To further cultivate the scientific research capabilities of international students and build a broader platform for academic exchange, as well as to foster a relaxed and active academic atmosphere, the School of Finance conducted the first session of the Academic Salon for International Students on October 25th at 15:00 in Meeting Room 408 of the Wenquan South Building. Attendees of this event included Hu Hongbing, the Associate Dean of the School of Finance; Lu Yongbin, the Associate Dean of the School of Finance; invited guest Professor Lin Bingxuan from the University of Rhode Island; Deputy Director Feng Jie of the Library Consultation Department; Gu Lulu, the leader of the School of Finance's international student advisory group; Cao Chenlu, the secretary of graduate student training; as well as doctoral students Wang Shaohuang, master’s students Xiao Shiyi, Xu Jingyi, and representatives of doctoral and master’s international students.

     At the beginning of the event, Associate Dean Hu Hongbing introduced the training philosophy and overview of the international students in the School of Finance to the teachers and students attending the salon. He encouraged all students to actively participate in various activities organized by the school. Dean Hu warmly expressed: The School of Finance is dedicated to training students into financial talents with international perspectives, and hopes that all teachers and students will exchange ideas and progress together in these activities, jointly creating a better academic atmosphere and growing into a better self at the School of Finance.

    The invited guest of this event, Professor Lin Bingxuan from the University of Rhode Island, gave a wonderful academic speech on how to write and publish articles. Professor Lin mentioned that the abstract and introduction are difficult yet core parts of writing an article, and a refined and exciting introduction is key to impressing reviewers. He also encouraged everyone to actively explore, think

 critically, settle in their research as an interest, and strive to write satisfying articles soon.

    Deputy Director Feng Jie of the Library Consultation Department elaborated on the library usage methods from four aspects: book reference and borrowing rules, how to use online library resources, library databases, and seat reservation methods. Students gained a lot and actively exchanged experiences on the use of library resources with Director Feng.

    Xu Jingyi, a master’s student from the School of Finance representing the master’s student advisors, shared how to use databases to obtain resources. Starting from the characteristics, advantages, and types of data of databases, Xu introduced and demonstrated the use of databases such as Chaoxing Discovery, Guotai'an Database, Choice Financial Terminal, CNRDS database, and PKULaw database.

    Winnie Coleman, a doctoral student representative of international students from the School of Finance, shared her experience on how to choose research topics. It’s essential to determine the macro research direction first, recognize the value of the research direction, embellish the topic with divergent and innovative thinking, and look for innovative breakthroughs from a problem-oriented approach to find interesting research topics.

    Wang Shaohuang, a doctoral student representative from the School of Finance, initiated this academic sharing session with the three basic elements of academic research: a solid theoretical foundation, a solid foundation of existing literature, and scientifically reliable data. He emphasized the significance of theoretical foundations, pointed out the need to balance creativity with robustness during the process of causal inference, expanded the vision for causal reasoning, and discussed the role of mathematics in economic research, finally sharing commonly used databases, their features, and methods of use.

    Xiao Shiyi, a master’s research student representative, shared the process and framework of writing papers with the students, introducing the characteristics of an excellent article content-oriented, and detailed the methodology for writing each part of the paper, sharing the six steps of publishing papers from a personal perspective.

    The successful holding of this academic salon facilitated academic exchanges between Chinese and foreign students, enhanced the awareness of academic innovation, and built an open and diverse platform for academic exchange to cultivate high-quality, innovative academic talents with global competitiveness.