Outstanding graduates from the Department of Mathematics have continued their academic journey overseas, with one of them headed to the University of Oxford for further studies. Tao Du, a 2023 graduate of B.Sc. in Computing Mathematics with First-Class Honours, is now a PhD student at the Mathematical Institute under the University of Oxford after finishing a Master’s degree there.

Tao’s broad research interests include span high-dimensional probability theory, multi-dimensional diffusion model, probabilistic machine learning, optimisation, stochastic analysis, deep learning and partial differential equations (PDEs). He is also interested in applications of these areas in finance and economics.

Tao received training in high school for the Olympiad mathematics competition and developed a strong interest in mathematics, therefore he has chosen mathematics as his university major. “I was very honoured to receive a full scholarship from CityUHK, which provided me with a solid foundation for a successful future,” he said.

He pointed out that the structure of CityUHK’s courses is very similar to his high school training courses, so he quickly adapted to university life. Besides regular courses, he actively explores knowledge beyond the classroom, from public lectures on the internet and various seminars within the faculty at CityUHK, to getting access to cutting-edge research content.

With his distinguished academic results of being on the Dean’s List four times, Tao enrolled in the Joint Bachelor’s Degree Programme and spent two years at The University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He felt the pressure of traditional British education at The University of Edinburgh. “I got used to the free study and independent exploration mode of learning, initially it was hard to go back to the traditional ‘elementary student’ mode,” he shared. However, after the first semester at Edinburgh, he quickly realised its advantages. “This training mode is more standardised and sets a strong foundation for students,” he concluded.

Tao received Bachelor’s degrees from both Universities upon graduation, which built an attractive resume for him to pursue further studies at the University of Oxford.