Chengyu Zhang 

Lecturer (Assistant Professor)
Department of Computer Science
Loughborough University, UK

Email (permanent): dale.chengyu.zhang AT gmail.com
Email (work): c.zhang4 AT lboro.ac.uk

Chengyu Zhang is a Lecturer (equivalent to Assistant Professor in the US) in the Department of Computer Science at Loughborough University, UK. Previously, he was a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zurich (2022–2025), working with Prof. Zhendong Su. He received his Ph.D. and B.S. degrees with honors from East China Normal University (ECNU) (2012–2021), where he was advised by Prof. Geguang Pu. He was also a visiting Ph.D. student at ETH Zurich (2018–2019) and co-founded Shanghai Neoclub Information Technology Co., Ltd. (2015–2016).

His research interests are in:

  • Software Engineering
  • Programming Languages
  • Formal Methods
He is currently working on trustworthy automated reasoning techniques and their applications to software reliability.

Project Yin-Yang for SMT Solver Testing: [Z3/CVC4 bugs: 1,667 (total) / 1,244 (fixed)]
[Reports: YinYang, OpFuzz, TypeFuzz]

  I am looking for Ph.D. and visiting students, with funding through studentships, scholarships (such as CSC), or self-support. If you are passionate about research and interested in working with me, regardless of your background, feel free to drop me an email.

Selected Papers (all)

  1. SMT2Test: From SMT Formulas to Effective Test Cases.
    Chengyu Zhang and Zhendong Su
    In Proceedings of SPLASH/OOPSLA 2024 .    

  2. Finding Logic Bugs in Spatial Database Engines via Affine Equivalent Inputs.
    Wenjing Deng, Qiuyang Mang, Chengyu Zhang and Manuel Rigger
    In Proceedings of SIGMOD 2025 (acceptance rate: 12%, 30/254).    

  3. Finding and Understanding Defects in Static Analyzers by Constructing Automated Oracles.
    Weigang He, Peng Di, Mengli Ming, Chengyu Zhang, Ting Su, Shijie Li and Yulei Sui
    In Proceedings of FSE 2024.    

  4. An Electroencephalography Study on Cognitive Load in Visual and Textual Programming.
    Sverrir Thorgeirsson, Chengyu Zhang, Theo Weidmann, Karl-Heinz Weidmann, Zhendong Su
    In Proceedings of ICER 2024 (acceptance rate: 20%, 36/179).    

  5. DivLog: Log Parsing with Prompt Enhanced In-Context Learning.
    Junjielong Xu, Ruichun Yang, Yintong Huo, Chengyu Zhang and Pinjia He.
    In Proceedings of ICSE 2024.    

  6. Testing Graph Database Engines via Query Partitioning.
    Matteo Kamm, Manuel Rigger, Chengyu Zhang and Zhendong Su.
    In Proceedings of ISSTA 2023.     [ Artifact ]

  7. FuzzBtor2: A Random Generator of Word-Level Model Checking Problems in Btor2 Format.
    Shengping Xiao, Chengyu Zhang, Jianwen Li, Geguang Pu.
    In Proceedings of TACAS 2023 (tool demonstration paper).     [ Tool ]

  8. Generative Type-Aware Mutation for Testing SMT Solvers.
    Jiwon Park, Dominik Winterer, Chengyu Zhang and Zhendong Su.
    In Proceedings of SPLASH/OOPSLA 2021.     [ Tool ]

  9. Feedback-Guided Circuit Structure Mutation for Testing Hardware Model Checkers.
    Chengyu Zhang, Minquan Sun, Jianwen Li, Ting Su and Geguang Pu
    In Proceedings of ICCAD 2021 (acceptance rate: 23.5%, 121/514).     [ Tool ]

  10. On the Unusual Effectiveness of Type-aware Operator Mutations for Testing SMT Solvers.
    Dominik Winterer*, Chengyu Zhang* and Zhendong Su. (*: Equal contributions)
    In Proceedings of SPLASH/OOPSLA 2020.     [ Tool ]

  11. Validating SMT Solvers via Semantic Fusion.
    Dominik Winterer*, Chengyu Zhang* and Zhendong Su. (*: Equal contributions)
    In Proceedings of PLDI 2020.     [ Slides / Video abstract / Tool ]
    12. 🏆   PLDI Distinguished Paper Award

  12. Detecting Nondeterministic Payment Bugs in Ethereum Smart Contracts.
    Shuai Wang, Chengyu Zhang and Zhendong Su.
    In Proceedings of SPLASH/OOPSLA 2019.

  13. Finding and Understanding Bugs in Software Model Checkers.
    Chengyu Zhang, Ting Su, Yichen Yan, Fuyuan Zhang, Geguang Pu and Zhendong Su.
    In Proceedings of ESEC/FSE 2019 (acceptance rate: 24%, 74/303).    [ Slides / Reported bugs ]

  14. SmartUnit: Empirical Evaluations for Automated Unit Testing of Embedded Software in Industry.
    Chengyu Zhang, Yichen Yan, Hanru Zhou, Yinbo Yao, Ke Wu, Ting Su, Weikai Miao and Geguang Pu.
    In Proceedings of ICSE 2018, SEIP track (acceptance rate: 24%, 31/131).

Academic Services

Awards and Honours

Teaching Assistants

  • Automated Software Testing, ETH Zurich (2022 Spring, 2023 Spring, 2024 Spring)
  • Software Engineering Seminar, ETH Zurich (2022 Fall, 2023 Fall)
  • Research Topics in Software Engineering, ETH Zurich (2022 Spring, 2023 Spring, 2024 Spring)
  • Compiler Design, ETH Zurich (2019 Fall, 2022 Fall, 2023 Fall)
  • Data Structures and Algorithms, ECNU (2018 Spring)
last modified: 2025.05.01