Zhaoyuan Liu earned a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Information Studies from the University of Tokyo (2018-2021) and is currently a lecturer at the Beijing Centre for Japanese Studies, Beijing Foreign Studies University (2021-present). She is a member of the Society of Socio-Informatics, the Japan Economic Policy Association, and the Japan Institute of Tourism Research.
Her research focuses on Evidence-Based Policymaking (EBPM). During her doctoral studies, she investigated EBPM practices in Japanese and UK government institutions. She also conducted empirical analyses that systematically leveraged social media data analytics to generate actionable insights for policy evaluation and iterative optimization. During her research visit to University College London, she conducted interviews with practitioners at the Wales Centre for Public Policy and the Administrative Data Research Centre Wales to explore EBPM practices in the UK.
She has authored six peer-reviewed articles on topics ranging from EBPM practices across nations to empirical studies of policy impact.
Her doctoral dissertation was recognized by the Society of Socio-Informatics’ Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award (2022). Her study "How Japan’s Inbound Tourism Promotion Policies Affect Chinese Tourists" won the Third Prize in the Agonshu Kiriyama Research Grant Award (2024).