Wang Ma

Ph.D student@RPI

Hello, I am Wang Ma (马旺), a second-year Ph.D student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) advised by Prof. Qiang Ji. Before coming to RPI, I obtained my B.S. from Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), advised by Prof. Chao Wang.


I have a broad interest in Uncertainty Quantification, Bayesian Deep Learning and their applications to Computer Vision and Natural Language Processing. Recently, my focus is specifically Uncertainty Quantification and Uncertainty Disentanglement for single models and pre-trained models (such as pre-trained large vision or language models), and Knowledge-augmented Bayesian Deep Learning.


📰 News

  • Jan 2026: Two papers were submitted to ICML 2026, related to uncertianty decomposition and black-box uncertianty quantification.
  • Nov 2025: Two papers were submitted to CVPR 2026, related to Knowledge-augmented Bayesian Deep Learning and causal explanation.
  • Nov 2025: My first-authored paper, Black-Box Uncertainty Quantification for Large Language Models via Ensemble-of-Ensembles, was accepted to the AAAI 2026 AIR-FM Workshop. This work was completed during my externship at IBM — many thanks to my mentors for their guidance and support!
  • Aug 2025: I completed my summer externship at IBM, which was an incredibly valuable and rewarding experience. Grateful for all the support and mentorship during this time!
  • Mar 2025: Excited to share that I will be joining IBM this summer as a visiting student researcher, working on Uncertainty Quantification and Reasoning with Large Language Models under the mentorship of Dr. Debarun Bhattacharjya.
  • Aug 2024: I started my PhD journey at RPI.
  • Jul 2024: I organized a seminar titled “AI: Optimization, Theory & Responsibility” during the summer of 2024 at SUSTech, under the supervision of Prof. Chao Wang. For more details, please visit the seminar page.
  • Jul 2024: I started my journey as a visiting student in Prof. Chao Wang’s group at SUSTech.
  • Jun 2024: I graduated from SUSTech! Heartfelt thanks to everyone I met along the way!
  • Mar 2024: I accepted the offer from RPI and will begin my Ph.D. under the supervision of Prof. Qiang Ji.


📖 Education Experience


⚾ More

  • Baseball I’m a passionate fan of MLB, NPB, and Japan’s National High School Baseball Tournament (Koshien). My favorite NPB team is Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, where Shohei Ohtani began his professional career in 2013. I’m also a big supporter of Ōmi High School, a rising baseball powerhouse from Shiga Prefecture. You can check out some of their highlights here—their blue uniforms shine brighter than the August sky.

    • I led a project analyzing MLB Statcast data in my undergraduate Data Science Project course. Slides,Report

  • I am a speedcuber who has participated in over 30 official competitions, with Square-1 being my best event. I am currently ranked No. 3 in mainland China (as of Nov 2025) and earned two bronze medals at the Chinese National Championships in 2017 and 2018. You can find recordings of my solves on my Bilibili channel, and view all my official results on my WCA profile. I devoted much of my high school and early university years to Rubik’s Cube practice. In May 2021, I achieved my personal best in the Square-1 event and reached No. 2 in mainland China. Through years of pursuing something I truly love, I’ve learned perseverance — a quality I now bring into my research with the same passion and dedication.

  • I’m from Baoji, Shaanxi Province, a region that served as the heart of ancient China for much of its history. I enjoy reading about its rich past, especially the Pre-Qin era and the vibrant Warring States period, known for the flourishing of the Hundred Schools of Thought.