Department of Finance

The Department of Finance, Sun Yat-sen University was established in 1993, and obtained the right to confer doctoral degrees in 2003. It is a pilot discipline for comprehensive reform of the Ministry of Education, and its undergraduate admission scores have been the highest in Guangdong Province for more than 10 consecutive years. In 2006, Finance at Sun Yat-sen University was selected as a key discipline in Guangdong Province. In 2007, the Department of Finance was approved as a pilot zone for training economics talents by the Ministry of Education. In 2017, the Master of Finance program ranked 54th in the global ranking and 4th in the Chinese mainland ranking of the Financial Times. In 2018, Sun Yat-sen University ranked among the top 10 in the world and No. 1 in China, according to the Global Research Rankings of Actuarial Science and Risk Management & Insurance, set up by the University of Nebraska at Lincoln (UNL). In 2019, Finance of Lingnan College, Sun Yat-sen University was included in the first batch of first-class undergraduate courses at national level. The undergraduate and master's programs are partners of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program, which is a postgraduate professional certification offered internationally by the American-based CFA Institute. This discipline advocates international teaching. Some courses are taught in English, and short-term study tour programs such as Lingnan-Yale and Oxford-Lingnan are offered.

I. Faculty of the Department of Finance

The Department of Finance, Sun Yat-sen University has 34 faculty members, including 8 professors, 11 associate professors, 10 lecturers/assistant professors and 5 full-time researchers. Most of them have studied or worked as a Visiting Research Fellow at foreign universities, including MIT, Stanford University, University of Minnesota, Erasmus University Rotterdam, University of Frankfurt, University of Bonn, and National University of Singapore. Their research focuses on macrofinance theories and policies, mathematical finance, management and supervision of financial institutions, corporate finance, as well as financial markets and investment.

In the past five years, they have undertaken six major projects of the National Social Science Fund of China, more than 20 general projects and youth projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the National Social Science Fund of China, as well as one other project at the provincial and ministerial levels. They have published more than 70 academic papers in important domestic and foreign journals such as Social Sciences in China, Economic Research Journal, Journal of Management World, China Economic Quarterly, Journal of Management Sciences in China, Journal of Financial Research, The Journal of World Economy, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Management Science, Operations Research, Journal of Corporate Finance, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, and Journal of Empirical Finance. Simultaneously, the Department of Finance leverages the unique characteristics of the discipline to offer such services as policy recommendations or consulting, and training to governments at all levels, various types of enterprises, as well as banking, securities, insurance, corporate finance, and other departments, earning a favorable reputation. A number of research reports of many professors have been selected into the Collection of Important Research Results, and many policy reports have been approved by Li Keqiang and other national officials as well as officials of Guangdong Province.

II. Teaching and Research Characteristics of the Department of Finance

The teaching and scientific research of the Department of Finance have obvious international characteristics. The department often adopts textbooks commonly used by international famous universities. Some courses are taught in English. Attention is paid to academic exchanges and students' mutual visits with academic circles and well-known universities at home and abroad. In recent years, the department has introduced a number of faculty members who graduated from world-class universities. In addition, it has carried out research cooperation with and attracted visiting professors from top-tier universities such as MIT, Stanford University and Princeton University. Consequently, it has improved the level of scientific research and produced an array of advanced scientific research results. Multiple statistics show that the finance discipline of Sun Yat-sen University ranks among the top universities in China in such indicators as the number of papers published on high-level journals at home and abroad, the number of being cited, the number of high-level academic papers, and per capita publication. With numerous scientific research projects, and adequate funding, a large number of scientific research results have won the scientific research awards at national, ministerial and provincial levels. Thus, the discipline enjoys a high academic reputation. A number of outstanding graduates from the Department of Finance have worked for internationally renowned institutions, including the World Bank, MIT Sloan School of Management, Merrill Lynch, Moody's, and CICC.