On 15 December 2020, TWAS published the list of newly-elected fellows on its official website. Chen Jun, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Science and Vice President of Nankai University, turns out to be the only elected Chinese scientist in the chemical sciences.

According to the report from TWAS, Mr. Chen has developed reduction oxidation conversion crystallization methodologies for controllable synthesis of 3D metal oxide/sulfide materials to build advanced batteries. His research broadens the understanding of nanomaterials chemistry in energy storage and conversion.

A total of 35 scientists from 22 countries and regions were shortlisted by the TWAS, including seven from China.

Chen Jun, an inorganic chemist, is Academician of the Chinese Academy of Science. He received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from Nankai University (China) after his studies at the Department of Chemistry from 1985 to 1992, he chose to work there from 1992. From 1996 to 1999, Mr. Chen studied at the Department of Materials of Wollongong University (Australia) and obtained his Ph.D. there. He held the NEDO fellowship at National Institute of AIST Kansai Center (Japan) from 1999 to 2002. Since 2002, Mr. Chen has been working as professor and doctoral supervisor at Nankai University. Now, he is Vice President of Nankai University, as well as Director of the Key Laboratory of Advanced Energy Materials Chemistry (Ministry of Education).

For many years, Mr Chen has been devoted to the research of new energy materials chemistry. Up to now, he has published more than 460 academic papers in journals such as Nature Chemistry, Nature Community, Science Advance, JACS, Angew, Chem, Advance Materials, Science China Chemistry (SCC), Science China Materials (SCMs) and so on, which were cited over 65,000 times. He also co-authored Energy Chemistry and Chemical Power Sources: Principles, Technologies and Applications, which are under the Chemistry Books of 21st Century, among others. His studies have been granted 23 patents in China, the United States of America and Europe, among which the patents of porous spinals and laminated electrode materials have been applied and thus have brought economic benefits. Mr. Chen won the second prize of National Natural Science Award in 2011, the first prize of Tianjin Natural Science Award in 2006 and 2016, the first prize of PRC Ministry of Education National Teaching Achievement Award in 2009, and the Chinese Electrochemistry Contribution Award in 2013. He was also awarded the title of Leading Talents in Scientific and Technological Innovation under “Ten-thousand Talents Plan” in 2014, the National May 1st Labor Medal in 2018, and the medal of the Scientific Innovation and Advancement Award in 2020, among others.

Mr. Chen is member of the Standing Council of Chinese Chemical Society, Chairman of the Chinese Electrochemistry Society, President of Tianjin Chemical Society, Deputy Director of China Association for Hydrogen Energy, Deputy Director of the Special Committee of Energy Storage of China Instrument and Control Society, Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Chinese Representative of International Society of Electrochemistry. Currently, he is associate editor of Inorg. Chem. Front, Science China: Materials, Chemical Research in Chinese University, and Chinese Journal of Applied Chemistry, as well as member of the Editorial Board of ACS Energy Lett., Nano Research, etc.

Established in November 1983, TWAS is a non-governmental, non-political and non-profit international science organization dedicated to the support and the promotion of scientific research in developing countries. The Fellows of TWAS are generally elected from famous scientists of developing countries, and some are also elected from developed countries. Today, TWAS has 1302 elected Fellows from many fields, including mathematics, physics, chemistry, astronomy, geonomy, biology, agriculture, medicine, engineering science, sociology and economics.

(Reported by Fang Lan, Translated by Xuewei Hu, Edited by Davide Francolino and JianjingYun)