Hi, I’m a graduate student at the University of Chicago pursuing an MS in Applied Data Science (GPA: 4.0/4.0), with a background in Financial Mathematics.

My research interests include machine learning optimization, computational pathology, Agentic AI, and assortment optimization. I am fortunate to work with Prof. Rebecca Willett, Prof. Rui Gao, and Prof. Utku Pamuksuz.

Education Background

• University of Chicago (Chicago, IL)
  • M.S. in Applied Data Science, GPA: 4.0/4.0 (12/2025)
  • Advisor: Prof. Utku Pamuksuz
• Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College (Zhuhai, China)
  • B.S. in Financial Mathematics, First Class Honours, GPA: 3.77/4.0 (09/2020–06/2024)
  • Advisor: Prof. Zhefang ZHOU
• University of Oxford (Online)
  • Summer Course: Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Grade: A (08/2022)

Research Experience

• (Ongoing) Accelerating Adaptive Algorithms At Scale through Reparameterization
  • Research Assistant | Supervisor: Prof. Rebecca Willett
  • The University of Chicago
• (Ongoing) Neural Assortment Optimization
  • Research Intern | Supervisor: Prof. Rui Gao
  • The University of Texas at Austin
• (Ongoing) Foundation Model Fine-tuning for Breast Cancer Biomarker Prediction | Honorable Mention
  • Data Scientist | Supervisor: Prof. Utku Pamuksuz, Dr. Samir Atiya
  • The University of Chicago Capstone Project
• (Published) Analyst Reports and Stock Performance: Evidence From the Chinese Market
  • Supervisor: Dr. Yujia HU
  • Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University

Selected Papers

• Adela DePavia, Jose Cruzado, Jiayou Liang, Vasileios Charisopoulos, Rebecca Willett. Faster Adaptive Optimization via Expected Gradient Outer Product Reparameterization. (Submitted to SIMODS)
• Zhen Yang, Jiayou Liang, Yang An, Zhi Wang, Rui Gao, Shuang Li. Neural Assortment Optimization. (In prep)
• Samir Atiya, Jiayou Liang, Kwaku Ofori-Atta, Michelle Peng, Huili Wang, Yifei Zhou, Utku Pamuksuz, Ankush Patel, Junhun Zhao, Mary Edgertion. Validating two pathological foundation models for breast biomarker detection. (In prep)

Awards & Honors

• Honorable Mention, University of Chicago Applied Data Science Capstone Showcase, 2025
• First Class Award, Beijing Normal University–Hong Kong Baptist University United International College, 2021 & 2022
• President’s Honor Roll, Beijing Normal University–Hong Kong Baptist University United International College
• Third Prize in Guangdong Division, China Undergraduate Mathematical Contest in Modeling, 2022

You can find my CV here: Jiayou Liang’s Curriculum Vitae

Email / Github