On August 28 2026, 63 students of the 2026 Cohort of MSCBS gathered at BNBU university auditorium to join nearly 1,900 other incoming graduate students across campus for the university's graduate Inauguration Ceremony. Everyone listened attentively to the Presidents’ heartfelt messages, together embarking on a new journey of graduate study.

After the opening ceremony, under the chairmanship of Professor Peng Xiaoling, Director of the MSCBS programme, the students participated in a more in-depth Concentration Gathering at the sub-conference venue subsequently. Professor Ling Leevan, Head of Department of Mathematics at HKBU, along with Dr. Choi Puiwah and Dr. Xiong Zewei, also came specially from Hong Kong to meet with the students.

Professor Shi Jianqing, Executive Dean of the Graduate School at BNBU, warmly introduced his research experience to the students and extended a warm welcome to them. Professor Shi also encouraged everyone to actively contact him for communication in the subsequent study and life.

Professor Shi Jianqing welcomed the students

Professor He Ping, Department Head of Department of Statistics and Data Science at BNBU, said that in the era of AI, a solid foundation in mathematics and statistics is the foundation for standing. She encouraged the students to face challenges bravely and persevere, and wished them all great success in their studies

Professor He Ping encouraged the students

Professor Ling Leevan, Head of Department of Mathematics at HKBU, welcomed the students to enroll in the Programme, introduced the origin of the Programme, and reminded everyone to firmly master statistical concepts. He said that AI should be regarded as an auxiliary tool rather than being completely relied on, and one should have the judgment to distinguish the correctness of AI output.

Professor Ling Leevan delivered a speech

Dr. Choi Puiwah from Department of Mathematics at HKBU pointed out that the students have different academic backgrounds. He suggested that everyone lay a solid foundation, actively ask questions to teachers and teaching assistants. He said that the learning results depend on one's own efforts and encouraged students to make full use of the high-quality course resources at the Master's level.

Dr. Choi Puiwah shared his expertise

Dr. Xiong Zewei from Department of Mathematics at HKBU expected the students to fully grasp the rich resources at BNBU. He reminded everyone that the one-year Programme has a compact schedule and a heavy course load, so they should not only work hard but also pay attention to the balance between work and rest.

Dr. Xiong Zewei messaged to students

Dr. Li Zhijian and Dr. Shi Jiandong, who will teach the students this semester, also introduced themselves respectively.

Immediately afterwards, Professor Peng Xiaoling explained in detail the core information of the MSCBS Programme, including the Department of Statistics and Data Science at BNBU on which the Programme relies, as well as the introduction, features, teaching staff, curriculum, activity sharing, and graduate prospects.

Professor Peng Xiaoling introduced the Programme’s information

In the Q&A session, the students actively asked questions about aspects they were concerned about, such as the selection of dissertation courses, internships, teaching software, course materials, and course assessment.

Students raised their questions one after another

This postgraduate Inauguration Ceremony and Concentration Meeting not only enabled the new students of the 2026 MSCBS Cohort to establish a comprehensive and clear understanding of the programme's training system, teaching staff, and learning requirements, but also built a good bridge for communication between teachers and students. It is expected that all the new students will keep in mind the teachers' instructions, strengthen their statistical theoretical foundation, rationally view AI tools, make full use of the university's high-quality teaching resources, study diligently and think actively during the compact and fulfilling one- year Master's study, temper their skills in scientific research practice, and embark on their own brand-new journey.

All the participants of the Concentration Meeting took a group photo as a memento