THE CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG
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Internship and Practicum
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Summer Research Internship Programme
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Exchange
Internship and
Practicum

Summer Research
Internship
Programme

Exchange
INTERNSHIP AND PRACTICUM
Students have the opportunity to enhance their work experience through summer internships and other internship opportunities. A credit-bearing course (RMSC4202 Practicum) strengthens students’ professional training and connects the classroom with the business world. Many participants have subsequently received offers to return to their positions as a result of their outstanding performance.
Some of the companies in which our students have had internships are listed below.
Students' Sharing
Steve CHAN
BSc in Risk Management Science
UBS AG
It was my great honour to join the Industrial Placement Program (IPP) at UBS AG last year. During this one-year internship, I was involved in many different projects to automate and improve processes throughout the trade lifecycle. I played different roles in these projects, including that of a business analyst, a developer and even a project manager overseeing the progress of the projects. Majoring in RMSC helped me greatly in this internship, especially in terms of hard skills and financial knowledge.

In terms of hard skills, the advanced courses enabled me to develop my programming muscles. Because coding is required for derivatives pricing and simulation in some courses, the training in Excel VBA and R enabled me to perform my tasks in the internship. The machine learning and data analysis courses also helped me acquire both the theoretical knowledge and practical skills to process large amounts of data.

In terms of financial knowledge, RMSC courses provided me with a deep understanding of various kinds of financial products and exotic derivatives, rather than merely descriptive financial knowledge. For instance, CBBC (Callable Bull/Bear Contract), Variance Swap and other ‘real-world’ products were covered in these courses. Although stochastic calculus and the pricing of exotic derivatives might not have been much use in my internship work, studying these topics helped me to understand the nature and the background operations of these structured products. Surprisingly, these lessons facilitated my adaptability at the bank and smoothed the process of developing automation and process improvements.

In addition to this technical work, my internship provided opportunities to chair meetings and to present in front of a large audience. I had confidence in my presentation skills due to the reading courses in the RMSC curriculum. The experience of presenting selected topics or news in the financial industry has helped me prepare to go through technical material with an audience. I believe that this kind of soft skill is of utmost importance in my work because my responsibility goes beyond coding and delivery. I need to ask questions and explain my logic to different stakeholders, and any misunderstandings could lead to work having to be redone or, in the worst case, SFC fines. Therefore, good communication skills can help me to manage stakeholders’ expectations and, of course, reduce the risk in what I deliver.

Overall, this one-year internship gave me a glimpse of real-world practices and an opportunity to transfer what I have learnt in the RMSC courses to the workplace. Again, I am most grateful to UBS AG and the Department of Statistics for this opportunity and for their support.
SUMMER RESEARCH INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME
Programme Details
The Risk Management Science (RMSC) Summer Research Internship Programme provides an opportunity for RMSC students to conduct a research project under the supervision of the department teaching staff with an allowance in summer. The programme aims to encourage students to engage in research activities and to be exposed to the research environment.

 

Details

 

Eligibility

 

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EXCHANGE

The University and Colleges offer more than 280 student exchange programmes.

United States
United Kingdom
Europe
China
South Korea
Japan
Taiwan
Singapore
Australia
Canada
United Kingdom
  • United States
  • Japan
  • Europe
  • China
  • South Korea
  • United Kingdom
  • Taiwan
  • Singapore
  • Australia
  • Canada
United Kingdom
Students' Sharing
POON, Ling
BSc in Risk Management Science
Danmarks Tekniske Universitet, Denmark
I am glad to have the opportunity to go to Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (DTU) for a semester-long exchange, where I met people from diverse cultural background and learnt knowledge about statistics and computer science from top-tier teachers.

Academic-wise, during my exchange in Danmarks Tekniske Universitet, I focused on computer science and statistics courses, on topics that are practical and interesting to me, like machine learning, discrete mathematics and software engineering. The teaching method of DTU is vastly different from that of RMSC programme in CUHK. They emphasize and encourage co-operation and experience by placing heavy focus on group work and project. I learnt very well under this teaching approach.

Among different courses, the machine learning course interested me the most. In the course, I co-operated with international students in a group project that aims to predict ratings of films. Although we did not find an accurate model, we gained experience in applying machine learning to real life problem. This experience stimulated my interest in data science and encouraged me to learn more and find real life application of data science.

Social-wise, at the first week I am introduced and welcomed by a buddy composed of old and new students from all countries, very alike to the “O Camp” in CUHK. They were very passionate and friendly. We went partying, drinking, visiting to city, etc. We have quite a lot of fun together and I am glad to have met them. Among many buddies, I am very friendly with a Japanese called Keisuke since we have very similar personality and hobbies. He is planning to visit Hong Kong and I will be his guide when he makes his trip.

The hall mates I lived with are also very friendly. We get to see one another every day and therefore were very close. We exchanged culture about our home countries and I learnt a lot about theirs. Before going to the exchange, I have already set myself a mission to promote Hong Kong internationally. I would tell them stories about Hong Kong, hoping to introduce them the cultural and political aspect of Hong Kong. I am very glad that they like to listen and I also get to know their countries too!

This exchange is very rewarding and I thank the Statistics Department for financially supporting students’ personal development with this scholarship.