Hello, and welcome to my website! I am Zipeng Ling, a thesis-based M.Sc. (similar to an MPhil) student at the University of Alberta, majoring in Computing Science, where I am fortunate to be advised by Prof. Zhou Yang. Prior to this, I obtained my B.Eng. degree in Communication Engineering from Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications.
Throughout my academic journey, I have been fortunate to receive support from mentors and collaborators. Previously, I spent memorable time with Prof. Huaxiu Yao. In addition, I had the privilege of working with Prof. Xuming Hu. Before that, I was fortunate to be advised by Prof. Shichao Pei. Earlier, my research began under the supervision of Prof. Zhuying Li. I am also honored to work alongside Yue Huang, who has always offered me guidance throughout this stressful yet rewarding journey. Last but not least, I am grateful for my long-term collaboration with Prof. Yao Wan.
💡 Research Interests
- LLM Reasoning: While LLMs can solve extremely challenging problems and output correct labels, their reasoning traces and thinking paradigms often remain flawed and unclear.
- AI Agent: We study how agentic systems plan, collaborate and execute to solve complex tasks through multi-step decision-making.
- Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG): Optimizing how LLMs retrieve, comprehend, and make use of multi-modal information in databases for generation.
🔥 News
- 2026.09: 🥳 I will join Microsoft as a research intern!
- 2026.08: 🥳 Two papers are accepted by EMNLP 2026 Main Conference, see you in Budapest (virtually)!
- 2026.02: 🥳 I will join University of Alberta as a Thesis-based M.Sc. student!
- 2025.08: 🎉 One paper is accepted by EMNLP 2025 Findings, see you in Suzhou!
- 2025.07: 🎉 I will join Bosch as a NLP research intern!
- 2025.06: 🎉 Graduated from NJUPT today, thanks for four years!
📝 Selected Papers
- EMNLP’26 Main LLM Abstention Can Be a Prompt Artifact, in Addition to Genuine Uncertainty
Zipeng Ling, Shuliang Liu, Yuehao Tang, et al.
- EMNLP’26 Main Correct Prediction, Wrong Steps? Consensus Reasoning Knowledge Graph for Robust Chain-of-Thought Synthesis
Zipeng Ling, Shuliang Liu, Seonil Son, et al.
💻 Work Experiences
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MicrosoftRedmond, United States
2026.09 – Present: Research Intern
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BoschSuzhou, China
2025.08 – 2026.08: NLP Research Intern
Microsoft
Bosch📖 Education
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University of AlbertaEdmonton, Canada
2026.09 - 2028.06: Thesis-based M.Sc., Computing Science.
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Nanjing University of Posts and TelecommunicationsNanjing, China
2021.09 - 2025.06: B.Eng., Communication Engineering.
University of Alberta
Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications🎤 Invited Talk
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2026.07: Lee Language Lab, Ontario Tech University. Invited by Prof. Annie En-Shiun Lee.
🎖 Honors and Awards
- 2026.08: Bosch 2026 Q2 Innovation Promotion Award.
- 2024.12: Merit-based Scholarship.
🤝 Services
- Conference Reviewer: AAAI, ACL Rolling Review, ICSE (Sub Reviewer).
- Teaching Assistant: ESL (English as a Second Language) @ NJUPT.
🎯 Misc.
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I was born in Suzhou, China, a city long famous for its prosperous economy and beautiful gardens 🏙️, where EMNLP 2025 was held.
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As for my taste 🍜, contrary to the stereotype many people may have about locals, I can handle 🌶️ spicy food (Sichuan cuisine) very well!
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I love playing video games 🎮! My Valorant ranking in Asian servers (particularly Hong Kong and Tokyo) has reached Platinum.
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I am grateful for those who help me along this way ❤️.