News

Warm Welcome to Professor Qi Houduo to the AMA Family

We would like to extend a warm welcome to Professor Qi Houduo joining AMA family on 15 December 2022. Professor Qi received BSc degree in Statistics from Peking University in 1990, MSc degree from Qufu Normal University in 1993 and Ph. D from Institute of Applied Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1996, both in operational research and optimal control. He had been a postdoctoral fellow at State Key Laboratory of Scientific and Engineering Computing at Chinese Academy of Sciences, Department of Applied Mathematics at PolyU, and School of Mathematics, University of New South Wales. Professor Qi’s research interests are mainly on theoretical and applied Optimization and in particular Matrix Optimization and its applications. His research has been supported by Australian Research Council (ARC), Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Royal Society. In 2004, Prof. Qi was awarded with Queen Elizabeth II Fellowship (QEII fellow) by ARC. He moved to University of Southampton to take up a lectureship in Operational Research in 2004, arising to Professor of Optimization in 2017. He was a Turing fellow at the Alan Turing Institute, the UK’s national institute of data science. Professor Qi has been Area Editor of Asia Pacific Journal of Operational Research (Optimization) since 2016, and associate editor for several journals including Computational Optimization and Applications, Journal of the Operations Research Society of China, and Mathematical Progamming Computation.

Chair Professor Chen Xiaojun and Professor Wang Zhian received research grant from the NSFC/ RGC Joint Research Scheme

Congratulations to Chair Professor Chen Xiaojun and Professor Wang Zhian who have received the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)/Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong Joint Research Scheme (JRS) to support their research proposals jointly submitted with researchers in the Mainland China. Professors Chen and Wang will receive HKD1,244,750 from RGC, respectively. A total of 453 proposals are submitted to the Scheme this year. 8 out of the 40 successful projects are from PolyU’s researchers, including 2 projects from Professors Chen and Wang of the Department of Applied Mathematics:   Professor Chen Xiaojun Mainland Principal Investigator/ Institution Prof Xinmin Yang / Chongqing Normal University Project title Stochastic Multiobjective Optimization and Applications   Professor Wang Zhian Mainland Principal Investigator/ Institution Professor Yuan Lou, Shanghai Jiaotong University Project title Mathematical Modeling and Analysis on the Predator-mediated Competitions and their Biological Consequences About NSFC/ RGC Joint Research Scheme The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) / Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong Joint Research Scheme (JRS) aims to promote collaboration between researchers/research teams in Hong Kong and the Mainland on the basis of complementing the existing strengths of both sides. The NSFC/RGC JRS supports research proposals jointly submitted by the Mainland and the Hong Kong researchers. It also offers up to two conference grants to sponsor conferences held in Hong Kong. The six focus areas under the scheme include Information Technology, Life Science, New Materials Science, Marine and Environmental Science, Medicine, and Management Science. For more information about the NSFC/ RGC Joint Research Scheme, please visit https://www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/funding_opport/nsfc/ For the full list of funded projects for NSFC/ RGC Joint Research Scheme 2022/23, please visit https://www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/funding_opport/nsfc/funded_research/list_award_e2022.html END  

Warm Welcome to Chair Professor Yang Tong to the AMA Family

We would like to extend a warm welcome to our Chair Professor of Mathematical Science, Professor Yang Tong joining AMA family today (November 15, 2022).  Professor Yang obtained his BSc and MSc degrees from Zhongshan University (Sun Yat-sen University) in 1987 and 1990 respectively.  He furthered his studies at the University of California, Davis where he obtained his PhD in 1993.  After one year of postdoctoral fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, he joined the City University of Hong Kong (CityU) in 1994 as Lecturer/Assistant Professor and was promoted to Chair Professor of Mathematics in 2007.  He was Head of Department of Mathematics from 2012 to 2018 and Associate Dean of College of Science and Engineering from 2007 to 2011 at CityU.  Professor Yang was elected as a member (Academician) of European Academy of Sciences in 2018, The World Academy of Sciences in 2021, The Hong Kong Academy of Sciences in 2021, and a foreign member of Academia Europaea in 2022.  He was elected as American Mathematical Society Fellow in 2021.  He was also President of the Hong Kong Mathematical Society from 2016 to 2020.  The awards and honours that Professor Yang has received include the inaugural RGC Senior Research Fellow Scheme in 2020, first prize of the Outstanding Scientific Research Output Award (Science and Technology) by Ministry of Education Higher Education of China in 2019, The President’s Award  from CityU in 2015 and 2016, State Natural Science Award of China (2nd class) in 2012, the Croucher Senior Research Fellowship in 2011, Grand Award of Research Excellence Awards  from CityU in 2009, the Changjiang Chair Professorship by the Ministry of Education of China in 2005, the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars in 2004, and the Morningside Silver Medal of Mathematics at the first International Congress of Chinese Mathematicians in 1998.  Professor Yang has been working in the fields of partial differential equations and kinetic theory.  He has made contributions to the L1 stability of BV solutions to hyperbolic conservation laws by proposing the Liu-Yang functional, the fluid dynamic phenomena in kinetic models, the boundary layer theories and high Reynolds number limit.  He authored over 200 papers in refereed journals and has been the PI of 27 GRF/CERG and one NSFC/RGC Joint Research Scheme since 1994.  He served as one of the Editors-in-Chief of Analysis and Applications from 2013 to 2017, and is one of the founding Editors-in-Chief of Kinetic and Related Models launched in 2008, and Communications in Mathematical Analysis and Applications launched in 2022.  He is now serving in the editorial board of several international journals including the Bulletin and Journal of London Mathematical Society, SIAM Journal on Mathematical Analysis, and Chinese Annals of Mathematics, Series B.                 

