Lei Zhang
Curriculum Vitae
Contact Information
Beijing International Center for
Office Phone: +(86 10) **
Mathematical Research,
Fax: +(86 10) **
Peking University,
Email: zhangl@math.pku.edu.cn
No. 5 Yiheyuan Road, Beijing 100871, China
Homepage: http://bicmr.pku.edu.cn/~zhanglei

Education
Mar. 2004 - Dec. 2008, Ph.D. in Mathematics/ Minor in Computational Science,
Penn State University.
Sep. 2001 - Dec. 2003, M.A. in Computational Mathematics,
Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Sep. 1997 - Jul. 2001, B.S. in Computational Mathematics,
Peking University, China.
Professional Experience
June 2013 - Present, Research Scientist/Associate Professor, Beijing International Center for Math-
ematical Research, Center for Quantitative Biology, Peking University, China
July 2012 - June 2013, Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics, City University of Hong
Kong, Hong Kong.
Aug. 2009 - June 2012, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics, University of
California, Irvine.
Jan. 2009 - Aug. 2009, Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Mathematics, Penn State University.
Courtesy and Visiting Appointment
October 2014 - Present, PI, Center for Quantitative Biology, Peking University, China
Research Interests
1. Scientific computing and numerical methods of Partial Differential Equations
2. Computational biology
3. Computational materials science
Research Grants
1. NSFC Major Project Program, RMB 3,500K, 2015-2018, CoPI.
2. NSFC A3 Foresight Program, RMB 4,000K, 2014-2018, CoPI.
3. The Recruitment Program of Global Youth Experts, RMB 2,000K, 2013-2016.
4. CityU Start-up Grant, PI, HKD 200K, 2012-2013.
Honors and Awards
1. CCBS Retreat Research Opportunity Awards, UC Irvine, 2011
2. Student Travel Award for JMM, 2009
3. SIAM-SEAS Student Paper Prize, 2008
4. SIAM Student Travel Award, 2008
5. Pritchard Dissertation Fellowships, Penn State University,2008
6. Outstanding Student Organization of the Year Award at Penn State: Chinese Friendship Association
(served as Vice President), 2006
7. Excellent Graduate Student Award, Chinese Academy of Science 2003
Publications
1. Tian Hong, Ernest S. Fung, Lei Zhang, Edwin S. Monuki, Qing Nie, Tradeoff and balance between
fast activation and noise attenuation in graded BMP signal and SMAD1 response, submitted.
2. Lei Zhang, Qiang Du, Zhenzhen Zheng, Optimization-based Shrinking Dimer Method for Finding
Transition States, submitted.
3. Lei Zhang, Jingyan Zhang, Qiang Du, Finding Critical Nuclei in Phase Transformations by Shrinking
Dimer Dynamics and its Variants, Commun. Comput. Phys., 16 (3), pp. 781-798, 2014.
4. Yulan Li, Shenyang Hu, Lei Zhang, Xin Sun, Non-classical nuclei and growth kinetics of Cr precip-
itates in FeCr alloys during aging, Modelling and Simulation in Materials Science and Engineering,
22, 025002, 2014.
5. Dongyong Wang, Lei Zhang, Qing Nie, Array-representation Integration Factor Method for High-
dimensional Systems, J. Comput. Phys., 258, 585-600, 2014.
6. Lei Zhang, Kelly Radtke, Likun Zheng, Anna Cai, Tom Schilling, Qing Nie, Noise Drives Sharpening
of Gene Expression Boundaries in the Zebrafish Hindbrain, Molecular Systems Biology (Nature)
8:613, 2012
7. Lei Zhang, Arthur Lander, Qing Nie, A Reaction-Diffusion Mechanism Influences Cell Lineage
Progression as a Basis for Formation, Regeneration, and Stability of Intestinal Crypts, BMC Systems
Biology 6:93, 2012
8. Lei Zhang, Long-qing Chen, Qiang Du, Simultaneous Prediction of Morphologies of a Critical Nu-
cleus and an Equilibrium Precipitate in Solids, Commun. Comput. Phys., 7, 674-682, 2010.
9. Tae Wook Heo, Lei Zhang, Qiang Du, and Long-Qing Chen, Incorporating Non-classical Nuclei in
Phase-field Simulations, Scripta Materialia, 63, 8-11, 2010
10. Lei Zhang, Long-qing Chen, Qiang Du, Diffuse-Interface Approach to Predicting Morphologies of
Critical Nucleus and Equilibrium Structure for Cubic to Tetragonal Transformations, J. Comput.
Phys., 229, 6574-6584, 2010.
11. Qiang Du, Lei Zhang, A constrained string method and its numerical analysis, Commun. Math.
Sci., 7, 1039-1051, 2009.
12. Lei Zhang, Long-qing Chen, Qiang Du, Mathematical and Numerical Aspects of Phase-field Approach
to Critical Morphology in Solids, Journal of Scientific Computing, 37, 89-102, 2008.
13. Lei Zhang, Long-qing Chen, Qiang Du, Diffuse-Interface Description of Strain-Dominated Morphol-
ogy of Critical Nuclei in Phase Transformations, Acta Materialia, 56, 3568-3576, 2008.
14. Lei Zhang, Long-qing Chen, Qiang Du, Morphology of critical nuclei in solid state phase transfor-
mations, Physical Review Letters, 98, No.25, 265703, 2007.
Other Publications
1. Lei Zhang, Long-qing Chen, Qiang Du, Phase-field Prediction of Critical Nucleus Morphology in
Solids, Proceeding of the Fourth International Conference on Multiscale Materials Modeling, Talla-
hassee, FL, pp. 514-517, October 2008
2. Lei Zhang, Phase field model for the nucleation in solid state phase transformations: Theories,
Algorithms and Applications, Doctoral dissertation, Penn State University, 2009
3. Lei Zhang, Numerical Simulation of Second Order Stochastic Differential Equation, Master’s dis-
sertation, Academy of Mathematics and System Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2003