Curriculum Vitae
Kun SUN
Tenured Full Professor | Computational Linguistics & Artificial Intelligence
📧 kunsun@tongji.edu.cn | 🌐 kevsuncl.github.io
🎓 Education
Habilitation (German University Professor Qualification) | 2017-2024
University of Tübingen, Germany
Ph.D. in Computational Linguistics | 2009-2012
East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
M.A. in Corpus Linguistics | 2004-2007
East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
B.A. in English Linguistics (Minor: Statistics) | 2000-2004
Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, China
💼 Academic Positions
Tenured Full Professor | 2025-present
School of Foreign Languages, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
Research Scientist & Assistant Professor | 2017-2025
Department of Linguistics, University of Tübingen, Germany
Adjunct Professorial Research Fellow | 2024-present
School of Foreign Languages, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
Associate Professor | 2013-2017
Department of English, Zhejiang International Studies University, Hangzhou, China
Lecturer | 2007-2013
Department of English, Taizhou University, Taizhou, China
🔬 Research Interests
- Computational Linguistics: Transformer-based language models, fine-tuning LLMs, neural-symbolic prompting, cross-lingual representations
- Cognitive Computation: Human multi-modal processing, attention-aware computational metrics, cognitive mechanisms of discourse comprehension
- Artificial Intelligence: LLM reasoning and evaluation, emotion and personality detection, interpretable neural networks
- Statistical Methods: Mixed-effect regression, Bayesian hierarchical modeling, time-series analysis, GAMM
🏆 Key Achievements
Publication Impact
- 30+ peer-reviewed articles in international SSCI/SCI journals
- 10+ publications in Chinese CSSCI journals
- Featured by MIT Technology Review (PNAS research)
- Multiple articles reprinted in 人大复印资料 and 中国社会科学文摘
Software & Open Science
- 60K+ downloads for personality detection LLM on Hugging Face
- 30+ open-source tools and computational packages
- 15+ specialized corpora across 11+ languages
- Multilingual support for 28+ languages
📚 Selected Recent Publications
High-Impact Journal Articles (2022-2025)
Sun, K. (2022). Colloquialization as a key factor in historical changes of rational and emotional words. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 119(26), e2205563119. [Featured by MIT Technology Review]
Sun, K.*, & Liu, H. (2025). Attention-aware semantic relevance predicting Chinese sentence reading. Cognition, 105991.
Sun, K.*, Wang, R.*, & Baayen, H. (2025). Attention-aware measures of semantic relevance for predicting human reading behavior. Linguistics.
Sun, K.*, & Wang, R.* (2025). Computational sentence‐level metrics of reading speed and its ramifications for sentence comprehension. Cognitive Science, e70092.
Sun, K.*, Wang, Q., & Lu, X. (2023). An interpretable measure of semantic similarity for predicting eye movements in reading. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 30, 1227–1242.
Complete publication list: Google Scholar
💰 Research Funding
As Principal Investigator
National Social Science Foundation of China (Youth Project) 2015-2020 ¥200,000 China Postdoctoral Outstanding Funding Project 2018-2020 ¥150,000 6 Provincial and Ministerial Projects Various periods Total: ¥300,000+
International Collaborations
German Science Foundation (DFG) Project Participant €270,000 European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Project Member €2.5 million
🛠️ Technical Skills
Programming Languages: Python (advanced), R (advanced), PyTorch (advanced), LaTeX (advanced), Linux Shell (advanced)
Specialized Tools: Transformer models, BERT/RoBERTa, Hugging Face, Statistical modeling, Eye-tracking analysis, EEG/fMRI data processing
Languages: Chinese (native), English (fluent), German (intermediate), Japanese (intermediate)
🎓 Teaching Experience
University of Tübingen (2017-2025)
- Transformer-based Language Models (2023)
- Quantitative Methods in Experimental Linguistics (2022)
- Language Changes & Variations (2021)
- Computational Models in Linguistic Research (2020-2021)
- Text Linguistics and Discourse Processes (2019-2020)
Previous Institutions (2007-2016)
- 50+ Bachelor and Master students supervised
- 2 PhD students co-supervised (Huiyuan Jin, Yalan Wang)
- Courses in corpus linguistics, translation studies, and language pedagogy
🏅 Awards & Recognition
“Zhijiang Young Scholar of Social Sciences” Zhejiang Province 2016 “Advanced Research Worker” Award Zhejiang International Studies University 2015-2017 “The Outstanding Teacher” Zhejiang International Studies University 2014 National First Class Scholarship East China Normal University 2010-2012
🌐 Academic Service
Editorial & Review Work
- Reviewer for 80+ international SSCI/SCI journals including Psychological Science, Nature Human Behavior
- Reviewer for top AI conferences: ACL, EMNLP, ICML
- Review Editor, Frontiers in Psychology (2022-present)
- Reviewer for multiple European national science foundations
Conference Organization
International Morphological Processing Conference Organizer Tübingen, 2019 Academic Forum Organizer Zhejiang International Studies University 2013-2016
💻 Open Source Contributions
Models & Tools
- Personality_LM: 60K+ downloads
- Mental Health LM: Clinical assessment tool
- Essay Grading ML: Educational applications
Code Repositories
- Attention Analysis Toolkit: Computational linguistics tools
- Discourse Analysis Suite: Multi-language corpus processing
- Personality Detection Framework: Psychological AI
🔗 Professional Networks
📊 Google Scholar: Profile
🔬 ORCID: 0000-0001-9766-269X
📖 ResearchGate: Profile
💻 GitHub: @fivehills
🤗 Hugging Face: @KevSun
🔗 LinkedIn: kun-sun-mlds
🌍 International Experience
Visiting Positions & Collaborations
Peking University Visiting PhD Student Center for Chinese Languages 2011-2012 University of Manchester Visiting Researcher Computational Linguistics University of Oslo Visiting Researcher Language Technology University of Toronto Visiting Researcher Cognitive Science
Summer Schools & Training
European Summer School in Logic, Language and Information University of Latvia 2019 10th Fall School in Computational Linguistics Stuttgart University 2019
"Bridging the gap between human cognition and artificial intelligence through computational linguistics and cognitive science."
📧 Contact: email: kunsun at tongji.edu.cn | 🌐 Website: kevsuncl.github.io
Last updated: January 2025