Qirun ZhangView profile
Associate Professor
Qirun Zhang is the Catherine M. and James E. Allchin Early Career Associate Professor in the School of Computer Science at Georgia Institute of Technology. His research focuses on program analysis, compiler optimization, and formal language theory, with numerous publications in top-tier programming language and software engineering conferences including PLDI, POPL, OOPSLA, and FSE. He teaches courses on compilers, program analysis, and software testing. Dr. Zhang's research interests center on improving software reliability and security through advanced program analysis techniques. He approaches problems from perspectives including computational complexity, analytic combinatorics, graph theory, and formal languages. His work often bridges theoretical foundations with practical applications in compiler design and program verification. His recent publications show a strong focus on context-free language reachability, Dyck-language based analyses, and SMT solving techniques. His research demonstrates consistent innovation in making program analysis more precise while maintaining scalability, with applications ranging from debug information validation to software debloating and type inference. PLDI Distinguished Paper Award (2020) SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper Award (2023) OOPSLA Distinguished Artifact Award (2022) Dr. Zhang actively mentors PhD and MS students, with current advisees including Camille Bossut and Benjamin Mikek. His service to the academic community includes Artifact Evaluation Co-Chair roles for PLDI 2025 and 2026, and program committee membership for numerous top conferences including PLDI, POPL, and OOPSLA. He leads research projects including SLOT, Context-Free Language Reachability with Transitive Redundancy Elimination, and Debug Information Validation.











