香港科技大学陈伸升课题组博士招聘 - 计算化学公社

Dr. Shensheng Chen, a new assistant professor in CBE, has openings for fully funded 2 PhD students (starting in September 2025). Dr. Chen’s research will focus on computational and theoretical modeling of polymer and soft materials. His research directions are detailed below. Interested students are encouraged to contact Dr. Chen via email (shensheng@ust.hk).

Dr. Shensheng Chen’s group utilizes molecular simulation, theory, and machine learning to characterize, understand, and guide the design of novel polymer soft materials for sustainability and bioengineering applications. Polymers are ubiquitous, spanning synthetic macromolecules to cellular proteins and DNAs. Polymer-based materials lie at the heart of cutting-edge technologies poised to revolutionize material/energy sustainability and bioengineering, spanning applications from advanced batteries, electronic wearables to soft robotics and medicine. The significant potential – and challenge of pursuing such materials is that the properties are governed by the complex interactions across a range of time and length scales. Hence, the practice of complex polymer systems will require computational and theoretical modeling to bridge our fundamental understanding to the design of read-world applications.

By tackling molecular-based disciplines, Dr. Chen’s focus transcends the traditional boundaries of polymer materials to incorporate insights from electrochemical engineering, material science, and polymer physics. Areas of interest in Dr. Chen’s group include but are not limited to: underwater surface engineering (adhesion & antifouling), soft robotics, electrochemical engineering (batteries, capacitors, etc.) and protein engineering (drug design/delivery, etc.)

Dr. Shensheng Chen will join as an assistant professor at HKUST CBE at the beginning of September 2024. He is currently a postdoc at the Department of chemical engineering in California Institute of Technology (Caltech), with focus on computational study of charged polymer and biopolymer systems. Working with Prof. Zhen-Gang Wang (Polymer Physics Prize winner, 2024), Dr. Chen recently resolved some long-standing problems in the field of liquid–liquid phase separation of charged polymer systems. His work suggests new research directions that impact applications of polyelectrolytes in sustainability and bioengineering. Dr. Chen got his PhD from State University of New York at Binghamton, and his bachelor’s degree in Shanghai Jiao Tong University, both in Mechanical engineering. Dr. Chen’s current research interests focus on advancing the development of aqueous polymer complex systems into practical sustainability and bioengineering applications.

The School of Engineering (SENG) is the largest of the 4 Schools within HKUST. It has 7 departments including Chemical and Biological Engineering. It is the only education provider on chemical engineering in Hong Kong. In 2019, Times Higher Education World University Rankings in Engineering and Technology placed HKUST Engineering No.23 globally, the best ever position achieved by any local university since the establishment of this league table in 2010. QS World University Rankings by Subject 2019 - Engineering and Technology ranked HKUST No.18 globally which made SENG No. 1 in Hong Kong for nine consecutive years.