📖Introduction

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology is a public research university in Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong. Founded in 1991 by the British Hong Kong Government, it was the territory's third institution to be granted university status.

HKUST is commonly regarded as one of the fastest-growing universities in the world. As of 2019, the university was ranked seventh in Asia by QS and third by Times, and around the top 40 internationally. It also ranked first in Times Higher Education Young University Rankings in 2019 and second by QS world's under-50 universities in 2020.

Today, the university consists of four main academic schools, offering programs in science, engineering, business and management, humanities and social science, along with the Interdisciplinary Programs Office, HKUST Fok Ying Tung Graduate School / Guangzhou HKUST Fok Ying Tung Research Institute, HKUST Jockey Club Institute for Advanced Study and HKUST Institute for Public Policy.

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📚About the Program

I. Overview:

The Master of Science (MSc) program in Financial Mathematics focuses on preparing undergraduate students from quantitative disciplines, such as mathematics, statistics, and computing, to be professionals in contemporary finance and wealth management.

The program, launched in 2006 as “MSc in Mathematics (Financial Mathematics and Statistics)" and renamed in 2012 as  "MSc in Financial Mathematics", intended to place further emphasis on quantitative finance rather than distance itself from its statistical roots. In 2016, the program was extended from 12 months to 18 months (for full-time students and 3 years for part-time students), corresponding with more course requirements.

The curriculum, with comprehensive coverage of financial markets and an emphasis on linking theory with real-world developments, includes:

  • Mathematical, statistical and computational methods for security pricing, asset allocation, speculative trading, and risk management;
  • Valuable insight into the performance of various pricing models;
  • Option pricing theory, portfolio theory, risk models, time series analysis of financial data, financial economics, and computer programming;
  • Programming skills, data science techniques in statistics, machine learning and AI, and innovative financial technology.

The Program is continuously enhanced with relevant and up-to-date courses in quantitative finance. The curriculum also encourages students to seek internships suiting their interests and to take advantage of the program’s network in the job search process.

Recently, new courses in algorithm trading, market microstructure, financial computing, structuring, and trading strategies, and financial infrastructure, among others, have been offered by faculty members who are actively engaged in financial mathematics research and seasoned finance professionals with advanced degrees from leading institutions of higher learning.

II. Program objectives

  • To nurture the next generation of financial mathematic professionals for increasingly sophisticated markets.
  • To create a link between the theoretical and realistic worlds of financial mathematics.
  • To prepare for employment and contribute to the long-term sustainability and ever-evolving nature of the financial industry.

III. Intended learning outcomes

On completion of the program, students are expected to have:

  • Comprehensive knowledge of financial products commonly traded in the markets and solid understanding of models of security pricing and hedging in equity, fixed-income, forex and credit markets.
  • Solid understanding of the principles and technologies for risk management and trading strategies.
  • The ability to construct quantitative models and use them for production through quantitative programming.

IV. Program Details

Award Title

Master of Science in Financial Mathematics

Mode of Study

Both Full-time and Part-time

Normative Program Duration

Full-time: 1.5 years
Part-time: 3 years

Kindly message us what mode of study and program duration you will choose.

Application Timeline (2020/21 Intake)
1 Sep 2019 Applications open
30 Apr 2020 (23:59, GMT+8) Updated Application deadline
Dec 2019 to Apr 2020 Admission interviews
Jan to July 2020 Admission offers issued
1 Sep 2020 2020-21 Fall term commences

V. Career Prospects

MAFM students are employed in:

Banks

Agricultural Bank of China
Bank of Communications
China CITIC Bank
China Construction Bank
Citi group
HSBC
Hang Seng Bank
ICBC
Nomura
J.P. Morgan
Societe Generale
Standard Chartered Bank
UBS
DBS

Auditing Firms

Deloitte
Ernst &Young
KPMG
PricewaterhouseCoopers

Key Financial Institutions

Changjiang Securities
China Galaxy Securities
CICC
China Securities (International)
Guangzhou Securities
Guosen Securities
Guotai Junan Securities
Huatai Financial Holding
HKEX
Magnum Research Limited
Manulife
Sinolink Securities

