Po-Han Chen

I was deeply indebted to the Department of Finance for organizing international exchanges with the Department of Applied Mathematics from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University on May 29. Professors gave brief introductions to each departments and explained students’ possible career development after their graduation. In doing so, students with different backgrounds would thus have the opportunity to acquire additional knowledge.

        There are a lot of things dealing with “numbers” in the financial services industry. Therefore, the applications of mathematics are indispensable in the financial sectors. The striking difference between two departments lies in the emphasis on math related courses. Department of Applied mathematics, like financial engineering, would require deeper understanding of mathematics skills and further research into asset pricing or other models. On the other hand, the course design in Department of Finance provides students with broader choices, which would help students build a comprehensive understanding of this field including finance, financial engineer, and insurance. Students in the Department of Applied mathematics should have the intern experiences before their graduation whereas students in Department of Finance could freely apply off-campus internships without compulsory regulations. However, other supporting measures are as follows. There are many Taiwan’s successful bankers sharing their valuable experiences in the so-called Mentor Program. Professionalism and Leadership is also a course which would teach students how to apply jobs in a competitive business environment. These programs or courses would effectively help students do life planning and career exploration.

        In the last couple of days students from Hong Kong Polytechnic University had the opportunities to visit NTU’s famous scenic spots under the guidance of NTU students. They shared their different campus lives with each other and got acquainted with people from a variety of backgrounds. Thank the Department of Finance for this international exchange again!