Name: Richard Cornelius Suwandi

Nationality: Indonesian

High School: Masa Depan Cerah High School, Surabaya, Indonesia

Year of Entry: 2019

Major and School: Statistics, School of Data Science

College: Harmonia

Richard is going to be a PhD student at CUHKSZ’s School of Science and Engineering (SSE)!

Majored in Statistics at the School of Data Science (SDS), Richard is now in his last year of undergraduate study at CUHKSZ. He is the first international student who made a direct entry from an undergraduate program to an MPhil- PhD program within CUHKSZ. "He is one of the three undergraduate students who were admitted into the doctoral program this year," Richard's primary supervisor Prof. Feng Yin said.

Unlike his peers, Richard had an eye on the research opportunities offered by the university the moment he became a freshman. At the end of his first year, he participated in a two-week SSE Computer Engineering Mini Project summer camp, where he met Prof. Tsung-Hui Chang. Richard was intrigued by the professor’s research topic and joined his team at the camp. "But it was only two weeks. It was not enough. So I wrote to Prof. Chang afterwards and said I wanted to extend my research," he recalled. Richard followed Prof. Chang's recommendations on further readings and finally produced a research paper with the professor and his doctoral student. That was the first paper Richard co-authored. He was only in the first semester of his second year.

Richard took Prof. Feng Yin’s “Regression Analysis” course in his second year. Prof. Yin has been teaching at CUHKSZ since 2016. “I have taught many top students. It is not so common to meet an undergraduate to take active part in research as early as Richard”, Professor Yin commented.

(Richard, on the left, with Prof. Feng Yin)

In Prof. Yin's eyes, Richard is a spirited young researcher. "I want to create a research team with members from diverse educational backgrounds where everyone can contribute different perspectives. Richard can think outside the box and often provides unique angles different from Chinese students," he commented. The professor sees a diverse campus most essential for different nationalities to collaborate and co-create. "It is pointless if we have a multi-cultural campus community but everyone only stays in his or her own comfort zone. I encourage international students to step out and work more closely with Chinese students."

Undergraduate students of SSE, SDS and MED|LHS who consistently achieve GPA above 3.7 are eligible to apply for direct entry to one of the MPhil-PhD programs at CUHK-Shenzhen. Successful students will spend at most five years obtaining a doctoral degree. It is the fastest way to get a doctoral degree for young budding researchers. "Richard sets a good example that international students enjoy the same opportunities here as domestic students, as long as you prove your abilities and value to the team", Prof. Yin commented.

In this video below, Richard shared his research stories at CUHKSZ:

Richard learnt Mandarin Chinese in his spare time and travelled around the Guangdong province. In the video below, Richard shared about his life in Shenzhen.

Video Credits

Director: International Undergraduate Admissions, Office of Academic Links

Cast: Richard Cornelius Suwandi (SDS, Harmonia)

Video Subtitle: Richard Cornelius Suwandi (SDS, Harmonia)

Article Credits

Contents: Rosemary Bai, Roxy Luo

Photo Credits: Richard Cornelius Suwandi (SDS, Harmonia)