Dr Zhen Zhu

Zhen Zhu is a Senior Lecturer in Big Data Analytics at Kent Business School. He obtained a PhD in Economics from the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas in the United States in 2013.

Prior to joining Kent Business School, Zhen worked at the Networks and Urban Systems Centre, the Centre for Business Network Analysis and the Department of Economics and International Business at the University of Greenwich. Previously he also held fellowships at the Stockholm China Economic Research Institute at the Stockholm School of Economics in Sweden and at the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca in Italy. 

Zhen is currently serving as an Associate Editor for Journal of Data Science and Supply Chain Analytics, and as an Editorial Board Member for Health Science Reports and PLOS Complex Systems. 

Zhen’s research spans the fields of data science, network science, and business analytics. He is interested in developing analytical and practical tools for understanding social and economic networks. He has been working closely with industry partners through collaborative projects and consulting and training services related to data analytics. His work has been supported by several prestigious funding bodies, including Innovate UK, the Alan Turing Institute, the British Academy, and the Wellcome Trust.

His recent research projects include:

• PI, “LLM-Facilitated and Graph-Based Analysis of Relationships Between Organisations,” the Alan Turing Institute, funded by the Government Communications Headquarters, 2025.
• PI, “Identifying Early Signals of Diabetes with Online Social Footprints: A Network Science Approach,” the British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grant Scheme, funded by the Wellcome Trust, 2024-2026.
• Co-I, “Stock Availability and Demand Forecasting Through Supply Chain Analytics,” Knowledge Transfer Partnership, Innovate UK, 2023-2026.

Zhen has developed and taught modules in both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and has offered training workshops to professionals on the topics of Big Data, Business Analytics, Machine Learning and Network Science.

Zhen is looking forward to supervising motivated individuals who are excited by challenges and opportunities around the theme of big data analytics. Below are some example topics:

• Structure and dynamics of online health communities.
• Predictive analytics applications in specific areas such as economics, marketing, finance, law and healthcare. 
• Metrics, visualisation and storytelling with network data.

Current supervisees (as the main supervisor):

• James Ademuyiwa: Understanding User Behaviour in Decentralized Finance: A Focus on Emerging Markets
• Zsofia Baruwa: Social Media and the Future of Transportation: A Big Data Analytics Approach to Optimise the Transition Towards Smart Cities 

Past supervisees:

• Zsofia Zador: The International Organisation of Production and Its Impact on UK Regions: A Network Analysis
• Yuan Gao: Network Analysis of International Patent Data: Technology Cohort, Temporal Dynamics and the Role of Trade 
• Xu Wang: Essays on Inter-firm Ownership Network and Social Media Marketing

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy