Zhang Zheheng and Huang Qi, two UIC students, have recently been admitted to prestigious universities for their postgraduate studies.
Zhang Zheheng is a fourth-year student from UIC's Department of Mathematical Sciences. He has received offers from the University of Cambridge for the Master of Advanced Study (MASt) in Mathematics (Pure Mathematics) Programme and the University of Bonn for the Master of Science in Mathematics Programme for his postgraduate studies.
Zhang said that the greatest benefit of his life at UIC was the abundant resources for mathematics learning. "The Department's faculty cover a wide range of academic fields, providing ample mathematical knowledge in computational mathematics, biomathematics, machine learning and more." His learning experiences extended from classrooms to interest clubs. He and a group of maths-loving students established the G Laukon Math Club, where they often discussed mathematical problems, enabling him to absorb knowledge in a more diverse form.
The good interactions between students and teachers at UIC were Zhang's other gains. He said the Head of the Department Prof Di Yana used to recommend him to attend the Peking University Summer School and an academic conference to learn more about geometry. Zhang was also grateful to his final-year supervisor, Dr Zhang Sicong, and benefited greatly from Dr Zhang's inspiring teaching style. "He lightened my path of study," he said. It was under Dr Zhang's recommendation that he applied for the Cambridge's programme.
Zhang Zheheng with Dr Zhang Sicong at UIC
Huang Qi is a fourth-year student from UIC's Department of Statistics and Data Science, who has been offered an MPhil in Population Health Sciences from the University of Cambridge and a Master of Science in Epidemiology from the Imperial College London.
Huang was transferred to UIC's Statistics Programme. With her own efforts and help from teachers and students, she managed to catch up with others. She mentioned Dr Peng Xiaoling in particular. "Dr Peng was meticulous and patient in answering my questions, and she was constantly concerned about me keeping up with the pace of the course." Making impressive progress, she became Dr Peng's student research assistant in her third year and completed high-quality theses.
UIC's curriculum enhanced her independent thinking and academic research ability. "Group projects honed my ability to put theory into practice, and also opened up my mind to come up with more diverse options when considering problems," she said.
Winning multiple scholarships and ranking first in her major in the same year with a cGPA of 3.92, she ultimately received offers from Cambridge and Imperial.
From MPRO
Reporter: Cecilia Yu
Photos provided by Kristin Jin, Chen Yining, and the interviewees
Editor: Deen He
