BSc (Hons) in Mathematics and Statistics

Programme Director: Prof L. Liao

Bulletin 18/19

 

Aims and Objectives

The B.Sc. programme is designed to provide students with an education that prepares them for careers as practicing mathematicians and/or statisticians. In order to accomplish this aim in the Hong Kong context, certain objectives have been incorporated into the curriculum as follows:

1. to give students a solid foundation in fundamental mathematics and statistics upon which to build their understanding of mathematical applications;
2. to provide a broad-based applied mathematics and statistics education;
3. to integrate computing literacy throughout students' studies because computers are indispensable tools for solving mathematical and statistical problems;
4. to foster in students an eagerness to solve scientific, industrial and commercial problems of concern to the local community and beyond, and
5. to teach students how to formulate suitable mathematical and statistical models for solving these problems.

1. to provide an environment for students to understand, learn, and master the basic modelling and technical knowledge in the major areas of statistics and actuarial science;
2. to incorporate the underlying theory, principles, and techniques of statistical models to solve problems in insurance, finance and other industries and professions.

1. to provide an environment for students to understand, learn, and master the basic modelling and technical knowledge in the major areas of financial risk management;
2. to incorporate the underlying theory, principles, and techniques of applied mathematics and statistics to solve financial risk management problems.

1. to provide an environment for students to understand, learn, and master the basic modelling and technical knowledge in the major areas of operations research.

1. to strength students' ability in quantitative analysis and in making statistically sound interpretations, based on the solid knowledge in mathematics and statistics;
2. to incorporate the underlying theory, principles, and techniques of applied mathematics and statistics with scientific computation tools and statistical and computing software packages to solve practical problems.

1. to give students a thorough knowledge of numerical methods, numerical analysis, and modelling for practical computing in a broad range of disciplines and applications;
2. to provide students rigorous research and analytical skills to evaluate research techniques, methodologies, and to interpret results in their own field and research.

1. For students seriously considering a career in teaching, they may apply, at the end of Year 2, to join this integrated 5-year programme, the suggested study plan of which can be found here.
2. Successful graduates from this 5-year programme will receive both the BSc (Hons) in Mathematics and Statistics and the Diploma in Education.

Common Year 1 Science Core Courses:		16 units
BIOL1005 Introduction to Biology	3 units
CHEM1005 Introduction to Chemistry	3 units
COMP1005 Essence of Computing*	3 units
MATH1025 Understanding Mathematics and Statistics*	3 units
PHYS1005 Introduction to Green Energy	3 units
SCIE1005 Integrated Science Laboratory	1 unit
*Required courses for students taking MATH & STAT as major
After completing the first year, students in Science Faculty may select BSc in Mathematics and Statistics as their major if they receive (a) cGPA 2.0; and (b) Grade C in MATH1025 Understanding Mathematics and Statistics
At most one of BIOL1005, CHEM1005 and PHYS1005 can be replaced by a 3-unit Major elective course.
Major Requirements for Graduation:		51 units
Core Courses (3 units each):		39 units
MATH1005 Calculus I
MATH2225 Calculus II
MATH2205 Multivariate Calculus
MATH2206 Probability & Statistics
MATH2207 Linear Algebra I
MATH2215 Mathematical Analysis
MATH2216 Statistical Methods and Theory
MATH3205 Operations Research I
MATH3206 Scientific Computing I
MATH3405 Differential Equations I
MATH3805 Regression Analysis
MATH3806 Multivariate Statistical Methods
MATH4998 Mathematical Science Project I
12 units of Major Electives, at least 3 units in Level 4, can be fulfilled with any MATH3XXX and MATH4XXX excluding MATH3495/3496/3497 Job practicum, MATH3095/3096 Summer Research and MATH3097 Programming with Mathematical Software#. The GE capstone GCAP3005 or GCAP3017 can be double-counted towards the major elective requirements, and the outstanding 3 units have to be made up by taking any 3-unit letter-grade MATH1xxx or MATH2xxx courses. However, none of these two courses can be counted towards the concentration requirement.

 

Concentrations

The additional graduation option of BSc (Hons) in Mathematics and Statistics with Concentration is available. The Department of Mathematics offers the following concentrations:

1. Actuarial Statistics (collaborated with Simon Fraser University);
2. Financial Risk Management (collaborated with School of Business);
3. Operations Research;
4. Quantitative Data Analysis;
5. Scientific Computing.

Students can make use of the Major Electives and Free Electives to pursue a concentration within the department by completing seven required courses (or 21 units).

For students pursuing one concentration, the allocation of the 128 units for graduation is as follows.

