Zihang Lin is a PhD candidate in the Department of Industrial Engineering & Management Sciences (IEMS) of the McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern University. He is affiliated with Kellogg Center for Science of Science & Innovation and Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems, under the supervision of Prof. Dashun Wang. He has also been fortunate to work closely with Prof. Benjamin F. Jones. He earned his master’s degree in Northwestern IEMS in 2024. Previously, he received his bachelor’s degree in computer science from Fudan University in June 2023, where he was advised by Prof. Yang Chen. During 2021 and 2022, he was a Visiting Predoctoral Fellow at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.

His research interests encompass computational social science, science of science, and innovation. Recently, his endeavors have been concentrated on extensive data analyses with advanced machine learning techniques, in a quest to achieve a deeper understanding of science and innovation. Specifically, he is interested in how prior scientific knowledge supports tomorrow’s technological breakthroughs, aiming to accelerate the translational impact of research and foster innovation ecosystems.

Download my Curriculum Vitae.