Dr. Yusheng Zhao is a Chair Professor and Senior Adviser to President of Eastern Institute of Technology, Ningbo. He previously served as the Acting Vice President of Research of the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), the Director of SUSTech’s Office of Scientific Research, the Dean of SUSTech Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, and Chair Professor in the Department of Physics. Prof. Zhao also serves as the Director of Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Solid State Batteries, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Energy Materials for Electric Power, and Guangdong-HongKong-Macao Joint Laboratory for Photovoltaic Thermoelectric Electrochemical Novel Energy Materials and Devices.

Prof. Zhao received his B.S. and M.S. both from Peking University in early 1982 and early 1985, respectively, and gained his Ph.D. from the State University of New York (Stony Brook) in 1992. From 1992 to 1996, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology and Los Alamos National Laboratory in the United States. From 1996 to 2012, he served as a Staff Scientist and Team Leader at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center, LANL. From 2010 to 2016, he was a tenured full Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Nevada and the Executive Director of High Pressure Science and Engineering Center (HiPSEC, a DOE/NNSA Center of Excellence) . Since 2006, Prof. Zhao has been a Guest Professor at the College of Engineering, Peking University, and a Guest Research Fellow at the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Prof. Zhao joined SUSTech in 2015 and served as a Member of Board of Directors of the Material Research Society (MRS) from 2019 to 2021. Since 2022, he has served as the Senior Advisor to the President of Eastern Institute of Technology, NingBo.

Prof. Zhao's research areas span high-pressure physics, material physics, crystal chemistry, nanomechanics, exploration and conservation of the earth and environment, and exploitation of energy resources. He specializes in the study of the crystal structural changes under external forces and focuses on the correlations between the structure of matter and their physical properties, and those between material processing and functional performance. Prof. Zhao is one of the pioneers in the field of materials research at extreme conditions such as high temperature and high pressure using large-scale scientific facilities (synchrotron radiation and neutron scattering). He participated in the planning, design and establishment of Los Alamos LANSCE-HIPPO and Oakridge SNS-SNAP high-pressure neutron facilities; Participated in the construction and operation of the Brookhaven NSLS-X17 and Argonne APS-HPCAT high-pressure experimental stations and served as a member of the Executive Committee; Led the planning, design and establishment of the high-pressure neutron diffractometer and research platform of extreme conditions at the China Spallation Neutron Source.

Prof. Zhao has made significant contributions to the research fields of superionic solid-state electrolytes, high-energy solid-state batteries, superhard and ultratough materials, gas hydrates, etc. Prof. Zhao first proposed the material design of a novel superionic lithium-ion conductor and successfully synthesized the lithium-rich solid-state electrolyte with anti-perovskite structure. He further proposed novel positive electrodes based on anti-perovskite structure and the interface optimization using double-layer electrolyte. Prof. Zhao has published nearly 370 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals, including Nature, Science, Nature Materials, Chemical Reviews, Nature Communications, JACS, and other top international journals, with 13,650 citations/Web of Science (17,900/Google Scholar) and H-index of 60/Web of Science (70/Google Scholar).