Chair Professor Chen Xiaojun Conferred AMS Fellowship 2023

Congratulations to Chair Professor Xiaojun Chen of the Department of Applied Mathematics who is elected as 2023 Class of Fellow of the American Mathematical Society (AMS) in recognition of her contributions to mathematical optimization, stochastic variational inequalities, and the analysis of nondifferentiable functions. The Fellows of the American Mathematical Society programme recognises members who have made outstanding contributions to the creation, exposition, advancement, communication, and utilisation of mathematics. Professor Chen has an excellent track record in academic research and research leadership. She has published over 90 research papers in top journals of applied mathematics. She was invited to give plenary and semi-plenary talks at many international conferences in the USA, Europe, South America, Australia and Asia. She was elected as a semi-plenary speaker at the 21st International Symposium on Mathematical Programming 2012 in Berlin, Germany.  This is the flagship event of the Mathematical Optimization Society held every three years. Prof. Chen has won over 20 grants as a principal investigator (PI) from Australian Research Council, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciences and the Hong Kong Research Grants Council. In 2022, she received a RGC Collaborative Research Fund (CRF) as the Projector Coordinator, a CAS-Croucher Funding Scheme grant as a PI and a RGC/NSFC Joint Research grant as a PI. Professor Chen is elected as 2021 Class of  Fellow of the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) in recognition of her contributions to optimization, stochastic variational inequalities, and nonsmooth analysis. Professor Chen has made a highly significant contribution to the promotion and maintenance of high professional standards in mathematical research in PolyU as Head of AMA (July 2013 - June 2019) and the Director of University Research Facility in Big Data Analytics at PolyU and Co-Director of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science (AMSS) and PolyU Joint Laboratory of Applied Mathematics.  Professor Chen serves as Area Editor/Associate Editor of 7 SCI journals including SIAM Journal on Numerical Analysis and SIAM Journal on Optimization. About the American Mathematical Society (AMS) The AMS, founded in 1888 to further the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, advocacy and other programs, which promote mathematical research, its communication and uses, encourage and promote the transmission of mathematical understanding and skills, support mathematical education at all levels, advance the status of the profession of mathematics, encouraging and facilitating full participation of all individuals, foster an awareness and appreciation of mathematics and its connections to other disciplines and everyday life. For the full list of 2023 AMS Fellow Class, please visit https://www.ams.org/cgi-bin/fellows/fellows_by_year.cgi

AMA organizes a series of Distinguished Lectures in celebration of PolyU 85th and AMA 50th Anniversary

