Zhipeng Wang

Zhipeng Wang

Lecturer (Assistant Professor) @The University of Manchester

I am currently a Lecturer (equivalent to Assistant Professor) in Cyber Security in the Department of Computer Science at The University of Manchester (August 2025 – present). Previously, I was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Imperial College London, where I also completed my PhD. Before that, I obtained both my Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees from Beihang University, China.

My research focuses on security and privacy in decentralized and distributed systems. In particular, I investigate blockchain and decentralized AI, as well as the cryptographic foundations that enable their secure and trustworthy operation. My work spans system measurement and empirical analysis, attack discovery and modeling, and the design of secure protocols and decentralized architectures. I aim to build decentralized infrastructures that are secure, privacy-preserving, and incentive-compatible, while enabling intelligent and efficient collaboration in practice.

Currently, I am exploring the following topics:

  • 🔗 Blockchain: privacy, security, consensus, and applications
  • 🛡️ Applied cryptography: classical and post-quantum solutions
  • 🌐 Decentralized AI: security, privacy, and incentive mechanisms

More broadly, my research is driven by a long-standing interest in strengthening security, privacy, and trustworthy collaboration in the digital world.

📣🎓 Hiring! I am looking for self-motivated PhD students, research interns, and visiting researchers to join me at the University of Manchester. For PhD applicants, please refer to the application guidelines and funding opportunities on the Department of Computer Science doctoral research programme page.

If you're interested in one or more of the research topics mentioned above, please feel free to get in touch with your CV and a brief motivation letter outlining your interests and background.

I always welcome collaborations and discussions about research opportunities.

You can reach me at zhipeng[dot]wang0x01[at]gmail[dot]com or zhipeng[dot]wang[at]manchester[dot]ac[dot]uk.

📚 Selected Publications

Full publication list can be found at Google Scholar.

📋 Academic Services

Conference and Workshop TPC

Journal Reviewer

  • IEEE: TIFS, TNNLS, TSC, TBD, TCCN, TII
  • ACM: TOSEM
  • Others: JNCA, Financial Innovation, Blockchain

🎓 Teaching

  • Security and Privacy in Artificial Intelligence, 2025/26 2nd Semester, The University of Manchester (Lecturer)

  • Cryptography Engineering, Spring Term 2024, Imperial College London (Teaching Assistant)

  • Principles of Distributed Ledgers, Spring Term 2023, Imperial College London (Teaching Assistant)

🏆 Selected Awards and Grants

🏛 Selected Talks

  • DSKE: Digital Signatures with Key Extraction @UK Crypto Day Sep 2025. Manchester, UK, 09/2025

  • Migration to Post-Quantum Secure Blockchains @RITICS Showcase 2025. London, UK, 01/2025

  • How Can Blockchain Make AI More Decentralized? @UCL Distributed Ledger Technologies Seminar. London, UK, 11/2024

  • Pay Less for Your Privacy: Towards Cost-Effective On-Chain Mixers @AFT 2023. Princeton, USA, 10/2023

  • Blockchain Transaction Censorship: (In)secure and (In)efficient? @MARBLE 2023. London, UK, 07/2023

  • On the Usage, Privacy, and Censorship of On-Chain Mixers @Brevan Howard Centre for Financial Analysis Annual Crypto Showcasing Event. London, UK, 06/2023

  • On How ZKP-based Blockchain Mixers Improve, and Worsen User Privacy @The 2023 ACM Web Conference. Austin, USA, 05/2023

  • Speculative Multipliers on DeFi: Quantifying On-Chain Leverage Risks @FC 2022. Grenada, 05/2022