👋 Hi, I’m Bufan!

I’m a first-year PhD student in Psychology at the University of Chicago, luckily advised by Prof. Xuechunzi Bai in the Computational Social Cognition Lab.

Before coming to Chicago, I completed my undergraduate and master’s studies in Computer Science at Fudan University. I also worked as a research intern at the Coalas Lab, where I was luckily advised by Prof. Elisa Kreiss.

Please see my CV for more details.

I’m always happy to chat—feel free to drop me a message if you’d like to connect!

Research Interests

My research interests lie broadly in human cognitive science—how people think, learn, and coordinate in complex social environments. I am fascinated by the art-like nature of human intelligence: our minds not only compute but also improvise, adapt, and create patterns together.

To study these questions, I use computational modeling and multi-agent simulations as tools to bridge psychological theory with formal analysis. My current projects focus on social bias and inequality, exploring how they can emerge from seemingly rational decision-making in collective settings.

At the same time, I remain open to new directions (still exploring!) at the intersection of cognition, computation, and society, from large language models as cognitive mirrors to the dynamics of human–AI collaboration.