News

Department of Applied Mathematics Signs MoUs with China Life (Overseas), Deloitte Consulting and Generali Hong Kong Limited to Launch Talent Referral Programme

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is pleased to announce the successful signing of three Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) between its Department of Applied Mathematics (AMA) and three leading companies: China Life (Overseas), Deloitte Consulting, and Generali Hong Kong. The MoUs aim to establish and promote the Talent Referral Programme, an initiative designed to create a framework for cooperation, enabling further discussions to implement the programme and foster mutual interests among the parties involved. These agreements mark significant steps towards fostering industry-academia collaboration and enhancing career opportunities for students in the field of actuarial science. On 20 December 2024, AMA held the signing ceremonies with China Life (Overseas) and Generali Hong Kong. The MoUs, signed by Prof. Sun Defeng, Chair Professor and Head of the Department of Applied Mathematics at PolyU, Mr. Shan Gang, General Manager of the Actuarial Department at China Life (Overseas), and Mr. Ronald Tse, Chief Actuary and Chief Product Officer of Generali Hong Kong, will officially take effect from January 1, 2025, for a period of two years. The Talent Referral Programme will provide AMA postgraduate students with exceptional opportunities to apply their academic knowledge in real-world settings. This collaboration aligns with PolyU's mission to enhance students' educational experiences and prepare them for successful careers in actuarial science. Prof. Sun expressed his enthusiasm about the partnerships, stating, "These collaborations mark a significant moment for the Department of Applied Mathematics. They offer our students a unique chance to apply their knowledge in real-world settings, thereby enhancing their educational experience and preparing them for successful careers in actuarial science. These collaborations not only benefit our students but also enrich our department by fostering a closer relationship with industry leaders." The MoUs set the stage for AMA to work respectively with China Life (Overseas), Deloitte Consulting, and Generali Hong Kong to determine areas and subjects of cooperation. These agreements pave the way for fruitful partnerships that benefit students, the university, and the industry. We would like to express our gratitude to Mr. Simon Lam, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Pacific Life Insurance (H.K.) Company Limited, and Mr. Ken Chan, Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA), for their invaluable contributions in making these collaborations possible. 

Online Booking for Exam Paper Review, 12 - 16 December 2024

The online registration for exam paper review would be scheduled between 12 - 16 December 2024. Make appointment here

AMA Scholars Receive NSFC/RGC Joint Research Scheme Award for 2024/25

We are delighted to announce that Professor Qiao Zhonghua and Dr. Cui Jianbo have received funding support from the NSFC/RGC Joint Research Scheme for the 2024/25 exercise. Their proposals are among the 7 awarded submissions from PolyU. The Research Grants Council (RGC) recently released the results for the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and RGC Joint Research Scheme for the 2024/25 exercise. This year, the NSFC and RGC have agreed to support a total of 50 research projects out of 616 eligible applications, with a total funding amount of HK$59.666 million (excluding on-costs). For the 2024/25 exercise, PolyU submitted 148 eligible preliminary proposals and 25 full proposals for consideration by the NSFC and RGC. We are proud to share that 7 full proposals from PolyU have been awarded funding, totaling HK$8.217 million, which represents 13.77% of the total awarded funding. Congratulations to all involved!

Congratulations to Dr Zhang Zaikun and His Team for Receiving the Award for Applications of Operations Research from the Operations Research Society of China

