Reliable and Efficient Autonomous Learning (REAL) Lab @ Northwestern

I am fortunate to work with the following talented and motivated students:

Ph.D. Students

• Ruiyao Xu, From 2023 Fall
• Qingcheng Zeng, Co-advise with Dr. Rob Voigt, From 2024 Winter
• Ziqing Wang, From 2024 Fall
• Yilong Chen, From 2025 Fall (rotation)
• Zeyu Zhang, From 2025 Fall (rotation)

Master's Students

• Zhaoyang Guan, Northwestern
• Shijie (Jason) Chen, Northwestern
• Weihao Li, Northwestern

Undergraduate Students

• Xudong Chen, XJTU
• Oscar Rivera, Northwestern
• Harry Park, Northwestern

Alumni

• Yaotian Zhu, Master's, Northwestern, 2025, incoming Northwestern SDS PhD
• Kexin Zhang, Master's, Tsinghua, 2025, incoming USC CS PhD
• Zhengyu Hu, Master's, HKUST(GZ), 2025, incoming UW ECE PhD
• Haolin Yang, Master's, UChicago, 2025, incoming NYU DS PhD
• Hanyu Su, Master's, Northwestern, 2025, incoming IIT ITM PhD
• Zihan Zhao, Master's, Northwestern, 2025, incoming UGA Stats PhD

• Jie Yang, Undergraduate, Tongji, 2024, now UIC CS PhD
• Guangyao Dou, Master's, Columbia, 2024, now JHU CS PhD
• Ding Zhang, Master's, Northwestern, 2024, now UVA DS PhD
• Tianyu Fan, Undergraduate, ZJU, 2023, now HKU CS PhD

Show All

📣 Opening

Wanna be REAL researchers? I'm seeking highly motivated students/interns to join my REAL lab. More details about our PhD program can be found here. Some expectations for the applicants:

• Publications/submissions (as first author) at top AI conferences.
• Strong programming and mathematical foundations (with Math/Stats Major or Minor) are highly preferred.
• Good English written and speaking skills (e.g., TOEFL >= 100, IELTS >= 7.0).
• Passion for scientific research (motivation, curiosity, persistence, etc.)

I apologize that I may not be able to reply to every email. Feel free to mention me as your potential advisor in the application, and I will check every application carefully afterwards.