Year 2022 marks not only PolyU’s 85th anniversary but also the 50th anniversary of Department of Applied Mathematics. In celebration of its Golden Jubilee, AMA has organized a PolyU 85th and AMA 50th Anniversary Distinguished Lecture series to commemorate this special year. World leading researchers specializing in research of applied mathematics and statistics have been inviting to give lectures and exchange ideas to lay a solid ground for further research collaborations:  Professor Yaxiang Yuan | Chinese Academy of Sciences | Least H2 Norm Updating Quadratic Interpolation Model Function for Derivative-free Trust-region Algorithms | 20 December 2022 Professor Ping Zhang | Chinese Academy of Sciences | Global Small Analytic Solution of 3D Anisotropic Navier-Stokes System |19 December 2022 Professor Xihong Lin | Harvard University | Scalable Statistical Inference for Large Biobank-size Health Data | 15 December 2022 Professor Songxi Chen | Peking University | Distributed Statistical Inference under Heterogeneity |13 December 2022 Professor Shige Peng | Shandong University | Expectational Nonlinearity against Probabilistic Uncertainty | 6 December 2022 Professor Qiang Du | Columbia University | Learning Hidden Dynamics: From Practice to Numerical Analysis | 2 December 2022 Professor Arieh Iserles | University of Cambridge | Orthogonal Systems that Recover Invariants On the Real Line | 29 November 2022 Professor Philippe G. Ciarlet | French Academy of Sciences | Nonlinear Korn Inequalities on a Surface | 22 November 2022 Professor Zhiquan Luo | The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen | Efficient and Trustworthy AI and its Applications to 5G Networks | 15 November 2022 Professor Zongben Xu | Xi'an Jiaotong Univeristy and Pazhou Lab, Guangzhou | On Presuppositions of Machine Learning: A Best-fitting Theory | 8 November 2022 Professor Terry Rockafellar University of Washington, USA | Origins and Motivations of Modern Variational Analysis| 1 November 2022 (Tuesday) Professor Weinan E Peking University, China |  A Mathematical Perspective on Machine Learning | 25 October 2022 (Tuesday) Professor Tao Tang Beijing Normal University - HK Baptist University United International College | Deep adaptive sampling for numerical PDEs | 18 October 2022 (Tuesday) Professor Kim- Chuan Toh National University of Singapore | Algorithms for Semidefinite Programming | 11 October 2022 (Tuesday) Professor Yinyu Ye Stanford University, USA | DRSOM: A Dimension-Reduced Second-Order Method for Convex and Nonconvex Optimization |19 September 2022 (Monday) Professor Rama Cont University of Oxford, UK | Tail-GAN: Nonparametric Scenario Generation for Tail Risk Estimation | 9 August 2022 (Tuesday) Professor Jianqing Fan Princeton University, USA | Structural Deep Learning in Conditional Asset Pricing | 6 June 2022 (Monday) Professor Jong-Shi Pang University of Southern California, USA | Some Strongly Polynomially Solvable Convex Quadratic Programs and Beyond | 3 May 2022 (Tuesday) Professor Prof. José A. Carrillo University of Oxford, UK | Nonlocal Aggregation-Diffusion Equations: Entropies, Gradient flows, Phase Transitions and Applications | 20 April 2022 (Wednesday) Professor Chi-wang Shu Brown University, USA | High Order Numerical Methods for Hyperbolic Equations | 2 March 2022 (Wednesday) Professor Nicholas J. Higham University of Manchester, U.K | Mixed Precision Algorithms in Numerical Linear Algebra | 8 February 2022 (Tuesday) * In chronological order of the distinguished lectures

