Associate Professor

Brief Introduction

Qing CHEN is currently an associate professor at Tongji University, entitled in the Shanghai Chenguang Program. She received her B.Eng degree and PhD degree from Zhejiang University and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology respectively. After graduation, she worked as a postdoc researcher at INRIA and Ecole Polytechnique. Her research interests lie in information visualization, human-computer interaction, big data visual analytics, generative AI and their applications in education, healthcare, design, and business intelligence, having published extensively on these subjects. She works as the committee member of various top conferences and the community chair for IEEE VIS 2022-2023. She received several awards including CSIG (China Society of Image and Graphics) Natural Science Award, HongKong ICT Best Innovation Silver Award, Asia Pacific ICT Awards, and Visual Data Storytelling Contest Winner. Her work has been exhibited at Dutch Design Week, Milan Design Week, among others, and have been covered by mainstream media outlets such as Shanghai Education Television and People's Daily. She leads multiple projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, as well as industry-academia collaborations with companies such as Alibaba, Ant Group, Tencent, and Zhipu AI. For more information, visit: http://qlab.org.cn

Research

Information Visualization

Human Computer Interaction

Big Data Analytics

Generative AI, and their applications in Online Education, Intelligent Design, AI-powered Healthcare, Business Intelligence.

Teaching

Undergraduate: Information Visualization, Professional Design 5, Programming Fundamentals for Designers

Graduate: Design Studio 1, Design Studio 2, Introduction to Big Data Visual Analytics

Academic and social Post

2026  ChinaVis International Forum Chair

2025-present  CAD/Graphics Committee Member

2024  IEEE VIS Fast Forward Chair

2023-present  Computer Science Review Guest Editor

2020-present  CCF Human-Computer Interaction Committee Member

2022-2023  IEEE VIS Community Chair

2020-present  IEEE VIS/PacificVis/ChinaVis Program Committee Member

2020-present  CSIG Visualization and Visual Analytics Committee Member

2020-present  CCF YOCSEF Shanghai Academic AC

2019  IEEE VIS Session Chair

2015-present  ACM CHI, IEEE TVCG, IEEE InfoVis, IEEE VAST, IEEE EuroVis, IEEE PacificVis, ACM TIST, IEEE TLT, ACM IUI, IJHCS, IJHCI, Nature Culture Heritage, Scientific Reports Reviewer

2015-2018  ACM-W HKUST Chapter Activity Chair

Education Background

2013.08-2018.08  Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

2018.04-2018.06  Visiting Scholar, Inria Saclay

2009.09-2013.06  B.Eng in Digital Media Technology, School of Computer Science, Zhejiang University

2011.08-2012.04  Exchange Student, School of Interactive Arts and Technology, School of Computer Science, Simon Fraser University

Work Experience

2023.12-present  Associate Professor, Tongji University

2020.02-2023.12  Assistant Professor, Tongji University

2018.10-2019.12  Postdoc Researcher, Inria & École Polytechnique

2014.08-2018.08  Teaching/Research Assistant, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Design

[1] 2025-2026  Research on LLM-Based Generative UI, supported by Alibaba

[2] 2025-2026  AI+Design Knowledge Graph on Design Disciplines, Tongji University

[3] 2024-2027  Research on Mixed-Initiative Intelligent Visualization Methods and Techniques, NSF

[4] 2023-2026  Information Communication Design for Data Intelligence, NSF Shanghai

[5] 2023-2026 National Key Research and Development Program, Information Content Filtering and Recommendation for Vulnerable Groups

[6] 2022-2024  Tencent Technology Tree Project, supported by OUTPUT/Tencent

[7] 2022-2023  University-Industry Collaborative Education Program, The Ministry of Education

[8] 2022-2023  Self-service Analytics System Design for Business Intelligence Applications, supported by AntV

[9] 2022-2023  ChenGuang Project, supported by Shanghai Education Development Foundation

[10] 2021-2023  Automatic Information Visualization Generation Techniques, NSF

[11] 2021-2023  Visual Analytics of Complex Sequence Data, NSF

[12] 2021-2023  Visual Analytics of Self-regulated Learning from Online Learning Behavior Data, NSF

[13] 2020-2021  AI-based Automatic Visualization Generation, supported by AntV

[14] 2018-2020  Dynamic representation of large volumes of care pathways (collaboration with France government CNAMS)

[15] 2018-2020  An Open Learning Design, Data Analytics and Visualization Framework for E-Learning ITS/388/17FP

[16] 2016-2018  An Open Learning Design, Data Analytics and Visualization Framework for E-Learning ITS/306/15FP

[17] 2014-2018  VisMOOC: A Visualization Tool for MOOC F0532-CSE03

[18] 2014-2017  Visual Analysis of Customer Loyalty RGC/GRF16208514

Publications

[1] Li, X., Zhang, S., Cao, N., & Chen, Q. * (2026). Beyond Input-Output: Rethinking Creativity through Design-by-Analogy in Human-AI Collaboration.In Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

[2] Guo, Y., Qi, X., Li, H., Zhang, J., Shi, D., Chen, Q.*, Weiskopf, D. and Cao, N.*, (2026). Urania: Visualizing Data Analysis Pipelines for Natural Language-based Data Exploration. ACM Transactions on Interactive Intelligent Systems, 16(1), pp.1-26.