FinTech Companies

ASTRI
Numerix

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📖Program Curriculum

Minimum Credit Requirement: 36 credits

Required Courses (At least 27 credits)
MAFS 5010 Stochastic Calculus 3 Credit(s)
MAFS 5020 Advanced Probability and Statistics 3 Credit(s)
MAFS 5030 Quantitative Modeling of Derivatives Securities 3 Credit(s)
MAFS 5040 Quantitative Methods for Fixed-Income Instruments 3 Credit(s)
MAFS 5110 Advanced Data Analysis with Statistical Programming 3 Credit(s)
MAFS 5130 Quantitative Analysis of Financial Time Series 3 Credit(s)
MAFS 5140 Statistical Methods in Quantitative Finance 3 Credit(s)
MAFS 5210 Mathematical Models of Investment 3 Credit(s)
MAFS 5220 Quantitative and Statistical Risk Analysis 3 Credit(s)
MAFS 5230 Advanced Credit Risk Models 3 Credit(s)
MAFS 5240 Software Development with C++ for Quantitative Finance 3 Credit(s)
MAFS 5250 Computational Methods for Pricing Structured Products 3 Credit(s)
MAFS 5260 Building Financial Applications with Java and VBA 3 Credit(s)
MAFS 5270 Mathematical Market Microstructure 3 Credit(s)
MAFS 6000 Capstone Project in Financial Mathematics 3 Credit(s)
MAFS 6010 Special Topics in Financial Mathematics 2-4 Credit(s)
MATH 5311 Advanced Numerical Methods I 3 Credit(s)
MATH 5520 Interest Rate Models 3 Credit(s)

Elective Courses (Up to 9 credits)
The elective courses can be any mathematics courses at 4000-level or above, or any courses outside the department at 5000-level or above, and/or MAFS 6100.
MAFS 6100 Independent Project 3-6 Credit(s)

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🏫About The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)

Campus

The university is largely a campus university, occupying a 60-hectare site at the northern part of the Clear Water Bay Peninsula in Sai Kung District, New Territories, Hong Kong, overlooking Port Shelter in Tai Po Tsai. The campus layout and architecture is based on a master plan submitted jointly by Simon Kwan & Associates and Percy Thomas Partnership, the runner-up entry in an architectural competition held before the university was founded.

As the campus has a sloped terrain, buildings and facilities are built on separate terraces carved out of the hillside, with the academic facilities occupying the top-level terraces, and undergraduate halls of residence and sporting facilities at the seafront. The terraces are connected by motor roads as well as a network of footbridges and elevators known as Bridge Link.

The countryside setting of the university contributed to the fact that HKUST was once the only public university in Hong Kong not being directly served by an MTR station, prior to the re-titling of the Education University of Hong Kong. The university is connected to the metro network through public bus routes including 91, 91M, 91P, 291P and 792M, complemented by a handful of minibus services, with Choi Hung and Hang Hau stations being the major feeder points.

About Hong Kong

Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. It is a place with multiple personalities as a result of being both Cantonese Chinese and having been under British colonization. Today, the former British colony is a major tourism destination for China’s increasingly affluent mainland population. It is an important hub in East Asia with global connections to many of the world’s cities. It is a unique destination that has absorbed people and cultural influences from places as diverse as Vietnam and Vancouver and proudly proclaims itself to be Asia’s World City.

Living on Campus

Life in undergraduate halls

Leaving home and arriving at the university for the first time is both exciting and challenging! Luckily we offer a rich network of mentors including Hall Education Teams, Residence Masters, Learning Community Fellows, Residential Life Officers, Tutors, and Learning Community Coordinators.
 
Not only will you be supported every step of the way, but you will have the chance to join activities, events, and discussions and get to know everybody in the community. Pretty soon you'll be qualified to be the mentor for incoming students!
 
As the residential year begins, you'll have a Hall Orientation to help you get to know everybody, be introduced to the "dos and don'ts" of hall life, and understand the role and responsibilities expected of you. Most importantly, the orientation will be tremendous fun! You will meet plenty of people in no time at all, and feel at home.

Life in postgraduate halls – SKCC Hall and University Apartments

Enriching your educational life is what the postgraduate experience is all about. On-campus you will have convenient access to academic and research facilities, the opportunity to interact with peers, and meet the people who will not only help you learn but will become lifelong friends and maybe even professional associates in the future. Living with people from a variety of cultures and backgrounds is a wonderful way to enrich yourself and enjoy an immersive experience in diversity.

