Yixiao Sun

M.A. student
Department of Communication
School of Journalism and Communication
Nanjing University
ywain.dagnysun@gmail.com

I am currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Communication at Nanjing University (advised by Prof. Cheng-Jun Wang). I am also an active member of the Computational Communication Collaboratory. I am seeking a PhD opportunity for the Fall 2025.

My primary research interests are in Computational Social Science, with a focus on communicative materials and their social impacts on both societal institutions and individual mental states and behaviors. Methodologically, I can analyze human behaviors using large-scale digital footprint data. I excel in Python and take good command of R programming language, basically on mathematical statistics, natural language processing, and causal inference. My research has been published in the Chinese Journal of Communication, a peer-reviewed journal indexed in the SSCI. Four external and internal grants have funded my research. Additionally, I have received two awards from the National Communication Association for my research: the Top Paper Award from the Political Communication Division and the Top Student Paper Award from the Human Communication and Technology Division.

Recently, I have been buried in several intriguing concepts such as agency and meaning in life. Two of my core works are currently under peer review. One study examines the bipolarity of positive and negative affects, while another explores the dynamics of authoritarian personality during the COVID-19 pandemic. My master’s thesis will seek to examine dissenting voting behavior by analyzing over four million tweets from Members of Congress alongside more than one million congressional roll call votes from 2017 to 2023.

Beyond my academic and research interests, I am also proficient in image processing and video editing, with a strong sense of aesthetics. Furthermore, I hold a Piano Level 8 Certificate, reflecting my dedication to both creative and artistic endeavors.

Education