University Core 13 units     General Education 18 units     Common Year 1 Science Core 16 units     Major Core 39 units     Major Electives 12 units Concentration (Optional) Free Electives 9 units Free Electives 21 units       128 units

 

For students pursuing two concentrations, the allocation of the 128 units for graduation is as follows.

University Core 13 units     General Education 18 units     Common Year 1 Science Core 16 units     Major Core 39 units     Major Electives 12 units Concentration 1 (Optional) Free Electives 9 units Free Electives 21 units Concentration 2 (Optional)   128 units

 

The lists of courses for the concentrations are as follows. Note that neither GCAP3005 nor GCAP3017 will be counted towards the concentration requirement.

Actuarial Statistics

At least 3 courses from SFU*:

MATH3837 Actuarial Mathematics#

MATH4685, MATH4686, MATH4687 Special Topics in Actuarial Statistics I, II, III

MATH4827 Actuarial Mathematics II#

MATH4835 Property and Casualty Insurance#

MATH4836 Theory of Pension#

The remaining units from HKBU:

MATH3826 Opterations Research II

MATH3845 Interest Theory and Applications

MATH4205 Topics in Probability Theory & Stochastic Processes

MATH4817 Stochastic Models

MATH4825 Survival Analysis

MATH4826 Time Series and Forecasting

Financial Risk Management (choose all 7 courses)

MATH4205 Topics in Probability Theory and Stochastic Processes

MATH4216 Mathematical Finance

MATH4826 Time Series and Forecasting

MATH4837 Risk and Portfolio Management

FINE3006 Introduction to Futures and Options Markets

FINE3007 Fixed Income Securities

FINE4006 Financial Risk Management

Operations Research (choose any 7 courses)

MATH3425 Graph Theory#

MATH3427 Real Analysis

MATH3605 Numerical Methods II

MATH3625 Iterative Methods#

MATH3807 Simulation

MATH3817 Dynamic Programming and Stochastic Programming#

MATH3826 Operations Research II

MATH3827 Logistics, Inventory Models and Networks#

MATH3836 Data Mining

MATH4615 Numerical Linear Algebra

MATH4815 Interior Point Methods for Convex Optimization

MATH4816 Optimization Theory and Techniques

MATH4826 Time Series and Forecasting

MATH4865, MATH4866, MATH4867 Special Topics in Operations Research I, II, III

Quantitative Data Analysis (choose any 7 courses)

MATH3416 Complex Analysis

MATH3427 Real Analysis

MATH3605 Numerical Methods II

MATH3626 Computational Statistics for Data Science

MATH3815 Statistical Design and Analysis of Experiments

MATH3816 Statistical Analysis of Sample Surveys

MATH3826 Operations Research II

MATH3836 Data Mining

MATH4205 Topics in Probability Theory and Stochastic Processes

MATH4615 Numerical Linear Algebra

MATH4805 Applied Nonparametric Statistics

MATH4807 Categorical Data Analysis

MATH4817 Stochastic Models

MATH4825 Survival Analysis

MATH4826 Time Series and Forecasting

MATH4875, MATH4876, MATH4877 Special Topics in Statistics I, II, III

Scientific Computing (choose any 7 courses)

MATH3407 Linear Algebra II

MATH3415 Vector Calculus

MATH3416 Complex Analysis

MATH3427 Real Analysis

MATH3605 Numerical Methods II

MATH3606 Differential Equations II

MATH3615 Introduction to Imaging Science

MATH3616 Scientific Computing II

MATH3625 Iterative Methods#

MATH3626 Computational Statistics for Data Science

MATH4606 Functional Analysis

MATH4615 Numerical Linear Algebra

MATH4815 Interior Point Methods for Convex Optimization

MATH4816 Optimization Theory and Techniques

MATH4817 Stochastic Models

MATH4665, MATH4666, MATH4667 Special Topics in Applied Mathematics I, II, III

# Not offer from AY22/23 and afterwards

* Courses are offered by SFU and students will study at SFU for at least 1 semester as exchange students via the International Office. Students are recommended to take MATH3845 Interest Theory and Applications (pre-requisite requirement of MATH3837 Actuarial Mathematics) in Semester 2 of Year 2 and study at SFU in Semester 1 of Year 3. Interested students with good academic standing (GPA of 3.0 or above) should submit applications to the Department to declare Concentration after completing MATH3845. Students are conditionally admitted by the highest GPA until the quota is filled. Entrance to the Concentration must be approved by the Department before students studying abroad at SFU. Students returning from exchange at SFU will follow the normal procedure to apply for transfer of units but the grades will NOT be transferred or included in the GPA calculation. Except for claiming the Concentration of Actuarial Statistics at HKBU, students will NOT get any certificate from SFU and will NOT be granted exemption of professional qualification examinations by completing the Concentration.