PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Chengqi Zhang

Chengqi Zhang is an AI researcher whose work spans graph neural networks, time-series analysis and data mining. He studied computing and AI at Fudan, Jilin, Queensland and Deakin before building a career at UNE, Deakin and UTS. His research includes a survey of graph neural networks and a graph framework for multivariate time-series forecasting; he founded a UTS research centre and held AI leadership roles in Australia and IJCAI. He is a 2026 IEEE Fellow and Chair Professor of Artificial Intelligence at PolyU, where he directs the Shenzhen Research Institute.

Photo of Chengqi Zhang

Timeline

  1. 1978–2002

    A foundation in AI

    Zhang earned a computer-science bachelor's degree at Fudan in 1982 and a master's degree in artificial intelligence at Jilin in 1985. He completed an artificial intelligence PhD at Queensland in 1991 and a Doctor of Science, a higher doctorate, at Deakin in 2002.

  2. 1990–2001

    From lecturer to professor

    He began as a lecturer at the University of New England in 1990. He became senior lecturer in 1994 and associate professor in 1998, held an associate professorship at Deakin from 1999 to 2001, and joined UTS as Research Professor in December 2001.

  3. 2005–2025

    Service in AI societies

    From November 2005 through November 2025, he chaired the Australian Computer Society National Committee for Artificial Intelligence. He was General Chair of IJCAI-2024.

  4. 2008–2016

    Building a research centre

    At UTS, he became founding director of the Priority Research Centre for Quantum Computation & Intelligent Systems in 2008 and led it through 2016.

  5. 2019

    Mapping graph neural networks

    He co-authored “A Comprehensive Survey on Graph Neural Networks,” which groups methods into recurrent, convolutional, graph autoencoder and spatial-temporal graph neural network categories.

  6. 2020

    Forecasting with connected graphs

    He co-authored “Connecting the Dots: Multivariate Time Series Forecasting with Graph Neural Networks,” which proposes a general graph neural network framework for multivariate time-series data.

  7. 2021–2025

    A senior university role

    UTS appointed him Pro Vice-Chancellor (China Enterprise) from 1 December 2021 through 30 November 2025.

  8. 2026

    A fellowship and current roles

    IEEE elevated him to Fellow in the 2026 class for contributions to graph neural networks and time-series analysis. He joined PolyU as Chair Professor of Artificial Intelligence in September 2024 and has directed its Shenzhen Research Institute since 1 January 2025.

Sources and credits

Photo: chengqi-zhang.github.io; page title not stated; creator not stated. License: Not stated by source. Source: chengqi-zhang.github.io. Cropped to a square and resized. Ask us to remove or replace this photo.

  1. Chengqi Zhang | About | University of Technology Sydney profiles.uts.edu.au. Checked 14 October 2026.
  2. A Comprehensive Survey on Graph Neural Networks arxiv.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  3. Connecting the Dots: Multivariate Time Series Forecasting with Graph Neural Networks arxiv.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  4. IEEE Computer Society Announces 2026 Class of Fellow computer.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  5. Two PolyU scholars honored as IEEE Fellow 2026 | Research and Innovation Office polyu.edu.hk. Checked 14 October 2026.
  6. Chengqi Zhang - PolyU Scholars Hub research.polyu.edu.hk. Checked 14 October 2026.