Qiaoyu (Smach) Tan

Hello! I am an Assistant Professor in Computer Science at New York University (Shanghai) (NYU Shanghai), leading the Data Intelligence and Reasoning Lab (DIRLab). Prior to NYU Shanghai, I received my Ph.D. under the supervision of Prof. Xia Hu at DATA Lab of TAMU, and B.Eng. under the advisory of Prof. Guoxian Yu at IDEA Lab of SWU. In DIRLab, our research interests are generally in machine learning and data mining, with a particular focus on graph machine learning, foundation models, efficient deep learning, and trustworthy AI. Our research is motivated by, and contributed to, applications in social media, recommendation systems, question answering, and bioinformatics.

We are currently dedicated to advancing Generative AI for Relational World, with a focus on enhancing the capabilities of (multimodal) LLMs for graph reasoning and user behavior modeling. Additionally, we aim to enhancing AI capabilities in the biomedical sciences!

Openings I have multiple openings for fully funded PhD positions at NYU Tandon or Courant in Fall 2025, prioritizing on Multimodal Alignment and Generation, AI for Science, Trustworthy AI and Low-resource AI. If you are interested in working with me, please feel free to drop me an email at qiaoyu.tan@nyu.edu with your CV. See Openings for details!

Recent Works Related to Large Language Models

• UniGLM: Training One Unified Language Model for Text-Attributed Graphs (WSDM’25) [link]
• GAugLLM: Improving Graph Contrastive Learning for Text-attributed Graphs with Large Language Models (KDD’24) [link]
• Reasoning Like a Doctor: Improving Medical Dialogue Systems via Diagnostic Reasoning Process Alignment (ACL’24) [link]
• Retrieval-Enhanced Knowledge Editing for Multi-Hop Question Answering in Language Models (CIKM’24) [link]
• MolecularGPT: Open Large Language Model (LLM) for Few-Shot Molecular Property Prediction [link]
• ChatGraph: Interpretable Text Classification by Converting ChatGPT Knowledge to Graphs [link]

Call for Paper

• Data-Centric AI Workshop – DCAI@WWW’2024 [Website] (10 February 2024)
• Trustworthy Machine Learning on Graphs: Algorithms and Applications @ Frontiers in Big Data [Website] (11 February 2024)

News

• [2024.11] One paper accepted by KDD’25 (August Cycle).
• [2024.10] One paper accepted by WSDM’25.
• [2024.09] One paper accepted by NeurIPS’24.
• [2024.07] One paper accepted by CIKM’24.
• [2024.06] I will serve as the PC member of NeurIPS’24 (main track and D&B Track), LoG’24, CIKM’24, AAAI’25.
• [2024.06] Two PhD students (Yuanfu Sun and Dongzhe Fan) are welcomed to join the DIRLab!
• [2024.05] One paper accepted by KDD’24.
• [2024.05] One paper accepted by ACL’24.
• [2024.05] One paper accepted by TIST’24.
• [2024.04] One paper accepted by TKDE’24.
• [2024.04] One tutorial (RS in the era of LLMs) got accepted by IJCAI’24.
• [2023.10] Our research in liver transplantation received recognition as a Best Student Paper Finalist at AMIA’23.
• [2023.09] One paper accepted by NeurIPS’23 (Benchmark track).
• [2023.09] An invited talk at GPC&ICPCSEE’23 at Harbin, China.
• [2023.09] I will serve as the PC member of SDM’24.
• [2023.09] Two papers accepted by ICDM’23. Looking forward to seeing you in Shanghai!
• [2023.08] One paper accepted by TKDE’23.
• [2023.08] Two papers accepted by CIKM’23.
• [2023.08] I will serve as the Session Chair of KDD’23.
• [2023.07] I will serve as the PC member of AAAI’24 and LoG’23.
• [2023.07] One paper accepted by TKDE’23.
• [2023.07] Two papers accepted by AMIA’23.
• [2023.06] I was successfully passed my dissertation defense.
• [2023.05] I will serve as the PC member of NeurIPS’23.
• [2023.05] I will be an Assistant Professor of Computer Science Department at NYU Shanghai starting in Fall 2023.
• [2023.04] I will serve as the PC member of CIKM’23.
• [2023.03] One paper accepted by PAKDD’23.
• [2023.01] One paper accepted by WWW’23.
• [2023.05] I will serve as the Web Chair of ICHI’23.
• [2022.10] Three papers accepted by WSDM’23.
• [2022.09] One paper accepted by NeurIPS’22.
• [2022.08] One paper accepted by CIKM’22.
• [2022.05] I will join Samsung Research American for summer intern, supervised by Dr. Rui Chen.
• [2021.12] One paper accepted by SDM’22.
• [2021.08] One paper accepted by CIKM’21.
• [2021.04] One paper accepted by SIGIR’21.
• [2020.10] I will visit the DEEP Lab at PolyU, led by Dr. Xiao Huang.
• [2020.10] One paper accepted by WSDM’21.
• [2020.10] One paper accepted by AAAI’21.
• [2020.03] I will join Alibaba Group as Research Intern, supervised by Dr. Hongxia Yang.
• [2020.01] One paper accepted by WWW’20.
• […]

Honors and Awards

• Best Student Paper Finalist, AMIA 2023

Background

I received my Ph.D. degree in the CSCE Department at Texas A&M University in 2023 under the supervision of Dr. Xia Hu. I also hold a B.S. degree in Computer Science and Technology Department from Southwest University supervised by Dr. Guoxian Yu. Prior to my current position, I worked as a research intern at Alibaba Damo Academy and Samsung Research America.