Overview
Background
Rocky Tong Chen is currently an Associate Professor and ARC DECRA Fellow with the Data Science Discipline, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, The University of Queensland. Dr Chen's main research interests include recommender systems, LLM agents, graph and sequential data mining, and social media content moderation. His research outputs shares a common focus on developing accurate, efficient, and trustworthy data mining solutions to discover actionable patterns and intelligence from large-scale user data to facilitate prediction and recommendation in a wide range of domains.
To date, Dr Chen has published 90+ peer-reviewed papers in the most prestigious, CORE A*/A-ranked and CCF A-ranked conferences (e.g., KDD, SIGIR, WWW, ICDM, ICDE, AAAI and IJCAI) and journals (e.g., VLDBJ, IEEE TKDE, IEEE TNNLS, ACM TOIS and WWWJ). Dr Chen's work has attracted 7,500+ citations and an h-index of 40 on Google Scholar. a Field-Weighted Citation Impact of 4.51 (SciVal), i.e., his publications attract 4.51 times of the citations in comparison to similar papers of the same age, type and area. According to CNCI (Web of Science), 10 and 36 of his papers are respectively the top-1% and top-10% most cited. His publications have won 4 Best Paper Awards, 1 Best Paper Nomination, and 2 Travel Awards.
Dr Chen has been regularly providing services in the data science discipline as reviewers for CORE A*/A journals like TKDE, TNNLS, TOIS, and as program committee members for CORE A*/A conferences like KDD, SIGIR, NeurIPS, WSDM, ICDM, ACL. He is one of the Area Chairs of top conferences KDD, WWW, and ACL in 2024-2025, and the Program Chair of the 2024 Australasian Database Conference (ADC’24). In 2025, he is appointed as an Associate Editor of the SJR Q1-ranked journal Neural Networks. Besides, he led and delivered a series of technical tutorials at WWW (the No. 1 international web mining conference) in 2022, 2024, and 2025, as well as WSDM’25 (CORE A-ranked conference) and DASFAA’23 (top database conference), which all aimed to promote trustworthy, resource-efficient, and unbiased personalisation algorithms.
Availability
- Associate Professor Rocky Chen is:
- Available for supervision
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Software Engineering, Northwest A&F University (西北农林科技大学)
- Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
Research interests
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Data Mining
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Recommender Systems
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Predictive Analytics
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Machine Learning
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Health Informatics
Research impacts
Dr Chen's research impact has received extensive recognitions, including:
- 2025: Brisbane Lord Mayor’s Convention Trailblazer Award (6 awardees per annum).
- 2025: Outstanding Program Committee Member, KDD’25 (CORE A* data mining conference).
- 2025: Excellent Program Committee Member, SIGIR’25 (CORE A* information retrieval conference).
- 2024: Best Student Paper Award, CIKM’24 (1/347, CORE A data science conference, principal supervisor of first author).
- 2024: World’s Top 2% Scientist in 2024, Stanford University.
- 2024: UQ Faculty of EAIT Early Career Research Leadership Award.
- 2022: ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (2023).
- 2022: UQ EAIT Faculty Early Career Researcher Award.
- 2020: Best Student Paper Award, DASFAA’20 (1/162, top database conference, lead author).
- 2018: Best Paper Award Nomination, ICDM’18 (CORE A* data mining conference, first author).
- 2018: Best Paper Award as the first author in PAKDD’18 (CORE A conference) Workshop on Social Computing.
- 2017: Best Paper Award in ACM WWW’17 (CORE A* conference) Companion on Social Computing.
He has been continuously contributing to the following research areas:
- Recommender Systems and Personalisation. Dr Chen has been continuously publishing in the field of personalisation algorithms and recommender systems [SIGIR’20-25, WWW’23-25, CIKM’23-24, ICDE’19-20]. His work also features pioneering research utilizing (large) language models to build interactive, conversational systems for recommendation, retrieval, and decision support [SIGIR’25, KDD’24, TIST’23, WWW’22, SIGIR’21, TOIS’20].
- Fairness-aware and Trustworthy Machine Learning. Dr Chen leads the area of fairness-aware algorithms, represented by his work on social media analytics [ICDM’25, MM’25, WWW’25, KDD’24]. Besides, his research highlights trustworthiness, where research outcomes span areas like explainable recommendation [ICDE’23, SIGIR’21], knowledge graph reasoning [ICDE’25, TIST’24], anomaly prediction [ICDE’24, WWWJ’23], robust spatial-temporal prediction [ECML’25, CIKM’24, ICDE’24, TKDE’21], and causal inference and machine unlearning [ICML’25, KDD’25, TKDE’24, ICDM’23, ACL’23], which reflect the societal value of his research.