[3] Liu, G., Ye, J., Jin, Q., Yuan, C., Li, X., Shi, Y., Chen, Q. & Cao, N., (2025). ViviClay: Designing and Fabricating Ceramics with Animation Effects on Physical Surfaces. In Proceedings of the 38th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (pp. 1-18).

[4] He, Y., Xu, K., Cao, S., Shi, Y., Chen, Q., and Cao, N., (2025). Leveraging Foundation Models for Crafting Narrative Visualization: A Survey. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics.

[5] Chen, Q., Chen, Y., Zou R., Shuai, W., Guo Y., Wang J., & Cao, N. (2025). Chart2Vec: A Universal Embedding of Context-Aware Visualizations. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 31(4), 2167-2181.

[6] Chen, Q., Shuai, W., Zhang, J., Sun, Z., & Cao, N. (2024). Beyond Numbers: Creating Aalogies to Enhance Data Comprehension and Communication with Generative AI. In Proceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

[7] Guo, Y., Shi, D., Guo, M., Wu, Y., Cao, N. * & Chen, Q.* (2024). Talk2Data: A Natural Language Interface for Exploratory Visual Analysis via Question Decomposition. ACM Transactions on Interactive Intelligent Systems.

[8] Chen, Q., Chen, N., Shuai, W., Wu, G., Xu, Z., Tong, H., & Cao, N. (2024). Calliope-Net: Automatic Generation of Graph Data Facts via Annotated Node-link Diagrams. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 30(1), 562-572.

[9] Wang, X., Cao, N. *, Chen, Q. * & Cao, S. (2024). The interaction design of 3D virtual humans: A survey. Computer Science Review, 53, 100653.

[10] Guo, Y., Cao, N.*, Cai, L., Wu, Y., Weiskopf, D., Shi, D., & Chen, Q.* (2023). Datamator: An Authoring Tool for Creating Datamations via Data Query Decomposition. Applied Sciences, 13(17), p.9709.

[11] Guo, Y., Cao, N., Qi X., Li, H., Shi, D., Zhang J., Chen Q., Daniel Weiskopf. (2023). Enhancing Natural Language-Based Data Exploration with Analysis Pipeline Illustration. IEEE VIS.

[12] Chen, Q., Cao, S., Wang, J., & Cao, N. (2023). How Does Automation Shape the Process of Narrative Visualization: A Survey of Tools. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics.

[13] Li, Y., Qi, Y., Shi, Y., Chen, Q., Cao, N., & Chen, S. (2022). Diverse Interaction Recommendation for Public Users Exploring Multi-view Visualization using Deep Learning. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 29(1), 95-105.

[14] Lan, X., Wu, Y., Shi, Y., Chen, Q., & Cao, N. (2022, April). Negative emotions, positive outcomes? exploring the communication of negativity in serious data stories. In Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-14).

[15] Chen, Q., Sun, F., Xu, X., Chen, Z., Wang, J., & Cao, N. (2022). Vizlinter: A linter and fixer framework for data visualization. IEEE transactions on visualization and computer graphics, 28(1), 206-216.

[16] Guo, S., Jin, Z., Chen, Q., Gotz, D., Zha, H., & Cao, N. (2021). Interpretable anomaly detection in event sequences via sequence matching and visual comparison. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 28(12), 4531-4545.

[17] Chen, Q., Yue, X., Plantaz, X., Chen, Y., Shi, C., Pong, T. C., & Qu, H. (2020). ViSeq: Visual Analytics of Learning Sequence in Massive Open Online Courses. IEEE transactions on visualization and computer graphics. 26 (3), 1622-1636.

[18] Qu, H., Shi, C., Fu, S., & Chen, Q. (2020). Method and system for analyzing user activities related to a video. U.S. Patent No. 10,616,626. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

[19] Guo, S., Jin, Z., Chen, Q., Gotz. D., Zha. H., Cao. N. (2019, December). Visual Anomaly Detection in Event Sequence Data. IEEE BigData 2019.

[20] Fekete, J. D., Chen, Q., Feng, Y., & Renault, J. (2019, October). Practical Use Cases for Progressive Visual Analytics. IEEE VIS DISA 2019.

