Preamble

The Institute of Statistics and Computational Intelligence (ISCI) in the Division of Science and Technology, BNU-HKBU United International College was established at April 1, 2006. As its name indicates, ISCI will conduct high profile researches in the fields of Statistics and Computational Intelligence. Statistics is the science of collecting, organizing, and analyzing data. It is a scientific discipline in which statisticians assist other scientists and researchers to make informed decisions in the face of uncertainty. Computational Intelligence is a meeting point of Computer Science, Mathematics and Engineering. It is the study of adaptive mechanisms to enable or facilitate intelligent behavior in complex and changing environments. As such, computational intelligence encompasses Bayesian reasoning, statistic learning and data mining, artificial neural networks, evolutionary computing, swarm intelligence, fuzzy systems, etc. Bringing together diverse expertise and experience from these two fields can enrich each of the participating discipline and foster new research perspectives in both.

Purposes and Missions

The purposes and missions of ISCI are:

• To enhance academic excellence and raise the global visibility of UIC
• To serve as a center of visiting program with world class scientists in the related fields regularly visiting UIC
• To foster collaborations between local and international researchers
• To promote interdisciplinary researches inside UIC
• To train highly qualified young researchers
• To provide consultancy and service in statistics and computational intelligence for staff and post-graduate students of UIC, commercial firms, companies and institutions etc. outside UIC.

Research Areas

Initially, ISCI will focus on the following academic topics:

• The Design and Analysis of Experiments
• The Design and Analysis of Sample Surveys
• Quality Improvement
• Data Mining and Machine Learning
• Bayesian reasoning
• Optimization

Functions

ISCI will organize three major types of activities as follows:

• Organizing public lectures including distinguished lecture series and invited talks
• Designing and providing summer course programs
• Organizing conferences and workshops