Warm Welcome to our New Faculty Members to the AMA Family

With an aim to enhance our research strengths and build a stronger team, Department of Applied Mathematics invites renowned and talented researchers at all career levels to join us from time to time. We are delighted to welcome on board our new faculty members who have joined AMA family in recent months:  Professor Dai Min, Chair Professor of Applied Statistics and Financial Mathematics   Professor Dai joined AMA in October 2021. He obtained Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Mathematics from the Soochow University in 1992 and 1997, respectively, Master of Philosophy in Applied Mathematics from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 1998 and Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics from Fudan University in 2000.  Before joining PolyU, Professor Dai was a Professor of Mathematics, the Director of the Centre for Quantitative Finance, and the Program Director of Master of Science in Quantitative Finance at National University of Singapore (NUS).  He was also the Director of the Center for Finance and Financial Risk Management at NUS (Chongqing) Research Institute. Professor Dai’s research focuses on mathematical finance, including financial derivative pricing, portfolio choice with market imperfections, corporate finance, cryptocurrency markets, and financial technology.  Professor Dai published in top journals in different disciplines, such as Mathematical Finance in financial mathematics, Management Science in operations research and management, Review of Financial Studies and Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis in finance, and Journal of Economic Theory and Journal of Econometrics in economics.  Besides, he has many publications in leading journals in applied mathematics, such as Journal of Differential Equations, Mathematics of Operations Research, and SIAM Journals. Professor Dai is now serving as a Co-Editor of Digital Finance, and as an Associate Editor of Asia-Pacific Journal of Operational Research, Finance and Stochastics, Frontier of Mathematical Finance, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Mathematics and Financial Economics, and SIAM Journal on Financial Mathematics. Professor Huang Jian, Chair Professor of Data Science and Analytics Professor Huang joined AMA in June 2022. He obtained Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and Master of Science degree in Mathematical Statistics from Wuhan University in 1985 and 1987 respectively, and received his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Statistics from the University of Washington in 1994.  After his postdoctoral fellowship at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in the United States, Professor Huang joined the University of Iowa as Assistant Professor in 1994, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1999 then to Full Professor in 2004.  During his tenure with the University of Iowa, Professor Huang was engaged in the areas of Statistics and Actuarial Science, Biostatistics and Public Health Genetics.    Professor Huang is an internationally acclaimed scholar in the field of statistics. His research interests include high-dimensional statistics, semiparametric inference, statistical genetics and survival analysis.  He recently works more on deep learning research.  Professor Huang has made tremendous contributions to statistical theory, methods and applications through innovative research and impactful publications in leading journals of mathematical statistics and related scientific fields.  He has an impressive record in obtaining top-level external research grants and his research exemplifies the interaction and collaboration between statistics and other disciplines.  His international reputation has been further evidenced by his being listed in Thomson Reuters’ “The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds 2015” report and designated a Thomson Reuter Highly Cited Researcher from 2015 to 2019. He was bestowed the National Institutes of Health Research Scientist Development Award in 1998 and the University of Iowa Annual College of Public Health Research Award in 2011.  He is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and the Institute of Mathematical Statistics. Dr Han Ruijian, Assistant Professor Dr Han joined AMA in September 2022. He received his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Statistics from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2020 and Bachelor of Science degree in Pure Mathematics and Applied Mathematics from Sichuan University in 2016. Prior to joining PolyU, Dr Han was a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Statistics at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. His research interests span high-dimensional statistics, statistical machine learning, online inference and reinforcement learning. Dr Zhang Zhu, Assistant Professor Dr Zhang joined AMA in September 2022. He received his Doctor of Philosophy degree from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2019, under the supervision of Professor Duan Renjun. Before joining PolyU, Dr Zhang was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Mathematics at City University of Hong Kong. His research interests are Mathematical theories for boundary layers and Kinetic theories.

CAS AMSS-PolyU Joint Laboratory of Applied Mathematics awarded HK$3 million CAS-Croucher Funding Scheme for Joint Laboratories 2022

Led by Chair Prof. Chen Xiaojun and Prof. Qiao Zhonghua from PolyU, and Prof. Yuan Ya-xiang and Prof. Liu Xin from the Chinese Academic of Science (CAS), the CAS Academy of Mathematics & Systems Science (AMSS) PolyU Joint Laboratory of Applied Mathematics (the Joint Lab) has received HKD $3,000,000 from the CAS-Croucher Funding Scheme for its collaborative project titled “Nonlinear Optimization Theory, Algorithms and Applications” recently. PolyU and the CAS AMSS will each provide a matching fund of HKD 375,000 for the project, equivalent to HKD 750,000. The funded project aims to conduct a comprehensive mathematical investigation of nonlinear optimization theory and build solid mathematical foundations for essential applications in data science, engineering and economics. Researchers of the Joint Lab will develop advanced and cutting-edge deep learning software using new optimization theory and algorithms to overcome the difficulties of the existing software in terms of speed, accuracy, robustness and complexity. Efficient optimization models and tools using artificial neural network-based machine learning algorithms will also be developed for medical image analytics, digital economy and smart cities. As one of the 22 joint laboratories with Universities in Hong Kong approved by the CAS, the Joint Lab denotes CAS’ recognition of PolyU’s research excellence in applied mathematics. By combining the strengths and expertise of PolyU and the CAS research institute, the Joint Lab showcases the synergies of CAS and PolyU and serves as an important platform for advancing knowledge transfer and applications as well as nurturing talents in applied mathematics in the mainland China and Hong Kong. These collaborations ultimately benefit the development of the Greater Bay Area and contribute to the economic development of the society. Source: Research and Innovative Office of PolyU

AMA achieved excellence in RGC Funding Scheme 2022-23

AMA’s research in Mathematics and Statistics is well recognized by receiving top world ranking and great number of research grants by RGC and other funding sources.  Recently the University Grants Committee has released the result of 2022 - 2023 General Research Fund and Early Career Scheme applications.  We are delighted to receive funding for 19 research projects. Congratulations to the following colleagues whose projects are supported:   Dr Bai Kuang Dr Chen Kexin Professor Chen Xiaojun Dr Cui Jianbo Professor Dai Min Dr Fu Guanxing Dr Jiang Binyan Dr Li Buyang Professor Li Xun Professor Lin Yanping Dr Pong Ting Kei Professor Qiao Zhonghua Professor Sun Defeng Professor Wang Zhian Dr Wong Kin Yau, Alex Dr Xu ZuoquanDr Yu Xiang Dr Yue Man ChungDr Zhou Zhi ~ END ~

