Alan Zhang
Doctor of Philosophy candidate
Recommender systems are becoming increasingly important to help people find products and content they’re interested in. For his PhD in computer science, Alan Zhang is looking into how to improve the performance of such systems.
“Recommender systems can be seen in everyday scenarios, including movie recommendations based on user ratings or ranking products based on purchase histories.
“My research aims to design novel graph neural networks to achieve better performance in recommendation tasks. Advancements in my area of research will enable us to experience more intelligent recommendation services across different digital platforms.”
Alan’s research is being supervised by Associate Professor Jian Yu, Dr Ji Ruan and Associate Professor Minh Nguyen from AUT’s School of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences.
The right choice
He enjoys being able to fully devote himself to research during his PhD, says Alan who would like to work as a researcher after completing his degree.
“When I completed my master’s degree, I wanted to carry on with my research in computer science so decided to take on a PhD.
“I chose AUT based on a range of factors; most importantly because of the high standard and quality of AUT’s academic staff. It’s a great pleasure to be guided by my enthusiastic and experienced supervisors, and to have the opportunity to collaborate with my fellow researchers at AUT. The number of events, seminars and guidance offered by AUT was also a major factor impacting my choice.”
The support and the vibrant campus life are what he has enjoyed most about his studies.
“I feel well supported by my supervisors and other staff I’ve interacted with. Everyone is super friendly and always willing to help when I need it. There are regular seminars to support postgraduate students and I’ve found them useful for the different stages of my study and research. There are also so many activities and events university-wide, and they offer me great opportunities to chill out, have fun outside my study time and meet new friends.”
Advice for other students
Alan has some great advice for other postgraduate students.
“My advice is to keep a steady pace for your study and always have faith in yourself.”
He wouldn’t hesitate to recommend doctoral study in computer science.
“The PhD programme at AUT is well organised and structured. As a PhD student, I’ve been guided through the requirements and structures in order to keep on track. The learning environment is lively and I find it easy to process readily and explore novel ideas.”
