On November 21, the results of the 2025 Academician Election of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) were officially announced. Professor Yongsheng Chen, a Chair Professor of Nankai University, was elected as a Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
Yongsheng Chen is a polymer and materials chemist, holding the positions of Chair Professor and PhD Supervisor at Nankai University. Born in Wenxian County, Henan Province in March 1963, he obtained his Bachelor's degree from the Department of Chemistry at Zhengzhou University in 1984, his Master's degree from the College of Chemistry at Nankai University in 1987, and his Doctoral degree from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Victoria, Canada in 1997. Subsequently, he conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Kentucky and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the United States. In 2004, he joined Nankai University as a full-time professor at the Institute of Polymer Chemistry, College of Chemistry.
Professor Yongsheng Chen mainly engages in research on functional organic polymers/carbon nanomaterials and their applications in energy conversion and storage. He proposed the design concepts of "acceptor-donor-acceptor" structured high-efficiency solution-processable oligomeric organic photovoltaics and three-dimensional cross-linked graphene/carbon-based polymer materials. He has developed a variety of novel functional polymer materials, clarified their multi-dimensional structure-property relationships from the molecular level to micro-morphology and then to macroscale, and constructed a series of high-performance energy conversion and storage devices. He has achieved a number of original research results with significant international influence, and some of the key technologies he developed have been industrialized, making outstanding contributions to the development and advancement of polymer science and national energy technology.
To date, Yongsheng Chen has published more than 400 SCI-indexed papers as corresponding author, including those in top journals such as Science, Nature Photonics (Nat. Photon.), Nature Electronics (Nat. Electron.), Nature Communications (Nat. Commun.), Science Advances (Sci. Adv.), Journal of the American Chemical Society (J. Am. Chem. Soc.), Angewandte Chemie International Edition (Angew. Chem.), and Advanced Materials (Adv. Mater.). His papers have been cited more than 80,000 times, with an H-index of 130. Since 2014, he has been consistently listed among Clarivate Analytics' Highly Cited Researchers. He has published 2 monographs and holds more than 30 authorized invention patents.
Chen Yongsheng has received numerous awards and honors. His project "Research on Organic and Carbon Nanomaterials for Energy Conversion and Storage" won the Second Prize of the National Natural Science Award in 2018, and "Preparation and Properties of Carbon Nanomaterials" won the First Prize of Tianjin Natural Science Award in 2010. In 2014, he obtained the 5th China Overseas Chinese (Innovation Achievement) Contribution Award; in 2015, he was named a Tianjin Model Worker; in 2017, he was selected into the first batch of Tianjin Distinguished Talents; in 2019, he was honored as a "Tianjin Outstanding Scientific and Technological Worker"; and in 2024, he was awarded the title of "Tianjin Outstanding Teacher". In 2016 and 2022, he served as Chief Scientist for the National Key Research and Development Program twice. Additionally, Yongsheng Chen has successively held positions as editor or editorial board member for journals such as Science China: Chemistry, Science China: Materials, Carbon, and Energy Storage Materials.