- Combating the Digital Divide across Individuals. The era of personalised computing calls for solutions to the unbalanced computing capacity among individuals. Dr Chen leads the area of on-device personalised recommender systems [KDD’21, WWW’21, VLDB’21, CIKM’21, WWW’20]. Supported by his DRCRA, his recent research focuses on scaling up personalised computing techniques to achieve digitalisation equity [WWW’25, SIGIR’24, WSDM’24, TKDE’24, ICDM’23, SIGIR’23, TOIS’22] and privacy [TOIS’25, CIKM’25, KDD’24, WWW’24] across individuals.
Works
Search Professor Rocky Chen’s works on UQ eSpace
2021
Journal Article
Secure your ride: real-time matching success rate prediction for passenger-driver pairs
Wang, Yuandong, Yin, Hongzhi, Wu, Lian, Chen, Tong and Liu, Chunyang (2021). Secure your ride: real-time matching success rate prediction for passenger-driver pairs. IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering, PP (99), 1-14. doi: 10.1109/tkde.2021.3112739
2020
Journal Article
CRSAL: conversational recommender systems with adversarial learning
Ren, Xuhui, Yin, Hongzhi, Chen, Tong, Wang, Hao, Hung, Nguyen Quoc Viet, Huang, Zi and Zhang, Xiangliang (2020). CRSAL: conversational recommender systems with adversarial learning. ACM Transactions on Information Systems, 38 (4) 3394592, 1-40. doi: 10.1145/3394592
2020
Conference Publication
Multi-level graph convolutional networks for cross-platform Anchor Link Prediction
Chen, Hongxu, Yin, Hongzhi, Sun, Xiangguo, Chen, Tong, Gabrys, Bogdan and Musial, Katarzyna (2020). Multi-level graph convolutional networks for cross-platform Anchor Link Prediction. ACM SIGKDD International Conference on Knowledge Discovery & Data Mining, Virtual Event, CA, United States, 23-27 August 2020. New York, NY, United States: Association for Computing Machinery. doi: 10.1145/3394486.3403201
2020
Other Outputs
Sequence modelling for e-commerce
Chen, Tong (2020). Sequence modelling for e-commerce. PhD Thesis, School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/uql.2020.1003
2020
Conference Publication
Try this instead: personalized and interpretable substitute recommendation
Chen, Tong, Yin, Hongzhi, Ye, Guanhua, Huang, Zi, Wang, Yang and Wang, Meng (2020). Try this instead: personalized and interpretable substitute recommendation. International ACM SIGIR Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval, Virtual Event China, 25-30 July 2020. New York, NY, United States: Association for Computing Machinery. doi: 10.1145/3397271.3401042
2020
Conference Publication
GAG: global attributed graph neural network for streaming session-based recommendation
Qiu, Ruihong, Yin, Hongzhi, Huang, Zi and Chen, Tong (2020). GAG: global attributed graph neural network for streaming session-based recommendation. International ACM SIGIR Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval, Virtual Event China , 25-30 July 2020. New York, NY, United States: Association for Computing Machinery. doi: 10.1145/3397271.3401109
2020
Journal Article
Maintenance Personnel Detection and Analysis Using Mask-RCNN Optimization on Power Grid Monitoring Video
Chen, Tong, Jiang, Ying, Jian, Wang, Qiu, Lanxin, Liu, Huan and Xiao, Zhaolin (2020). Maintenance Personnel Detection and Analysis Using Mask-RCNN Optimization on Power Grid Monitoring Video. Neural Processing Letters, 51 (2), 1599-1610. doi: 10.1007/s11063-019-10159-w
2020
Journal Article
Social boosted recommendation with folded bipartite network embedding
Chen, Hongxu, Yin, Hongzhi, Chen, Tong, Wang, Weiqing, Li, Xue and Hu, Xia (2020). Social boosted recommendation with folded bipartite network embedding. IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering, 34 (2), 914-926. doi: 10.1109/tkde.2020.2982878
2020
Conference Publication
Estimating the Binding and Unbinding Rate of Motor Protein from Mitochondrial Motion
Chen, Xudong, Li, Ming, Chen, Tong, Du, Sidan and Li, Yang (2020). Estimating the Binding and Unbinding Rate of Motor Protein from Mitochondrial Motion. 2020 IEEE 2nd Global Conference on Life Sciences and Technologies (LifeTech), Kyoto, Japan, 10-12 March 2020. Piscataway, NJ United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1109/LifeTech48969.2020.1570618909
2020
Conference Publication
Sequence-aware factorization machines for temporal predictive analytics
Chen, Tong, Yin, Hongzhi, Nguyen, Quoc Viet Hung, Peng, Wen-Chih, Li, Xue and Zhou, Xiaofang (2020). Sequence-aware factorization machines for temporal predictive analytics. 2020 IEEE 36th International Conference on Data Engineering, Dallas, Texas, United States, 20-24 April 2020. LOS ALAMITOS: IEEE Computer Society. doi: 10.1109/ICDE48307.2020.00125
2020
Conference Publication
GCN-based user representation learning for unifying robust recommendation and fraudster detection