Lee Shau Kee Library

The HKUST Lee Shau Kee Library, part of the Hong Kong Academic Library Link (HKALL), occupies a central location of the campus. Connected to the Academic Building, it is accessible directly from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Atrium. It spans five floors with over 12,350 sq m of floor space, providing more than 3,674 seats as well as computing facilities. It offers a wide array of information resources, both local and remote. In addition to over 720,000 print and electronic volumes and a large collection of media resources, it provides access to more than 47,000 periodical titles, a large number of e-books, databases, and other digital information resources. The library also includes 24-hour-capable Learning Commons which provides a technology-rich environment for active learning and education.

The library owns a collection of old maps of China and the rest of Asia, produced by Chinese and Western cartographers over the last 500 years. A selection of these maps, providing an insight into the history of international geographic knowledge, was published by the library in a limited-edition (1000 copies) volume in 2003.

Student Amenities

The Amenities Service Counter is located in Room LG3005 inside the Indoor Sports Complex. It provides services and assistance to users of the student amenities. These services include:

  • student lockers
  • loan of equipment for activities organized by student societies and teams
  • information and advice on all matters related to amenities

Sports Facilities

The University provides a variety of sports and recreation facilities for the enhancement and promotion of your total well-being. All Full-time and Part-time students, staff and family members, long-serving retirees/leavers and Sports Facilities User Cardholders are welcome to use the facilities.  

The demand for sports facilities is quite keen. Sports skill classes, sports team practices and organized sports events including the intervarsity and intramural sports competitions are held in various facilities throughout the year.

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🏠 Accommodation

Did you know? The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology on-campus residential halls provide a total of:

4,544 places for undergraduate students in UG Halls

120 places in single rooms for MBA students

900 places in single or double rooms for Research Postgraduate Students

They also have off-campus accommodation, and the university has also 21 apartments in Tai Po Tsai and Sam Long to provide accommodation for full-time postgraduate students on taught programs. You can apply to these at your school or program office.

Notes:
  • You will need to book the accommodation after you have been accepted.
  • You can choose to live on campus or off campus in private accommodation.
  • We have an article about how to find accommodation off campus here.
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💰 Fees

Application Fee:

427 CNY

Tuition fee:

105,000 CNY per year

210,000 CNY in total

Insurance is 358 CNY.

Entry Requirements

You are not eligible to apply to this program because:

The minimum age is 18 and the maximum age is 65.

English fluency is required.
You need to be either:
- A native English speaker
- Studied a degree in English before
- Can demonstrate a high level of English
- Having an English certificate such as IELTS level 6 or TOEFL 95 and above is an advantage.

Minimum education level: Bachelor's.

The program is quite competitive, you need to have a high grades of Average B, 60%, or a high GPA.

All students from all countries are eligible to apply to this program.

Is this not correct? You can edit your profile or contact us.
Or see the list of programs you are eligible for here .
Check Your Eligibility Show Suitable Programs

📬 Admissions Process

3 Steps to Apply to a Chinese University

Application step 1

Application step 2

Application step 3

Please choose the programs here , "You are advised to select 2-3 programs to increase your chances of getting accepted.

Required Documents:

  • Second Recommendation Letter
  • First Recommendation Letter
  • English Language Certificate
  • Your Highest Academic Transcript (In English)
  • Your Graduation Certificate (in English)
  • Personal Statement Letter or Study Plan
  • Your Photograph
  • Your Passport Copy

Preparing documents:

You can start your application now and send the application documents during your application. Some documents you can send later if you don’t have them right away. Some more info about preparing application documents is here

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Application process:

Applying Online is simple in just a few steps. More information is available here.

The first steps are to choose the programs, pay the application fee and upload the application documents.

Once submitted to China Admissions, we will review your application within 2-3 days and proceed to the university or ask you for further clarification

After it has been processed to the university you will receive your unique application ID from each university.

The university may contact you directly for further questions.

We will then follow up each week with the university for updates. As soon as there is any update we will let you know. If you have made other plans, decide to withdraw / change address at any time please let us know.

After you have been accepted you will receive your admissions letter electronically and asked to pay the non-refundable deposit to the university.

Once you have paid the deposit the university will issue you the admissions letter and visa form to your home country.

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Here is some more information about the enrollment process after you have been accepted.

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