PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Jian Weng

Also known as 翁健

Jian Weng is a cryptography researcher whose work brings privacy and security methods into machine learning. He earned a PhD at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2008. At Jinan University, he led a public-key cryptography grant, co-chaired ASIACRYPT 2023, and presented cryptographic methods for collaborative learning and model inference. A 2024 paper he coauthored proposes privacy-preserving federated learning. As of October 2026, he is president of Guangzhou University.

Timeline

  1. 2008

    A PhD at Shanghai Jiao Tong

    He earns a PhD at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2008.

  2. 2018–2021

    A national science-fund award

    He receives the Young Scientists Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China in 2018 and first prize in the Guangdong Natural Science Award in 2021.

  3. 2019–2023

    Public-key cryptography grant

    From 2019 to 2023, he leads the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of China's Public Key Cryptography project as principal investigator.

  4. 2023

    ASIACRYPT conference chair

    In 2023, he co-chairs ASIACRYPT in Guangzhou with Sun Yat-sen University professor Zhang Fangguo; Jinan University and Sun Yat-sen University co-host the cryptography conference.

  5. 2024

    Cryptography for machine learning

    In 2024, he presents cryptographic schemes for collaborative learning, protected model sharing, and verifiable model inference.

  6. 2024

    Privacy-preserving federated learning

    The 2024 paper coauthored by Weng proposes a privacy-preserving, Byzantine-robust federated-learning scheme. It reports a 1.05% increase in model error when half the participants are Byzantine.

  7. 2024–2028

    Privacy-enhancing computing project

    From 2024 to 2028, he serves as principal investigator for the National Natural Science Foundation of China's Key Program on cryptography-based multi-party privacy-enhancing computing.

  8. As of October 2026

    President of Guangzhou University

    As of October 2026, he is president and deputy party secretary of Guangzhou University. His earlier Jinan University posts include dean of the School of Cyberspace Security and vice president.

Career

  1. NowGuangzhou UniversityPresident and Deputy Party Secretary
  2. Jinan UniversityDean

Education

  1. 2008Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityPhD

From the biography.

  1. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Guangzhou University. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  2. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes Guangzhou University. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  3. 84% of people shaping AI with recorded undergraduate and doctoral schools changed institutions for their doctorateIncludes Shanghai Jiao Tong University. 84% of people shaping AI with recorded undergraduate and doctoral schools changed institutions for their doctorate. Across 2,116 people with both an undergraduate degree and a doctorate recorded, we trace which undergraduate schools feed which doctoral programs, how often students stay at the same school, and how paths differ by birth-country region.
  4. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Shanghai Jiao Tong University. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.

Sources and credits

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  1. NaNA 2024 nana-conference.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. About me - Jian Weng / Homepage jessy-js.github.io. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. Jinan University Hosts the 29th Asian Cryptography Conference (ASIACRYPT 2023) - Jinan University english.jnu.edu.cn. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. 检索结果 · 暨南大学机构知识库 ir.specialsci.cn. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. Weng Jian-Guangzhou University english.gzhu.edu.cn. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. Current Leadership Team-Guangzhou University english.gzhu.edu.cn. Checked 21 October 2026.