[Source/Observation Network by Ruan Jiaqi]

On the 24th, Hong Kong media "South China Morning Post" reported that Professor Shang Rui from the University of Tokyo will return to China later this year and join West Lake University. At that time, he will establish a brand-new laboratory at the university, focusing on research in the field of sustainable catalysis and functional molecules.

According to the information on the official website of the University of Tokyo, Shang Rui's main research fields include synthetic organic chemistry, catalysis, materials science, and solar cells, among others. His current research focuses on sustainable catalysis-based organic synthesis chemistry as well as the development of organic photonic-electronic functional materials.

The report states that Shang Rui's decision to return to China coincides with a wave of scientific talent returning to China. With developed countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom cutting back on scientific research and higher education funding, many researchers are turning their attention to China, viewing it as fertile ground for international academic development. In particular, in fields where China has already achieved global leadership, such as chemistry and materials science, the returning scientific workforce is growing stronger.

Shang Rui (right) Hokkaido University official website

Comprehensive information from the official website of the Eiji Nakamura Laboratory shows that Rui Shang, born in 1987, completed his undergraduate and doctoral studies at the University of Science and Technology of China, then continued his academic career at the University of Tokyo under the mentorship of internationally renowned organic chemist Eiji Nakamura. In 2020, he was promoted to associate professor at the University of Tokyo and was appointed as a special professor last year, leading multiple research fund projects supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST).

The report states that Shang Rui’s research interests cover a wide range of catalytic reactions, with a focus on developing high-performance electronic materials with commercial potential. He designed an iron-catalyzed reaction for the synthesis of functional electronic materials, using innovative reactions to prepare new polymer and small-molecule organic semiconductor materials. These materials have been successfully applied in devices such as photodetectors and organic solar cells.

Shang Rui also pioneered the concept of photo-redox catalysis based on excited-state electron donor-acceptor complexes and introduced the idea of excited-state palladium catalysis. Recently, he designed and developed a series of inexpensive and easily accessible photocatalysts for the photochemical synthesis of functional electronic materials. These research results have been published in prestigious international academic journals such as Nature flagship journal Nature Catalysis, Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), and Science.

Shang Rui and Eiji Nakamura's team successfully developed a novel iron-catalyzed C-H aziridination strategy, with related research results published in the July 9, 2024 issue of Nature Synthesis.

The report states that Shang Rui holds a high position in the academic community, having won several prestigious awards over the past three years, including the Young Chemist Award presented by the Japanese Chemical Society, as well as the 2023 Thieme Chemistry Journals Award presented by the renowned German Thieme Publishing Group.

In 2022, Shang Rui was selected as a member of the Early Career Advisory Board (ECAB) of the organic synthesis reaction database "Science of Synthesis." That same year, he received the Young Scientist Participation Fellowship (JSP fellowship) awarded by the Swiss Chemical Society at the 55th Burgdorf Conference. According to the official list, he is the only Asian scholar selected.

Shang Rui serves as the deputy editor of the internationally renowned journals Organic Chemistry Frontiers and Science China Chemistry, and as the section editor of the internationally renowned academic journal Journal of Luminescence in the field of luminescent materials.

Besides contributions in the academic field, Shang Rui has established close industry-academia-research cooperation with large Japanese companies such as Mitsubishi Chemical and Kao, as well as several domestic Chinese companies. These collaborations have facilitated the development of conjugated functional materials with unique structures and the advancement of new organic electronic materials, earning several patents in Japan.

According to the South China Morning Post report, West Lake University has confirmed Shang Rui's plan to return to China this year.

West Lake University was approved for establishment in 2018 and is the first research-oriented university in New China founded by social forces and receiving key national support. Since its inception, it has been committed to becoming a globally recognized university.

Yi Gong Shi, the first president of West Lake University and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, once publicly stated that the university aims to contribute to the country's talent reserve. According to him, the university launched a global recruitment campaign for academic talents, receiving about five thousand applications initially, more than 95% of which came from overseas.

According to the official website of West Lake University, the university has recruited 246 doctoral supervisors from around the world, covering top academic talents in fields such as science, engineering, life sciences, and medicine.

This article is an exclusive article of Observer Network and cannot be reprinted without permission.

Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7497062523972289062/

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