I have an abiding passion for interdisciplinary collaborations, especially for cutting-edge research of both profound insights and practical impacts. My current research interests are at the interplay of computational science and economics around the application of disruptive technologies, including artificial intelligence, blockchain and cryptography, and innovative computing. I have devoted myself to academic research, teaching, and service that truly cultivate interdisciplinary talent, nurture innovation, and advance human civilization.
In The Story of Philosophy, Will Durant says, “We are like Mitya in The Brothers Karamazov—one of those who don’t want millions, but an answer to their questions.” My research is always driven by important research questions. How can we design a mechanism to achieve our desired outcomes, such as efficiency, fairness, and sustainability? Mechanism design theory, introduced by 2007 Nobel Laureates Hurwicz, Maskin, and Myerson, has guided economic institutions worldwide to achieve desirable goals by allocating scarce resources. However, the past decades have witnessed an emerging digital economy with an increasingly complex system. New application scenarios have inspired new questions. How can we analyze big data in a computationally efficient way to draw causal inferences for policy advice? How can we extend the foundation of mechanism design theory to create trust in cyberspace? How can we design experiments to identify more realistic behavioral assumptions underpinning our theory? My quest has taken me through mathematics, psychology, and computational science — and toward a synthesis of disciplines fundamental to the interdisciplinary studies approach.
Computational Economics and Social Science: algorithmic game theory, mechanism design, and causal inferences
Explainable and Cooperative AI: Human-AI interaction, explainable machine learning, and AI ethics
Crypto and Token Economics: blockchain consensus, governance, and applications
Behavioral and Experimental Economics: bounded rationality, trust, and cooperation
Interdisciplinary Big Data: social media, sustainability, and global health
Fellowships, Gifts, and Supported Research
Presidential Fellowship ·
May 2017
- December 2018
Ohio State University
The Presidential Fellowship is the most prestigious award given by the Graduate School. Recipients of this award embody the highest standards of scholarship in the full range of Ohio State's graduate programs.
National Science Foundation Research Grant for Doctoral Dissertation ·
January 2017
- December 2018
National Science Foundation
Career Development Grant ·
September 2016
- May 2017
OSU Council of Graduate Student
Scholarship of I.S.E.O. Summer School Featuring Three Nobel Laureates ·
June 2017
- July 2017
ISEO Institute
China National Scholarship ·
September 2010
- June 2011
Peking University
Presidential Fellowship ·
May 2017
- December 2018
Ohio State University
The Presidential Fellowship is the most prestigious award given by the Graduate School. Recipients of this award embody the highest standards of scholarship in the full range of Ohio State's graduate programs.
National Science Foundation Research Grant for Doctoral Dissertation ·
January 2017
- December 2018
National Science Foundation
Career Development Grant ·
September 2016
- May 2017
OSU Council of Graduate Student
Scholarship of I.S.E.O. Summer School Featuring Three Nobel Laureates ·
June 2017
- July 2017
ISEO Institute
China National Scholarship ·
September 2010
- June 2011
Peking University
Scholarship of the Leo KoGuan Foundation ·
September 2009
- June 2010
Peking University
Scholarship of the KoGuan Chinese Rule of Law and Principle Studies Center ·
September 2011
- June 2012
Peking University
The May 4th Scholarship ·
September 2008
- June 2009
Peking University
JMCB Fellowship ·
July 2012
- August 2013
Ohio State University
Social Science Support for Undergraduate Research ·
September 2020
Social Science Division, Duke Kunshan University
CSCC Undergraduate Research Grant ·
December 2020
Center for Study of Contemporary China, Duke Kunshan University,
Learning and Assessment Grant ·
January 2021
Assessment office, Duke Kunshan University
Faculty Community for Active Learning Program ·
January 2021
Center for Teaching and Learning, Duke Kunshan University
Student Experiential Learning Fellow (SELF) for Undergraduate Advisee and Signature Work mentee ·
May 2021
Undergraduate Studies, Duke Kunshan University
Summer Research Scholar Program Project “How Fintech Empowers Assets Valuation” ·
May 2021
Undergraduate Studies, Duke Kunshan University
Duke CS+ Project “Decentralized Finance: Cryptocurrency and Blockchain on the Internet Computer” ·
May 2021
Department of Computer Science, Duke University
Social Science Support for Undergraduate Research ·
March 2022
Social Science Division (Chair: Prof. Keping Wu), Duke Kunshan University
Social Science Support for Undergraduate Research, supporting 3 undergraduate students at DKU: Xinyu Tian and Zesen Zhuang majoring in Data Science, Tianyu Wu majoring in Applied Mathematics and Computational Science, and 3 undergraduate students at Duke University: Xinshi (Evan) Ma majoring in Statistics and Economics and minoring in Math, Yinhong (William) Zhao, majoring in Economics and Math, Zeyu Shen, majoring in computer science and math. Awarded by Social Science Division (Chair: Prof. Keping Wu), Duke Kunshan University, Mar. 2022
Faculty Scholarship and Travel Award ·
March 2022
the Office of the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs (VCAA), Duke Kunshan University
From ‘Code is Law’ to ‘Code and Law’: A Comparative Study on Blockchain Economics for China and the World ·
November 2022
Center for Study of Contemporary China
Interdisciplinary Research Networks Funding Project “Negotiating Identities as Educators and Researchers in Sino-Foreign Joint Venture Universities–Dialogue Exchange across Disciplines,” ·
September 2023
The Office of Undergraduate Studies, Duke Kunshan University
Learning Innovation’s Carry the Innovation Forward Program Project “Industry 4.0 Open Education Resource Publication Initiatives” ·
May 2021
Duke Learning Innovation, Duke University and Center for Teaching and Learning, Duke Kunshan University
Social Science Support for Undergraduate Research ·
August 2021
Social Science Division, Duke Kunshan University
Summer Research Scholar Program Project “Trust Mechanism Design: Blockchain for Social Good” ·
April 2022
Undergraduate Studies, Duke Kunshan University
Data + X Program Project “A Data-Centered Approach to Investigate the Ethics Issues on Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT): Trust, Privacy, Transparency, and Fairness” ·
August 2022
Data Science Research Center, Duke Kunshan University.
National Science Foundation Grant Project “Trust Mechanism Design on Blockchain: An Interdisciplinary Approach of Game Theory, Reinforcement Learning, and Human Computer Interactions" ·
September 2022
National Science Foundation China
Scholarship of I.S.E.O. Summer School Featuring Nobel Laureates ·
June 2023
I.S.E.O. institute
Wuhan University (WHU) and Duke Kunshan University (DKU) Joint Seeding Program Project “Computational Economics” ·
July 2023
Duke Kunshan University