[21] Chen, Q., Li, Z., Pong, T. C., & Qu, H. (2019, April). Designing Narrative Slideshows for Learning Analytics. In 2019 IEEE Pacific Visualization Symposium (PacificVis) (pp. 237-246). IEEE.

[22] Mu, X., Xu, K., Chen, Q., Du, F., Wang, Y., & Qu, H. (2019). MOOCad: Visual Analysis of Anomalous Learning Activities in Massive Open Online Courses. IEEE EuroVis 2019.

[23] Xia, M., Sun, M., Wei, H., Chen, Q., Wang, Y., Shi, L., ... & Ma, X. (2019, April). PeerLens: Peer-inspired Interactive Learning Path Planning in Online Question Pool. In Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (p. 634). ACM.

[24] Chen, Y., Chen, Q., Zhao, M., Boyer, S., Veeramachaneni, K., & Qu, H. (2016, October). DropoutSeer: Visualizing learning patterns in Massive Open Online Courses for dropout reasoning and prediction. In 2016 IEEE Conference on Visual Analytics Science and Technology (VAST) (pp. 111-120). IEEE.

[25] Chen, Q., Chen, Y., Liu, D., Shi, C., Wu, Y., & Qu, H. (2015). Peakvizor: Visual analytics of peaks in video clickstreams from massive open online courses. IEEE transactions on visualization and computer graphics, 22(10), 2315-2330.

[26] Qu, H., & Chen, Q. (2015). Visual analytics for MOOC data. IEEE computer graphics and applications, 35(6), 69-75.

[27] Shi, C., Fu, S., Chen, Q., & Qu, H. (2015, April). VisMOOC: Visualizing video clickstream data from massive open online courses. In 2015 IEEE Pacific visualization symposium (PacificVis) (pp. 159-166). IEEE.

BOOK

[1] 2026 Ten Lectures on Human-Computer Interaction (China Machine Press), Contributing Author

[2] 2025 Introduction to Information Visualization (China Machine Press), Author

Honors and Awards

[1] 2025  Visual Data Storytelling Contest Winner

[2] 2025  China Data Content Conference – Data Content of the Year

[3] 2024  Visual Data Storytelling Contest Honorable Mention

[4] 2024  China Data Content Conference – Data Content of the Year

[5] 2023  IEEE VIS Best Poster Award

[6] 2023  Tongji University Excellent Head Teacher Award

[7] 2022  CSIG (China Society of Image and Graphics) Natural Science Award

[8] 2022  China Data Content Conference – Data Content of the Year

[9] 2022  Tongji University Excellent Online Graduate Course Program

[10] 2021  ChinaVis Best Poster Award

[11] 2021  Shanghai Chenguang Talent Program

[12] 2016  Honorable Mention Award, Visualization Contest for Public Welfare on the Cloud by Alibaba

[13] 2015 Silver Award, Hong Kong ICT Awards Best Innovation

[14] 2015 Merit Award, Asia Pacific ICT Awards

[15] 2014 First Prize, Design Thinking CAA-HKUST

International exchanges and activities

[1] 2025  World Design Capital Conference (WDCC) – Intelligent Design Forum, Academic Host & Invited Presentation

[2] 2025  Milan Design Week & Dutch Design Week, Exhibitor
[3] 2024  Tongji University “Data that Tells China — Chinese Cultural Data Visualization Exhibition” at Tokyo & Osaka, Curator

[4] 2014-present  IEEE VIS/EuroVis/PacificVis/ChinaVis Conference Presentation

[5] 2023  GAMES Seminar Invited Presentation

[6] 2023  ChinaVis Invited Presentation

[7] 2022  CCF YOCSEF Shanghai Metaverse Forum Series Executive Director

[8] 2021  Zhejiang University Summer School Invited Presentation

[9] 2021  Nanjing University of the Arts Invited Presentation

[10] 2021  CSIG-VIS Invited Presentation Wuhan University/China Academy of Art

[11] 2021  CSIG-VIS Young Scholar Forum Invited Presentation

[12] 2021  CCF Big Data Conference Invited Presentation

[13] 2019  Data Science Summer School Project Presentation

[14] 2018  Visiting Scholar at Inria Saclay

[15] 2018  Invited Speaker for AEARU 2018 Conference

[16] 2016  Invited Speaker for HK Metro Radio

[17] 2015-2016 HKUST Teaching Assistant Coordinator

[18] 2015  Project Presentation for 25 projects for HKUST 25th Anniversary

[19] 2015  Project Presentation for HKICT&Asia Pacific ICT Awards

[20] 2015  Poster Design for IEEE Transactions for Big Data

[21] 2015  M.C. for HKUST One Million Dollar Enterpreneurship Competition

[22] 2015  M.C. for Prize Ceremony for the 14th National Challenge Cup

Contact

Email: qingchen@tongji.edu.cn