Haoran Zhang

Haoran Zhang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Statistics and Data Science at Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen, China.

His educational background includes:

• Ph.D. in Statistics from Shanghai Center for Mathematical Sciences, Fudan University (2016-2021), advised by Prof. Zhiliang Ying
• Joint Ph.D. in Statistics from Department of Statistics, Columbia University (2017-2019)
• B.S. in Mathematics from School of Mathematical Sciences, Fudan University (2012-2016)

Prior to his current position, Dr. Zhang completed postdoctoral fellowships at:

• The Chinese University of Hong Kong (2022-2023), mentored by Prof. Junhui Wang
• City University of Hong Kong (2021-2022)

His research spans network analysis (longitudinal and signed networks), causal inference (directed acyclic graphs, chain graphs), and psychometrics (latent variable models, multidimensional scaling). His methodological contributions are evident in his R packages mirtsvd for SVD-based estimation in exploratory item factor analysis and mmdu for model-based multidimensional unfolding.

Dr. Zhang is actively recruiting Ph.D. students, research assistants, and postdocs to join his research group at SUSTech.