Qingyuan was born and raised in Wuhan in central China, a city known for its many lakes and rivers and rich cultural heritage. After high school, he went to the Special Class for the Gifted Young in University of Science and Technology of China and majored in mathematics. He then went to Stanford University for postgraduate studies and obtained his Ph.D. in Statistics in 2016. He spent three years in the Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania as a postdoctoral fellow before joining the Statistical Laboratory in University of Cambridge as a University Lecturer in 2019. He was promoted to Professor of Statistics at University of Cambridge in 2024.
Qingyuan’s research interests lie primarily in drawing scientific conclusions about causal relationships using experimental and observational data, a fast-growing area known as “causal inference”. More broadly, he strives to understand how “design”—a principle he views as fundamental yet elusive in statistics—shapes the practice of statistical applications in biomedical and social sciences.
My name in Chinese is 赵卿元 (click to find out how to pronounce it).