Tao Zhang

Tao Zhang is a Hans Fischer Senior Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study (TUM-IAS) and a full professor at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP), Chinese Academy of Sciences. He served as DICP director (2007–2017) and CAS vice president (2017–2023), pioneering single-atom catalysis since coining the concept in 2011.

• Key Research Areas: Single-atom catalysis, biomass conversion, surface science, and sustainable chemical processes.
• Awards: 2024 Future Science Prize, Advance of Catalysis Award (2023), Distinguished Award of Chinese Chemical Society, and multiple national/international honors.

His work has led to industrial-scale applications, including a 1000-ton/year ethylene glycol pilot plant from cellulose. He has authored over 600 publications with an h-index of 120 and holds 110 patents.

Scientific Leadership: Editor-in-Chief of the Chinese Journal of Catalysis and editorial board member of journals like Applied Catalysis B and ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering. Elected as academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (2013), fellow of TWAS (2018), and international fellow of the Canadian Engineering Academy (2020).