Zhang, Shijie, Yin, Hongzhi, Chen, Tong, Hung, Quoc Viet Nguyen, Huang, Zi and Cui, Lizhen (2020). GCN-based user representation learning for unifying robust recommendation and fraudster detection. SIGIR '20: 43rd International ACM SIGIR Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval, Online, July 2020. New York, NY United States: Association for Computing Machinery. doi: 10.1145/3397271.3401165
2020
Conference Publication
Decentralized embedding framework for large-scale networks
Imran, Mubashir, Yin, Hongzhi, Chen, Tong, Shao, Yingxia, Zhang, Xiangliang and Zhou, Xiaofang (2020). Decentralized embedding framework for large-scale networks. International Conference on Database Systems for Advanced Applications, Jeju, South Korea, 24-27 September 2020. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer . doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-59419-0_26
2020
Conference Publication
Next point-of-interest recommendation on resource-constrained mobile devices
Wang, Qinyong, Yin, Hongzhi, Chen, Tong, Huang, Zi, Wang, Hao, Zhao, Yanchang and Viet Hung, Nguyen Quoc (2020). Next point-of-interest recommendation on resource-constrained mobile devices. WWW '20: The Web Conference 2020, Taipei, Taiwan, April 2020. New York, United States: Association for Computing Machinery. doi: 10.1145/3366423.3380170
2020
Conference Publication
Where to go next: modeling long- and short-term user preferences for point-of-interest recommendation
Sun, Ke, Qian, Tieyun, Chen, Tong, Liang, Yile, Nguyen, Quoc Viet Hung and Yin, Hongzhi (2020). Where to go next: modeling long- and short-term user preferences for point-of-interest recommendation. AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, New York, NY, United States, 7-12 February 2020. Palo Alto, CA, United States: Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. doi: 10.1609/aaai.v34i01.5353
2020
Conference Publication
Learned video compression via joint spatial-temporal correlation exploration
Liu, Haojie, Shen, Han, Huang, Lichao, Lu, Ming, Chen, Tong and Ma, Zhan (2020). Learned video compression via joint spatial-temporal correlation exploration. 34th AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI-20), New York, NY United States, 7-12 February 2020. Washington, DC United States: Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. doi: 10.1609/aaai.v34i07.6825
2019
Conference Publication
Codedretrieval: Joint image compression and retrieval with neural networks
Liu, Linfeng, Liu, Haojie, Chen, Tong, Shen, Qiu and Ma, Zhan (2019). Codedretrieval: Joint image compression and retrieval with neural networks. 2019 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN), Budapest, Hungary, 14-19 July 2019. Piscataway, NJ United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1109/VCIP47243.2019.8965918
2019
Journal Article
Online sales prediction via trend alignment-based multitask recurrent neural networks
Chen, Tong, Yin, Hongzhi, Chen, Hongxu, Wang, Hao, Zhou, Xiaofang and Li, Xue (2019). Online sales prediction via trend alignment-based multitask recurrent neural networks. Knowledge and Information Systems, 62 (6), 2139-2167. doi: 10.1007/s10115-019-01404-8
2019
Journal Article
An integrated strategy to identify genes responsible for sesquiterpene biosynthesis in turmeric
Sun, Jingru, Cui, Guanghong, Ma, Xiaohui, Zhan, Zhilai, Ma, Ying, Teng, Zhongqiu, Gao, Wei, Wang, Yanan, Chen, Tong, Lai, Changjiangsheng, Zhao, Yujun, Tang, Jinfu, Lin, Huixin, Shen, Ye, Zeng, Wen, Guo, Juan and Huang, Luqi (2019). An integrated strategy to identify genes responsible for sesquiterpene biosynthesis in turmeric. Plant Molecular Biology, 101 (3), 221-234. doi: 10.1007/s11103-019-00892-0
2019
Conference Publication
Minimal path based particle tracking in low SNR fluorescence microscopy images
Lu, Sheng, Chen, Tong, Yang, Fan, Peng, Chenglei, Du, Sidan and Li, Yang (2019). Minimal path based particle tracking in low SNR fluorescence microscopy images. ICBIP '19: 2019 4th International Conference on Biomedical Signal and Image Processing, Chendgu, China, 13 - 15 August 2019. New York, NY United States: Association for Computing Machinery. doi: 10.1145/3354031.3354035
2019
Conference Publication
Convolutional Recurrent Neural Networks for Text Classification
Wang, Ruishuang, Li, Zhao, Cao, Jian, Chen, Tong and Wang, Lei (2019). Convolutional Recurrent Neural Networks for Text Classification. 2019 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN), Budapest, Hungary, 14-19 July 2019. Piscataway, NJ United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1109/IJCNN.2019.8852406
Funding
Current funding
Supervision
Availability
- Associate Professor Rocky Chen is:
- Available for supervision
Looking for a supervisor? Read our advice on how to choose a supervisor.
Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
Value Measurement of Data Products
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Shazia Sadiq
