About me:)

Hi! I am a first-year Ph.D. student at Virginia Tech, where I work under the guidance of Professor Bo Ji.

Previously, I completed my B.Eng. degree at ShanghaiTech University (co-founded by the Chinese Academy of Sciences) in China. As an undergraduate research assistant in the Intelligence, Information and Decision (IID) Lab, part of the Network Intelligence Center (NICE), I was advised by Prof. Ziyu Shao. I also collaborated with Professor Lei Ying’s research group at the University of Michigan, focusing on online learning and control. I also worked as a Machine Learning Research Intern at Nanjing University, where I researched topics in multi-agent reinforcement learning and collaboration strategies for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

My research interests include Bandit & (Deep) Reinforcement Learning, Recommendation Systems, Large Language Models, Network Intelligence, Online Learning and Optimization, and AI for Science.

Currently, I am focusing on LLM for Recommendation Systems (LLM4RS) in collaboration with Amazon and Professor Dawei Zhou at Virginia Tech. My research topic is Revolutionizing Recommender Systems with LLMs: A Dual Approach of Re-ranking and Black-box Prompt Optimization.

As an undergraduate research assistant, I focused my research on the following topics:

• Constrained Personalized Federated Learning
• MaxWeight with Discounted UCB Algorithm
• Constrained GNN Bandit with Social Network

Basic Information

Please feel free to access my CV: Bowen Xu's CV, and contact me at:

• Email: bowenxu@vt.edu
• Social Media: WeChat (ID: xubowen-0816), Linkedin.

GPA (Undergraduate)

• 5 Graduate courses: 4.0 / 4.0.
• Junior: 4.0 / 4.0 (1 / 177, top 1).
• Overall: 3.8 / 4.0.

Awards and Honors

• Outstanding Graduate Student, 2024.
• Outstanding Student (top 3-7%) ShanghaiTech University, 2021.
• Outstanding Student (top 3-7%) ShanghaiTech University, 2023.
• Merit Student (top 7-8%) ShanghaiTech University, 2022.
• Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM): Honorable Mention, 2022.
• Mathematics Competition of Chinese College Students: Second Prize, 2021.
• Mathematics Competition of Chinese College Students: Third Prize, 2022.
• Mathematics Competition of Shanghai College Students: Second Prize, 2021.
• Mathematics Competition of Shanghai College Students: Third Prize, 2022.
• National Undergraduate Mathematics Competition Network Challenge: Third Prize, 2022.
• Outstanding Individual Award for Society Practice, 2021.
• Outstanding Group Award for Industrial Practice (First Prize), 2022.

Teaching Assistant

• Spring 2022 Mathematical Analysis II (Head TA).
• Spring 2023 Probability and Statistics for EECS.