🎓 Education

• Ph.D. in Autonomous Systems & Connectivity, University of Glasgow (UofG), UK
  • Feb. 2023 - Feb. 2026 (Expected)
  • Supervisor: Dr. Jianglin Lan
  • Thesis Focus: Structure-Aware Reinforcement Learning & Multi-Agent Decision Making
• M.S. in Circuits and Systems, Jilin University, China
  • Sep. 2019 - June 2022
• B.S. in Electronic Information Engineering, Liaocheng University, China
  • Sep. 2014 - June 2018

🔍 Research Profile

My research focuses on structure-aware reinforcement learning and multi-agent decision-making for safety-critical autonomous systems. I am particularly interested in identifying geometric and dynamical structures underlying high-dimensional continuous control, and developing policy optimization methods that respect physical constraints, stability, and invariance properties.

🔬 Research Experience

Structure-Aware Learning & Geometric Control (Ph.D. Research) University of Glasgow | 2024 - Present

• To resolve the boundary constraint mismatch in Gaussian policies, achieving 7-10x sample efficiency on continuous control benchmarks.
• Exploring theoretical connections between Hamiltonian mechanics, Symplectic geometry, and RL to ensure physical consistency in learning-based control.
• Key Output: 1 Paper under rebuttal (Top-tier ML), 1 AAMAS Accepted.

Multi-Agent Decision Making & Game Theory University of Glasgow | 2023 - 2024

• Developed scalable coordination frameworks using Level-k reasoning and reconstructed MCTS for mixed traffic scenarios.
• Designed Stackelberg game-theoretic planning algorithms for interactive autonomous driving.
• Key Output: Published in IEEE T-ITS and IEEE T-VT.

Robust Perception & SLAM Jilin University & UofG (Early Stage) | 2021 - 2023

• Developed dynamic-aware visual SLAM systems (DPL-SLAM) robust to moving objects in complex urban environments.
• Key Output: Published in IEEE Sensors Journal and Pattern Recognition.

🏆 Honors & Awards

• Apr. 2025: Research Mobility Scholarship, University of Glasgow (Competitive grant for international research collaboration)
• Apr. 2024: Editor’s Choice Article Award, Sensors Journal
• June 2022: Doctoral Scholarship, China Scholarship Council (CSC) (Full funding for 4 years)
• Dec. 2021: Academic Scholarship, Jilin University (Top 10%)

📝 Publications

(Selected recent works. Full list on Google Scholar)

Uncertainty-Aware Roundabout Navigation: A Switched Decision Framework Integrating Stackelberg Games and Dynamic Potential Fields Permalink

Z. Lin et al, "Uncertainty-Aware Roundabout Navigation: A Switched Decision Framework Integrating Stackelberg Games and Dynamic Potential Fields," IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol., pp 01-13, 2025.

Evaluating scenario-based decision-making for interactive autonomous driving using rational criteria: A survey Permalink

Z. Tian, Z. Lin et al, "Evaluating scenario-based decision-making for interactive autonomous driving using rational criteria: A survey," IEEE Trans. Intell. Transp. Syst., pp 01-20, 2025.

Safety-Critical Multi-Agent MCTS for Mixed Traffic Coordination at Unsignalized Intersections Permalink

Z. Lin, et al, "Safety-Critical Multi-Agent MCTS for Mixed Traffic Coordination at Unsignalized Intersections," IEEE Trans. Intell. Transp. Syst., vol. 26, no. 11, pp. 18992-19006, Nov. 2025

Contingency-Aware Spatiotemporal Optimization for Safe Autonomous Vehicle Trajectory Planning Permalink

Z. Lin, et al, "Contingency-Aware Spatiotemporal Optimization for Safe Autonomous Vehicle Trajectory Planning," IEEE Trans. Intell. Transp. Syst., vol. 26, no. 11, pp. 18487-18499, Nov. 2025.

KAN-LSTM Enhanced Multi-Agent Advantage Actor-Critic Reinforcement Learning for Autonomous Ramp Merging Permalink

Z. Lin, et al, "KAN-LSTM Enhanced Multi-Agent Advantage Actor-Critic Reinforcement Learning for Autonomous Ramp Merging," IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol., pp 01-12, 2025.

SLAM2: Simultaneous Localization and Multimode Mapping for indoor dynamic environments Permalink

Z. Lin, Q. Zhang, Z. Tian, et al., "SLAM2: Simultaneous Localization and Multimode Mapping for indoor dynamic environments," Pattern Recognit., vol. 158, p. 111054, 2025.

Efficient and balanced exploration-driven decision making for autonomous racing using local information Permalink

Z. Tian, et al, "Efficient and balanced exploration-driven decision making for autonomous racing using local information," IEEE Trans. Intell. Veh.,pp 1-17, 2024.

Enhanced visual slam for collision-free driving with lightweight autonomous cars Permalink

Z. Lin, Z. Tian, Q. Zhang, Z. Zhuang, and J. Lan, "Enhanced visual slam for collision-free driving with lightweight autonomous cars," Sensors 2024, 24, 6258.

A conflicts-free, speed-lossless KAN-based reinforcement learning decision system for interactive driving in roundabouts Permalink

Z. Lin, et al, "A conflicts-free, speed-lossless KAN-based reinforcement learning decision system for interactive driving in roundabouts," IEEE Trans. Intell. Transp. Syst., vol. 26, no. 10, pp. 16377-16390, Oct. 2025.

Balanced reward-inspired reinforcement learning for autonomous vehicle racing

T. Zhen, D. Zhao, Z. Lin, et al., "Balanced reward-inspired reinforcement learning for autonomous vehicle racing," in Proc. L4DC., 2024, pp. 628-640.

DPL-SLAM: enhancing dynamic point-line SLAM through dense semantic methods Permalink

Z. Lin, Q. Zhang, Z. Tian, P. Yu, and J. Lan, "DPL-SLAM: Enhancing Dynamic Point-Line SLAM Through Dense Semantic Methods," IEEE Sens. J., vol. 24, no. 9, pp. 14596-14607, 2024.

🛠️ Technical Skills

• Reinforcement Learning: Policy Gradient (PPO, SAC, TD3), Geometric Policy Optimization, Actor-Critic
• Programming: Python, C/C++, MATLAB, R, LaTeX
• Machine Learning: PyTorch, Scikit-learn, Pandas, NumPy, Stable Baselines3
• Robotics & Simulators: ROS/ROS2, CARLA, Isaac Gym, MuJoCo
• Tools: Git, Docker, Linux

☕ Academic Service

Journal Reviewer

• IEEE Transactions on Robotics (T-RO)
• IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems (T-ITS)
• IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology (T-VT)
• IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification
• IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology
• IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measuremen
• Transportation Research Part C
• Pattern Recognition
• ISA Transactions

Conference Service

• Program Committee Student Member: 45th IEEE ICDCS 2025
• Reviewer: ICRA, IROS

📥 Download

Download Full CV (PDF)