With the development and propulsion of education opening to the outside world in the new era, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics and the University of Delaware jointly established SWUFE-UD Institute of Data Science at SWUFE so as to adapt to the needs of the times and integrate into the implementation of national Big Data strategy. As the only approved Chinese-Foreign Joint Educational Institute under the direct administration of the Chinese Ministry of Education with data science as its program feature in China, the establishment of the institute is an important measure for SWUFE to promote the construction of first-class disciplines and take the initiative to lead the "new finance and economics".

With the close combination of the centennial cultural heritage of SWUFE and UD’s nearly 300 years’ profound history in the international academia , SWUFE-UD Institute of Data Science at SWUFE takes full advantage of the two universities’ disciplines and high quality resources and innovates the talent cultivation mode. The institute aims to become  internationalized innovation demonstration zone of the first-class undergraduate programs by adopting the approach of local internationalization and strives to be the leading one in the west China and one of the domestic first-class Chinese-Foreign Joint Educational Institutes. By adopting the internationalized curriculum design, our institute targets at the student-oriented undergraduate teaching with the joint efforts by distinguished faculty and staff from two universities. In order to nurture interdisciplinary professional talents with global competency, solid theoretical foundation in data science and broad vision on data application, we focus on the construction of students’ complete knowledge structure system, extending the interdisciplinary knowledge, expanding the discipline boundary of the traditional information management, finance, applied mathematics, and operations research by revolving around the categories of data science, science and technology finance, and modern supply chain management, etc. The institute recruits high school students who have strong aspiration for knowledge and excellent quality to participate in the data science talent cultivation with international high standards. We develop our students to be value creators constantly adapting to the changes of the Times with outstanding comprehensive quality, professional technical analysis ability as well as innovation capability.

The institute enrolled its first group of students starting in fall, 2020. We warmly welcome aspiring students to join SWUFE-UD Institute of Data Science at SWUFE! Adhering to SWUFE’s spirit of “entrepreneurial character and unremitting endeavours to address the needs of the people and society”, and the academic background of "openness, inclusiveness, seeking truth and being creative", we will open new prospects, break new grounds and achieve new progress. With the pursuit of excellence, and great concentration on nurturing talents, we strive to be dream weavers and try our best to set a good development platform for the students to acquire professional knowledge and cultivate comprehensive ability , which could lay a solid foundation for their graduate education and future careers, and assist each student to lead a meaningful and bright life!

Prof. YANG Shilei

Dean