Haoran Zhang 张浩然

Assistant Professor
Department of Statistics and Data Science, Southern University of Science and Technology
Email: zhanghr[at]sustech[dot]edu[dot]cn

My research interests center on statistical machine learning, with particular emphasis on ranking and preference learning, graphical models and causal discovery, high-dimensional factor models, and network data analysis. I am also interested in the statistical evaluation of large language models and prediction-powered inference. There are openings for potential Ph.D. students, research assistants, and postdocs; students with a strong background in mathematics and statistics are preferred. Please feel free to contact me with your CV and manuscript if you are interested.

Academic Appointments

• Aug. 2022 - Aug. 2023, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Statistics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Mentor: Prof. Junhui Wang.
• Aug. 2021 - Jul. 2022, Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Data Science, City University of Hong Kong.

Education

• Sep. 2016 - Jul. 2021, Ph.D. in Statistics, Shanghai Center for Mathematical Sciences, Fudan University. Advisor: Prof. Zhiliang Ying.
• Aug. 2017 - Aug. 2019, Joint Ph.D. in Statistics, Department of Statistics, Columbia University.
• Sep. 2012 - Jul. 2016, B.S. in Mathematics, School of Mathematical Sciences, Fudan University.

Publications

Preprints and Manuscripts

• A Multilayer Probit Network Model for Community Detection with Dependent Edges and Layers
  Dapeng Shi, Haoran Zhang (corresponding author), Tiandong Wang, and Junhui Wang.
  arXiv:2601.09161.

• Estimation and Statistical Inference for Generalized Multilayer Latent Space Model
  Zhaozhe Liu, Gongjun Xu, and Haoran Zhang (corresponding author).
  arXiv:2602.19129.

• Model-free Rank Aggregation in the Presence of Rater Heterogeneity: A Maximum Score Approach
  Haoran Zhang (first author) and Yunxiao Chen.
  arXiv:2510.06789.

• Signed Network Embedding with Application to Simultaneous Detection of Communities and Anomalies
  Haoran Zhang (first author) and Junhui Wang.
  arXiv:2207.09324.

Peer-Reviewed Publications

• Efficient Estimation for Longitudinal Networks via Adaptive Merging
  Haoran Zhang (first author) and Junhui Wang.
  Journal of the American Statistical Association, 1–12, 2025.

• Efficient Estimation and Inference for the Signed β-Model in Directed Signed Networks
  Haoran Zhang (first author) and Junhui Wang.
  Statistica Sinica, 35: 1–17, 2025.

• Identifiability and Consistent Estimation for Gaussian Chain Graph Models
  Ruixuan Zhao, Haoran Zhang (corresponding author), and Junhui Wang.
  Journal of the American Statistical Association, 119: 3101–3112, 2024.

• Unfolding-Model-Based Visualization: Theory, Method and Applications
  Yunxiao Chen, Zhiliang Ying, and Haoran Zhang (authors listed alphabetically).
  Journal of Machine Learning Research, 22(11): 1–51, 2021. Code

• A Note on Exploratory Item Factor Analysis by Singular Value Decomposition
  Haoran Zhang (first author), Yunxiao Chen, and Xiaoou Li.
  Psychometrika, 85: 358–372, 2020. Code

• A Note on Likelihood Ratio Tests for Models with Latent Variables
  Yunxiao Chen, Irini Moustaki, and Haoran Zhang (authors listed alphabetically).
  Psychometrika, 85: 996–1012, 2020.

Teaching

• Time Series Analysis, Autumn 2024 and 2025, SUSTech.
• Advanced Statistical Inference, Spring 2024 and 2025, SUSTech.
• Mathematical Statistics, Autumn 2023, SUSTech.