Renyu (Philip) Zhang 张任宇
Renyu (Philip) Zhang, PhD, HK RGC Research Fellow
Associate Professor (with tenure)
Operations Management Group
Department of Decisions, Operations and Technology
CUHK Business School
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
[Official Website]
Curriculum Vitae (Last update: March, 2026)
About Me
As an AI builder, researcher, and educator, I study how AI and data science reshape decision-making on online platforms and marketplaces.
My research develops AI and data science methodologies, large language models, machine learning, causal inference, and data-driven optimization, to evaluate and optimize operations strategies for online platforms and marketplaces, sharing economy, and social networks, especially their recommendation, advertising, pricing, and matching policies. My work has been published in Management Science, Operations Research, and Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, and recognized by various research awards of the INFORMS, POMS, and CSAMSE communities.
I serve as an Associate Editor for Operations Research and Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, and a Senior Editor for Production and Operations Management. My projects have been funded by HK RGC Research Fellow Scheme, NSFC Excellent Young Scientist Program (优青), Tencent, Alibaba Cloud and Didi.
Beyond academia, I am an economist and Tech Lead at Kuaishou, where I develop and implement economics and data science frameworks to optimize the ecosystem of a large-scale online video-sharing and live-streaming platform.
Prior to joining CUHK, I was an Assistant Professor at NYU Shanghai (2016-2022), affiliated with NYU Stern. I obtained my PhD in Operations Management from Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis (advised by Nan Yang and Fuqiang Zhang), and my B.S. in Mathematics from Peking University.
Selected Publications
- Deep Learning Based Causal Inference for Large-Scale Combinatorial Experiments
Management Science, forthcoming, 2025 - Nonprogressive Diffusion on Social Networks: Approximation and Applications
Management Science, forthcoming, 2025 - Online Advertisement Allocation under Customer Choices and Algorithmic Fairness
Management Science, 71(1), 2025 - Cold Start to Improve Market Thickness on Online Advertising Platforms
Management Science, 69(7), 2023 - Data Aggregation and Demand Prediction
Operations Research, 70(5), 2022
News
- I am hiring 1~2 PhD students and 1~2 post-doctoral fellows in Operations Management and Information Systems. Please read this document and this Zhihu post (both in Chinese). I also occasionally take RAs and research interns who share general research interests (AI and data science to empower business decision making) with me. [Email Me for Questions] [Apply Here]
- I am organizing the INFORMS Service Science Online Forum Series along with Yuqian Xu. [Sign Up Here into the Email List.]
- AI Courses for Business PhDs: Spring 2026, Spring 2025, Fall 2024 Reading Group, Summer 2024, Spring 2024.
- Prospective PhD students in Operations Management at WashU Olin: Please read this document or this Zhihu post (in Chinese). [Email Me for Questions]
Contact
Email: philipzhang@cuhk.edu.hk
Department of Decisions, Operations and Technology
CUHK Business School
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Cheng Yu Tung Building
12 Chak Cheung Street
Sha Tin, N.T., Hong Kong, China.
Quotations
"切勿要求胜利，只应要求一往无前的勇气。因为从坚忍不拔的奋斗中，你将为自己带来荣誉。但更重要的，你将为全人类带来光荣。"---古希腊奥运会格言，见Hung-Hsi Wu (伍鸿熙)《黎曼几何初步》致读者的话。
"God, give us Grace to accept with Serenity the things that cannot be changed, Courage to change the things which should be changed, and Wisdom to distinguish one from the other."---Reinhold Niebuhr, the Serenity Prayer.