wide range of positions. With a large amount of real-time data available, decision process of financial investment and financial risk management have become increasingly scientifically based rather than empirically based. Because of the nature of the statistical science (please see our introduction to statistics), statistics has become an indispensable tool in the field of financial investment and risk management.

The Risk Management Science program will emphasize on training students with comprehensive scientific principles rather than concentrating on specific sub-area of finance or insurance. In addition to the basic training in statistics and mathematics, students registered in the Risk Management Science program will receive comprehensive training in financial investments, risk theory, economics, computer science and other scientific disciplines. The students are required to take total of 68-71 units (or 22-23 courses) from the required and elective course list. A detailed course list is attached at the end of this introduction. On the average, students will take 7 to 8 courses from this list each year. To be more specific, during the first year of study, students in this program are required to take introductory courses in Accounting, Computer science, Economics, Financial Management, Mathematics and Statistics. In the second and third years, students will take more courses, either required or elective courses, in these subjects.