Zhengwu Zhang
Associate Professor of Statistics
Department of Statistics and Operations Research
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
356 Hanes Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599 · zhengwu_zhang@unc.edu
Research Interests
- Computational Neuroscience
- Statistical Methods for Complex Data
- Statistical AI
- Representation & Reasoning
- Sequential Decision-Making
- Financial Intelligence
Prospective students: I am interested in working with highly motivated students who enjoy solving challenging problems and can take ownership of their research. Strong computing skills, initiative, persistence, and independent learning are particularly important. If interested, please email me your CV, research interests, and examples of your work.
Biography
Zhengwu Zhang is an Associate Professor in Statistics and Operations Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He currently serves as an Associate Editor for Reproducibility at the Journal of the American Statistical Association and as an Associate Editor for Biostatistics & Epidemiology. He received his Ph.D. in Statistics from Florida State University in 2015 under the supervision of Professor Anuj Srivastava.
Zhang's research develops statistical and machine learning methods for understanding representation, reasoning, and decision-making in complex systems, where decisions must be made from high-dimensional, noisy, dynamic, and incomplete information. His group pursues these questions in three interconnected areas: human cognition and brain networks (geometry-based connectome analysis, multimodal and generative modeling, brain aging, and cognitive training), AI reasoning and agents (internal representations, uncertainty and robustness, agentic and tool-augmented decision-making), and financial intelligence and decision-making (predictive modeling, uncertainty-aware sequential decisions, portfolio and risk management). His work is supported by multiple NIH grants and reflects a broader mission to design efficient, interpretable, and practical tools for learning and decision-making under uncertainty.