Chair Professor Sun Defeng, Head of Department of Applied Mathematics conferred RGC Senior Research Fellowship 2022/23

On 8 July 2022, the Research Grant Council (RGC) announced the application results of the RGC Senior Research Fellow Scheme (SRFS) 2022/23.  This year, RGC received a total of 32 nominations for SRFS and selected 10 nominees for awards in 2022/23. Professor Sun Defeng, Chair Professor and Head of the Department of Applied Mathematics, is selected as one of the 10 SRFS awardees after a rigorous assessment process. Prof. Sun will be conferred the title "RGC Senior Research Fellow" and receiving a fellowship grant from RGC for five years to support his research project titled ‘Nonlinear conic programming: Theory, algorithms and software’.  Joined PolyU in 2017, Professor Sun is Chair Professor of Applied Optimization and Operations Research and assumed Headship of the Department of Applied Mathematics in 2019. He received his bachelor’s and Master’s degree from Nanjing University in 1989 and 1992 respectively, and PhD from Institute of Applied Mathematics from Chinese Academy of Science in 1995 and worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the University of New South Wales, Australia. Before joining PolyU, Professor Sun served as Professor at Department of Mathematics, National University of Singapore, Deputy Director (Research) at the NUS Risk Management Institute and Program Director for its Master of Financial Engineering program. Professor Sun was ranked among the world’s top 2% most-cited scientists by Stanford University in 2021, and conferred as the Inaugural Fellows of the China Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (CSIAM) and Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) respectively in 2020. In 2018, Professor Sun and his collaborators Professor Kim-Chuan Toh and Dr. Liuqin Yang, was the first Asian team awarded with the prestigious prize in computational optimization Beale--Orchard-Hays Prize for Excellence in Computational Mathematical Programming for their outstanding work on SDPNAL+, which describes a new method for semidefinite programming with nonnegative constraints. RGC Senior Research Fellow Scheme To build up a pool of local research talent to sustain Hong Kong’s competitiveness and propel the development of our higher education sector, the Research Grants Council (RGC) introduced three new regular fellowship schemes in 2019/20 academic year, namely RGC Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme (PDFS), RGC Research Fellow Scheme (RFS) and RGC Senior Research Fellow Scheme (SRFS), which will benefit post-doctoral fellows as well as researchers at associate professor and professor ranks respectively. It aims to support exceptionally outstanding academics at their mid-career at UGC-funded universities in Hong Kong.  In each round of this yearly exercise, SRFS will support 10 awardees at full Professor rank at a UGC-funded university encompassing all academic disciplines.   ~ End ~

AMA Outstanding Alumnus Professor Lin Zhouchen received PolyU Graduate School Outstanding Research Postgraduate Alumni Award

Warmest congratulations to our alumnus Professor Lin Zhouchen on receiving the first PolyU Graduate School Outstanding Research Postgraduate Alumni Award as a recognition of his distinctive accomplishments and impactful contributions to research. He also received the Outstanding Alumni Award of PolyU Department of Applied Mathematics 2022 (Scholarly Achievement) in early 2022. Professor Lin is a Professor in School of Electronics Engineering and Computer Science, Peking University. He leads the ZERO Laboratory and the Center for Machine Learning, Institute of Artificial Intelligence at Peking University. He obtained a MPhil degree from PolyU in 1997 and a PhD degree from Peking University in 2000. His research areas include machine learning, numerical optimization, computer vision, and image processing. Professor Lin has published over 230 peer-reviewed papers on top journals and conferences, and three books. His Google Scholar citation number is over 23,000 with an H-index of 65. He has been area chairs of CVPR, ICCV, NIPS/NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, AAAI, and IJCAI for many times, and is currently a Program Co-Chair of ICPR 2022 and a Senior Area Chair of ICML 2022. He was an associate editor of the IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence and is currently an associate editor of the International Journal of Computer Vision and Optimization Methods and Software. Professor Lin was awarded as a Distinguished Young Scholars by the Natural Science Foundation of China in 2016, and received the First Prize of CCF Natural Science Award in 2020.  He is a fellow of IEEE, IAPR, and CSIG. Please visit the webpage below for details of the PolyU Graduate School Outstanding Research Postgraduate Alumni Award Outstanding Research Postgraduate Alumni Award