We are delighted to announce that our Assistant Professor Dr Zhang Zaikun and his team have been honored with the Award for Applications of Operations Research by the Operations Research Society of China (中國運籌學會科學技術獎“運籌應用獎”), recognizing their significant contributions to industry through the development of numerical optimization solvers. These solvers are designed to solve nonlinear optimization problems without using derivatives (more generally, first-order information), known as derivative-free optimization (DFO) solvers. Dr Zhang and his team (Tom M. Ragonneau, Haitian Li, and Cunxin Huang) have devoted many years to the development DFO packages, including NEWUOAs, PRIMA, COBYQA, and PDFO. These packages have made significant impacts in industry. NEWUOAs was applied by Intel to the design of the 5G base chip Atom P5900, which is now a flagship product of Intel. It drastically reduced the optimization time of a memory design problem from weeks to hours, which massively simplified the workflow of the design. Meanwhile, the State Key Laboratory of ASIC and Systems (Fudan University) applied  NEWUOAs to large-scale circuit design, tackling bottleneck problems that were previously unsolvable or even unimaginable. PRIMA and PDFO play pivotal roles at IRT Saint Exupéry,  a French industrial research lab co-founded by major industry players including Airbus. They are essential for optimizing critical aerospace and automotive systems, aiding IRT in making crucial decisions in areas such as aircraft component design and electrical systems for electric vehicles. Notably, the COBYQA solver has been integrated into SciPy as a Release Highlight of SciPy 1.14.0. It is hence downloaded millions of times every day along with SciPy, which is at the core of Python’s scientific computing capabilities. The SciPy community is now actively working on the inclusion of PRIMA solvers into SciPy. In addition, PDFO is a major optimization engine in GEMSEO, which is an industrial software package developed by IRT Saint Exupéry. NEWUOAs is incorporated into the toolkit for large-scale analog circuit optimization by Fudan University. For more information about Dr Zhang’s solvers, see www.libprima.net, www.cobyqa.com, and www.pdfo.net. Dr. Zhang’s team is supported by Hong Kong Research Grant Council projects PolyU15305420, PolyU15306621, and PolyU15308623. About the Award The Operations Research Society of China established the Award for Applications of Operations Research in 2002 to encourage the application and practice of operations research in China, thereby benefiting the nation’s economic and social development. This goal is achieved by reviewing and recognizing outstanding projects in the field. The award is presented every two years during the society's academic annual meeting. Winners are selected through anonymous voting by the judges, with up to three projects being honored. AMA Chair Professor Sun Defeng and collaborators received this award in 2022.  For details, please visit https://www.orsc.org.cn/article/detail?id=926 (Chinese only).   - END - 

Congratulations to Chair Professor Sun Defeng on Receiving Fellowship from the Operations Research Society of China

We are pleased to announce that Chair Professor Sun Defeng has been awarded the prestigious life-long Fellowship 2024 from the Operations Research Society of China (ORSC), recognizing his significant contributions to the field of optimization research. The award presentation ceremony took place on October 10, 2024, during the 17th ORSC Annual General Meeting at Guizhou University. Professor Sun is one of only four scholars to receive this Fellowship, which is regarded as the highest honor awarded by ORSC. About ORSC The Operations Research Society of China (ORSC) has been a national member of the International Federation of Operational Research Societies (IFORS) since 1982. It is also a founding member of the Association of Asian Pacific Operational Research Societies (APORS), having hosted two APORS triennial conferences in 1991 in Beijing and in 2012 in Xi'an. The ORSC office is located in Beijing, the capital of China, and it boasts over 2,000 registered members across 16 special interest groups, including mathematical programming, graph and combinatorial optimization, game theory and applications, corporate operations research, reliability, industrial data-oriented optimization, operational management, and behavioral operations research, among others. ORSC convenes a national congress every two years, typically in October, attracting around a thousand participants who present their latest research findings. For details, please visit www.orsc.org.cn/article/detail?id=924 (Chinese only).

11 AMA Scholars Ranked Among the World’s Top 2% Most-Cited Scientists 2024

We are proud to announce that eleven scholars from the Department of Applied Mathematics have been recognized in the World’s Top 2% Most-Cited Scientists for 2024, as compiled by Stanford University. Notably, eight of these scholars were acknowledged for their career-long citation impact. The World’s Top 2% Most-Cited Scientists list is divided into two categories: one highlights scholars' career-long contributions (1960-2023), while the other focuses on their single-year impact for 2023. This recognition celebrates both lifetime achievement and recent research influence. Over 100,000 top scientists globally were categorized into 22 scientific fields and 174 sub-fields according to the standard Science-Metrix classification. The rankings are based on key indicators, including total citations, scientific research output, and a composite citation impact score, up to the end of 2023. For more details, please visit:For details, please visit https://elsevier.digitalcommonsdata.com/datasets/btchxktzyw/7

AMA Young Scholar Receives Prestigious Research Grants from National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)

