Award-winning chemist Shang Rui leaving Japan to start Chinese university lab

Professor Shang Rui, a chemistry professor at the University of Tokyo, will return to China later this year to join Westlake University, where he will establish a new lab focused on sustainable catalysis and functional molecules.

Shang completed both his undergraduate and doctoral studies at the University of Science and Technology of China before continuing his academic journey at the University of Tokyo. He was promoted to associate professor in 2020 and advanced to the position of distinguished professor last year.

Westlake University in Zhejiang province, eastern China, has confirmed his plans to return home this year, where he will lead the development of his research lab. Professor Shang declined interview requests from the South China Morning Post.

His decision to leave Japan comes amid a growing wave of scientists choosing to return to China for research opportunities. As funding for research and higher education declines in developed countries, including the United States and Britain, many researchers are looking to China for international academic positions, particularly in fields where China has become a global leader, such as chemistry and materials science.

Shang, a well-respected figure in the academic community, was selected as a member of the early career advisory board for Science of Synthesis in 2022. He also serves as an associate editor for Organic Chemistry Frontiers and Science China Chemistry journal, and is a section editor at Luminescence journal. Additionally, he was named a JSP Fellow at the 2022 Burgenstock Conference in Switzerland.

Shang has received multiple prestigious awards in the past three years, including the Japanese Chemical Society’s award for young chemists and the Thieme Chemistry Journals Award.

His research interests span a wide range of catalytic reactions and includes the development of high-performance electronic materials with commercial potential.

  

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