Yun Lin

Yun Lin is an Associate Professor and Deputy Head of the Department of Computer Science and Technology at Shanghai Jiao Tong University's School of Computer Science. Prior to joining SJTU, Lin served as a Research Assistant Professor at the National University of Singapore working with Prof. Dong Jin Song. Lin leads the CoPhi ("Code Philia") research group, which focuses on the intersection of Software Engineering, AI, and Security.

Lin's research spans three major areas: Automatic Programming (including code editing, software testing, and debugging), Explainable AI (focusing on representation interpretation and training data attribution), and Web Misinformation (particularly phishing and scam detection). The research has resulted in numerous tools including CoEdPilot for code editing recommendation, DeepDebugger for interactive debugging of deep classifiers, and Phishpedia for phishing webpage detection.

Lin's recent publications demonstrate a strong trend toward integrating AI techniques, particularly large language models and vision language models, with traditional software engineering and security tasks. The work shows increasing sophistication in understanding project context, handling interactive nature of programming tasks, and addressing security challenges in the age of generative AI. Key themes include consistency-based approaches for anomaly detection, agent-based frameworks for complex tasks, and hybrid models that combine symbolic reasoning with neural approaches.

• ACM Distinguished Paper Award in ICSE'18 for "Towards Optimal Concolic Testing"
• Distinguished Reviewer Award in FSE'25
• 2nd prize Research Prototype Award in ChinaSoft'24

Lin advises a large team of PhD, Master's, and undergraduate students, with several publications co-authored with students appearing in top venues. Current research is supported by collaborations with National University of Singapore, particularly with Prof. Dong Jin Song, and includes projects on code editing, GUI testing, and phishing detection. The CoPhi group maintains active development of multiple research tools and datasets.

The CoPhi research group under Lin's leadership focuses on building practical tools that bridge the gap between theoretical advances and real-world programming and security challenges. The group's work spans from fundamental program analysis techniques to applied security solutions, with an increasing emphasis on leveraging AI capabilities while maintaining explainability and reliability.