The Department of Applied Mathematics is proud to announce that its young scholars have been awarded prestigious research grants from National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), including the Youth Science Foundation (青年科学基金項目), the Outstanding Youth Science Fund Project (杰青), and the General Foundation (面上項目). This recognition marks a significant achievement in the scholars' academic careers and highlights the exceptional quality of research being conducted at the AMA. This year marks the first time that the NSFC has opened the Outstanding Youth Science Fund Project (杰青) to institutions in the Hong Kong and Macau regions. One of AMA young scholars are among the awardees, a testament to their outstanding research capabilities and the high regard in which their work is held. AMA remains committed to supporting its scholars in their pursuit of excellence and innovation. These awards from the China Funding Council are significant milestones in the scholars' careers and promising steps towards further advancements in their fields of research. We would like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of our faculty members and colleagues who have made this achievement possible. Our heartfelt congratulations go to the following colleagues whose projects are funded in this exercise: Dr Fu Guanxing, Assistant Professor Dr Jiang Zhaoli, Assistant Professor Dr Zhou Zhi, Associate Professor Dr Yang Zongze, Research Fellow ---- End ----

Inauguration Ceremony of the Research Centre for Intelligent Operations Research (IOR)

The Department of Applied Mathematics (AMA) proudly inaugurated its Research Centre for Intelligent Operations Research (IOR) on 16 August 2024. The ceremony was officiated by President Teng Jin-Guang; Professor Chai Yang, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Sciences; Professor Sun Defeng, Head of AMA and Director of IOR, distinguished guests and senior faculty members of AMA. We had the honor of having renowned scholars such as Professor Yuan Yaxiang, Professor Teo Chung Piaw, Professor Michael Saunders, and Professor Yang Xinmin join the ceremony. The event saw an impressive turnout, with over 100 participants in attendance. The establishment of the Research Centre for Intelligent Operations Research marks a significant milestone in our ongoing pursuit of research excellence. This Centre embodies our unwavering commitment to addressing the multifaceted challenges of the contemporary world through the lens of intelligent operations research. By bringing together a diverse team of world-leading experts in applied mathematics, computer science, industrial and systems engineering, logistics, and maritime studies, the Centre is poised to tackle complex optimization problems, drive groundbreaking research advancements, and develop state-of-the-art technologies that will shape the future. The IOR aims to be a beacon of innovation, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and pioneering research that will have a profound impact on both academia and industry. Through its cutting-edge research initiatives, the Centre will contribute to the development of intelligent systems and solutions that enhance efficiency, sustainability, and resilience across various sectors. For more information about the Research Centre for Intelligent Operations Research, please visit our website at www.polyu.edu.hk/ama/ior.

Welcome Our New Team Members to the AMA Family

We are delighted to share that we have recently welcomed two new team members. Their varied skills and experiences are sure to enhance our ongoing success and innovation. Dr Zhang Shijun, Assistant Professor Dr Zhang joined AMA in July 2024. He obtained Doctor of Philosophy degree from National University of Singapore in 2021 and Bachelor degree from Wuhan University in 2016. Before joining AMA, Dr Zhang was a Phillip Griffiths Assistant Research Professor at Duke University. His research interests are Approximation theory and Neural networks.  Dr Leung Ngai Hang Zachary, Lecturer Dr Leung joined AMA in July 2024. He obtained Doctor of Philosophy degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Master of Science and Bachelor of Science degrees in Mathematics from National University of Singapore.  

AMA ranked the world 30th for the Best Global Universities for Mathematics in 2025 by US News & World Report's Ranking

AMA is proud to share that it has achieved a new high ranking in the field of mathematics, as recognized by The US News & World Report 2025. PolyU has been ranked 30th in the "Best Global Universities for Mathematics" category, making it the top-ranked institution in Hong Kong for this discipline. This prestigious ranking reflects our commitment to excellence in mathematical research and education. AMA has been at the forefront of groundbreaking research, innovative teaching, and impactful community engagement. This new ranking is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our faculty, researchers, and students. In addition to this new high ranking, PolyU has also maintained its position among the World Top 100 in the QS World University Ranking for "Statistics and Operational Research" for the seventh consecutive year. Furthermore, PolyU has achieved a new ranking of 32nd in the "Data Science & AI" subject, further solidifying its reputation as a leader in these critical fields. PolyU's excellence in mathematics has also been recognized by Research.com, which ranked the university as the 5th Best Mathematics University in China. For more information about AMA’s achievement, please visit https://www.polyu.edu.hk/ama/about-ama/ama-at-a-glance/awards-and-achievements/