University of Oxford & Max-Plank Institute Joint Program
Doctor of Philosophy, Computer Science — Sep 2025 – Present
Supervisor(s): Prof. Amir Goharshady, Prof. Rupak Majumdar
Hi — I’m
Xuran Cai
Computer Science PhD student in the Oxford–Max Planck joint PhD program (2025–present). For Oxford side, I am in college Hertford, with supervisor Prof. Amir Goharshady. For MPI side, I am in institute for Software Systems(SWS) with supervisor Prof. Rupak Majumdar. My research focuses on graph theory applications in computer science, including compiler optimizations, model checking, and SMT solving.
Current: Oxford–Max Planck joint PhD (Computer Science) — 2025–Present
Education
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
MPhil, Computer Science & Engineering — 2023–2025
Supervisor(s): Prof. Amir Goharshady, Prof. Jiasi Shen
University of Wisconsin–Madison
B.Sc., Computer Science & Mathematics — 2019–2023
GPA: 3.86/4.0 — Graduated with Distinction
Research
My research centers on application of graph theory in Computer Science, including compiler optimizations, model checking, and SMT solver. I am funded by scholarships from University of Oxford and salary from MPI. Following is selected publications and manuscripts. For more details, please visit my CV or Google Scholar profile.
Selected Publications & Manuscripts
Efficient Algorithms for Partial Constraint Satisfaction Problems over Control-flow Graphs
Dec 2025 — SETTA'25
Authors: X. Cai, A.K. Goharshady
Enhancing Compiler Optimization Efficiency through Grammatical Decompositions of Control-Flow Graphs
Mphil Thesis
Authors: X. Cai
Faster Chaitin-like Register Allocation via Grammatical Decompositions of CFGs
Mar 2025 — ASPLOS'25
Authors: X. Cai, A.K. Goharshady, S. Hitarth, C.K. Lam
Faster Lifetime-optimal Speculative Partial Redundancy Elimination for Goto-free Programs
Nov 2024 — SETTA'24
Authors: X. Cai, A.K. Goharshady
Teaching & TA
Functional Programming (practical)
MT 2025–26 — Oxford
Instructor: Prof. Andrzej Murawski
Discrete Mathematical Tools for CS (Honors)
Fall 2024–25 — HKUST
Instructor: Prof. Amir Goharshady
Discrete Mathematical Tools for CS
Spring 2023–24 — HKUST
Instructor: Prof. Sunil Arya and Prof. Jiasi Shen
Introduction to Computer Networks
Spring 2021–22 — UW–Madison
Instructor: Prof. Suman Banerjee
Experience
Conferences
- SETTA'25 — Oxford, UK (Dec 1–3, 2025), presenter & local organization team
- SETTA'24 — Hong Kong SAR (Nov 26–28, 2024), presenter
- FM'24 — Milan, Italy (Sep 9–13, 2024)
Summer School
- Summer School on Discrete Mathematics — Prague, Czech (July 1–5, 2024)
Contact
If you’d like the full CV, click the Download CV button at the top.