Yang Zhang, a 2024 doctoral graduate in Information Science from our School, was received an offer for assistant professor position in Data Science at the College of Information at the University of North Texas. He was going to begin his appointment in 2025.

Yang Zhang was a postdoctoral researcher and term-based lecturer at Macquarie University in Australia. He has made significant achievements in the fields of natural language processing, informetrics, and artificial intelligence, having published over 20 high-level academic papers. His research has been featured in multiple top-tier international journals and leading academic conferences, including Applied Energy, Journal of King Saud University-Computer and Information Sciences, Sentometrics, Journal of Informetrics, as well as CCF A conferences such as Infocomp and UbiComp, and CCF B conferences like ICDM 2024, CIKM 2024, and ICWS 2024. According to records, his English-language papers have been cited more than 200 times.

Yang Zhang enrolled at our School in 2014 to pursue a master's degree and continued his studies after completing his master's. In 2019, he went to Australia to pursue a PhD in Computer Science via a joint training program between Wuhan University and Macquarie University. He obtained his doctoral degree from Macquarie University in 2023. During his studies in Australia, his English-language doctoral thesis received all As, and he was awarded the Vice-Chancellor's Commendation for Academic Excellence, an honor bestowed upon only two graduates in the Faculty of Engineering and Science that year. While pursuing his PhD at Macquarie University, he served as a lecturer and guest lecturer for several courses. As a lecturer teaching data science, he also received the 2023 Faculty of Engineering and Science Teaching Award from Macquarie University and was shortlisted as a finalist for the 2024 Vice-Chancellor’s Teaching Award – Students’ Nominee Category.

Reflecting on his academic growth, Yang Zhang expressed that none of it would have been possible without the meticulous guidance and assistance of his mentor, Professor Rongying Zhao, as well as the care and support from the School's leadership and teachers. It was because of the rich academic resources, strong development platform, and support from international innovative talent programs provided by our School that he was able to fully realize his potential and have the opportunity to relentlessly pursue his dreams.