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Doctor Philosophy
Multimodal Representation Learning for Responsive Video-sharing Services
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Helen Huang, Dr Yadan Luo
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Doctor Philosophy
Lightweight Graph Neural Networks for Recommendation
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Hongzhi Yin
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Doctor Philosophy
Scalable and Lightweight On-Device Recommender Systems
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Hongzhi Yin
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Doctor Philosophy
Scalable and Lightweight On-Device Recommender Systems
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Hongzhi Yin, Dr Junliang Yu
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Doctor Philosophy
Scalable and Generalizable Graph Neural Networks
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Hongzhi Yin
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Doctor Philosophy
An Accessibility-Aware POI Recommender System
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Junliang Yu
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Doctor Philosophy
Data as a Service Architecture
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Shazia Sadiq
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Doctor Philosophy
Sustainable On-Device Recommender Systems
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Hongzhi Yin
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Doctor Philosophy
Fairness-aware Recommender Systems for Marginalized User Groups
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Helen Huang
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Doctor Philosophy
Decentralised Collaborative Predictive Analytics on Personal Smart Devices
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Hongzhi Yin
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Doctor Philosophy
LLM-enhanced Recommender System
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Hongzhi Yin
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Doctor Philosophy
Empowering Recommender Systems via User Behaviour Simulation
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Priyanka Singh, Professor Xue Li
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Doctor Philosophy
Improving Traffic Dynamics Simulation Quality for Enhanced Safety and Efficiency: Evaluation, Modelling, and Application
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Zuduo Zheng
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Doctor Philosophy
Race, Gender and Platform Logic: Twitter Harassment of Chinese Women in Australia Across the COVID-19 Timeline
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Janeen Baxter, Dr Rennie Lee
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Doctor Philosophy
Revolutionise Australian Strata Management with Large Language Models
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Hongzhi Yin
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Doctor Philosophy
Reliable Multimodal Recommender Systems
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Junliang Yu, Professor Hongzhi Yin
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Doctor Philosophy
Establishment LCA method coupled with an activated sludge model for sustainable nitrogen management technology evaluation.
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Liu Ye, Dr Shakil Ahmmed
Completed supervision
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2026
Doctor Philosophy
Advancing Causal Effect Estimation: From Training Data Expansion to Estimator Design
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Shazia Sadiq, Professor Hongzhi Yin
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2026
Doctor Philosophy
Lightweight Embedding Learning for Recommender Systems
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Hongzhi Yin
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2025
Doctor Philosophy
Graph Condensation for Real-World Graph Representation at Scale
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Hongzhi Yin
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2025
Doctor Philosophy
Decentralized Learning for On-device Recommendation
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Hongzhi Yin
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2025
Doctor Philosophy
Decentralized Point-Of-Interest (POI) Recommender Systems
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Hongzhi Yin
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2022
Doctor Philosophy
Neural Attentive Recommender Systems
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Hongzhi Yin, Professor Helen Huang
Media
Enquiries
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