The Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission recently announced the winners of “New Star in Science and Technology of Beijing” (Beijing Nova Program) of Year 2012. Associate Professor Ruqiang Zou was among the recipients together with two other young scientists from Peking University.

The program was launched by Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission in 1993 and has been implemented for nearly 20 years. It is targeted at young science and technology talents (under the age of 35) who work in Beijing, aiming to promote their professional growth by providing independent research funding for them. It has a wide-spread influence. Around 100 young talents receive the honor each year.

Zou’s research mainly focuses on the design, preparation and properties study of novel nanoporous materials and the development of its key application in new energy technologies, energy conservation and other frontiers. He was research fellow of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and Director’s Postdoctoral Fellow in the U.S. Los Alamos National Laboratory. After joining College of Engineering, Peking University in 2010, he has published a number of papers in SCI-cited journals including J. Am. Chem. Soc., ACS Nano, and J. Mater. Chem. His current research projects are funded by CREATE of Singapore National Research Foundation, Ministry of Science and Technology of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Ministry of Land and Resources of China and the Ministry of Education of China. Zou also has excellent teaching performance and recently won the second prize in Peking University12th Teaching Contest for Young Teachers.