Taotao's Homepage

About Me

Dr. Taotao Cai is a Senior Lecturer in Computing at the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) and an Honorary Lecturer at Macquarie University. His primary research interests lie in the field of Graph Learning. He earned his Ph.D. degree from Deakin University in 2020, following two years at The University of Western Australia (Jan 2017 - Mar 2019) and over a year at Deakin University (Mar 2019 - July 2020) during his doctoral studies. Dr. Cai also holds a Master's degree in Computer Science from Shenzhen University, awarded in 2016.

Before joining UniSQ, Dr. Cai worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Macquarie University (Mar 2021 - Jan 2023) and as an Associate Research Fellow at Deakin University (July 2020 - Feb 2021). During this period, he made substantial research contributions published in leading international conferences and journals such as IEEE ICDE, IEEE TKDE, and Information Systems. Notably, his 2020 paper in Information Systems was recently selected as one of the most influential papers of the past decade and featured in the journal’s 50th Anniversary Virtual Special Issue—an honour that underscores the global impact of his research. As you know, Information Systems is a CORE A* ranked outlet and one of the top-tier journals in the information systems discipline. Being recognised in this way is a significant honour, reflecting the impact of Dr. Cai’s work on the international IS research community.

In addition to his research achievements, Dr. Cai has extensive experience in teaching and academic leadership. He has served in a range of key roles, including HDR Coordinator, Program Director, Major Convenor, Course Coordinator, and Lecturer.

News!

[10/2022] One paper accepted by IEEE TCSS Journal, 2025 (JCR-Q1, IF=4.9).

[10/2025] One paper accepted by Knowledge-Based Systems Journal, 2025. (ERA Rank – B, JCR-Q1, IF=7.6).

[08/2025] Our paper, “Community-Diversified Influence Maximization in Social Networks”, has been selected by the Information Systems Journal as one of the most influential papers of the past decade (URL). This recognition is part of the journal’s 50th Anniversary Virtual Special Issue, celebrating milestone contributions to the field. Information Systems is a highly regarded Core - A* journal in the field of data science.

[08/2025] 😋 Congratulations to Han Li on successfully forming his Nascent Soul. — From the anime A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality 😋

[05/2025] Congratulations to Penghui! His paper, “LG-Umer: A UNet-like Network Integrating Local-Global Features with a Novel Attention Mechanism for Road Extraction from Remote Sensing Images,” has been accepted by the IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing (SCI Q1). Penghui’s dedication and hard work are truly admirable. Best of luck with the third and final manuscripts now in progress. 🍀Those who devote themselves wholeheartedly to their work will one day walk a path awash in blossom and fragrance with blossoms.💐

[05/2025] One paper accepted by WIREs Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery Journal. Congratulations to my co-supervised PhD student, Simi.

[04/2025] One paper accepted by IJCAI 2025 Survey Track. Congratulation Zihan Yang.

[04/2025] One paper accepted by the WWW Journal. Congratulations to my co-supervised PhD student, Simi.

[03/2025] I am honored to have received the School of MPC Research Encouragement Award in recognition of my research performance in 2024.

[03/2025] I am thrilled to share that our team has secured a $429,720 Australia's Economic Accelerator (AEA) – Ignite Grant (IG240100414) from the Department of Education, Australia. The project, titled Intelligent Agent for Efficient and Effective Frequency Control Ancillary Services Targeting Renewable Energy Power Systems (Link).

[03/2025] I am delighted to announce that I have been awarded a $10,000 ECR Program Seed Grant.

[02/2025] One paper accepted by IEEE Internet of Things Journal.

[02/2025] One paper accepted by Knowledge-Based System Journal. Congratulations to my co-supervised PhD student, Simi.

[12/2024] Delivering an invited speech in 2024 International Symposium on Artificial Intelligence and Big Data wit (AIBDF 2024) with the title of 'Knowledge-Driven Intelligent Traffic Safety Operation Large Mode'.

[11/2024] Our Computing Transition Project has been honored with the 2024 UniSQ Learning and Teaching Award.

[10/2024] I am delighted to share that I have been promoted to Senior Lecturer.

[07/2024] I am currently Guest Editing a Special Issue entitled, Special Issue on Advanced Pattern Recognition with AI (Discover Computing ).

[06/2024] One paper accepted by IEEE Transactions on Big Data (SCI Q1).

[04/2024] One paper accepted by IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing (SCI Q1).

[03/2024] One paper accepted by IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering (TKDE, CORE A*, CCF A, IF = 9.23).

[02/2024] One paper accepted by ACM TIST (CCF - B).

[01/2024] I am currently Guest Editing a Special Issue entitled, Special issue on Multi-modal learning and its applications in the open environment (Array Journal 2024).

[01/2024] Congratulations to my Co-supervised PhD student, Miss. Simi Job, on having her paper accepted by ACM TIST Journal.

[11/2023] Our project was awarded the best industry project outcomes in our course - a moment of pride and joy for the entire team.

[11/2023] I am delighted to have the chance to be interviewed and have my work reported by the media on the important topic of "Algorithm unlocks social reconnections".

[10/2023] I am delighted to share the successful launch of the newly redesigned Toowoomba Community Organic Gardens Association (TCOGA) website, a project that was expertly handled by the team under my supervision. I invite you to explore the fresh and modern design at the following link: https://tcoga.org.au/home/. Additionally, I am thrilled to showcase a positive LinkedIn post from one of our students, Arun Sai, reflecting on the project.

[09/2023] My paper is accepted by IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering (TKDE, CORE A*, CCF A, IF = 9.23).

[06/2023] Invited to deliver a seminar at Digital Media Research Centre at QUT.

[05/2023] Two papers accepted by APWeb-WAIM Joint conference, 2023 (CORE Rank - B, CCF - C).

[04/2023] My research on using algorithms to detect fake news was featured in Highlife Magazine.

[03/2023] I am delighted to have the chance to be interviewed and have my work reported by the media on the important topic of "In Search of the Truth: Researcher's New Project to Tackle Fake News".

[03/2023] Congratulations to my Co-supervised HDR student, Mr. Zhihao Jia, on having his paper accepted by Sensors Journal.

[02/2023] Invited to be the special track chair of the International Conference on Behavioural and Social Computing (BESC 2023)

[01/2023] One paper accepted by IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering (TKDE, CORE A*, CCF A, IF = 9.23).

[01/2023] I am so excited to join the School of Mathematics, Physics and Computing, University of Southern Queensland as a Lecturer in Computing.

[10/2022] One paper accepted by Knowledge-Based Systems Journal, 2022. (ERA Rank – B, JCR-Q1, IF=8.139).

[09/2022] Invited to be a proceeding co-chair of the International Conference Advanced Data Mining and Applications 2022.

[08/2022] I am currently Guest Editing a Special Issue entitled, Link Prediction in Complex Networks, in Computing (Impact Factor: 2.420).

[08/2022] One paper accepted by Knowledge-Based Systems Journal, 2022. (ERA Rank – B, JCR-Q1, IF=8.139).

[08/2022] One paper accepted by IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering (TKDE, CORE A*, CCF A, IF = 9.23).