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WESTLAKE UNIVERSITY
School of Science
- About School of Science
- Areas of Study
-
Office of the Dean
- Executive Dean Li DENG
- Associate Dean for Research
- Associate Dean for Education
- Associate Dean for Administration
- Administration
About School of Science
The School of Science is dedicated to excellence in fundamental research at the frontiers of the physical and mathematical sciences, with a focus on three key disciplines: mathematics, physics, and chemistry.
In their academic and scientific pursuits, our distinguished faculty members and outstanding researchers explore a diverse range of fields, including geometric analysis, algebraic geometry, number theory, harmonic analysis, dynamical systems, topology, theoretical physics，condensed matter physics, computational physics , optics，particle physics, catalysis, synthesis, chemical biology, materials chemistry, theoretical/computational chemistry, and experimental physical chemistry, among others.
The School of Science is unwavering in its commitment to conducting perspective and systematic basic scientific research, building a world-class teaching team, and serving as a leading hub for training next-generation leaders towards top-notch innovation.
Office of the Dean
Executive Dean Li Deng
Professor Li Deng received his B.S. degree from Tsinghua University (1987), M.S. degree from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (1990), and Ph.D. degree from Harvard University (1995). He carried out his postdoctoral studies at Harvard with Professors George Whitesides and Gregory Verdine as an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow. He joined Brandeis University as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry in 1998. He was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2003, to Full Professor and was named the Orrie Friedman Distinguished Professor of Chemistry in 2005. He served as the Chair of the Chemistry Department at Brandies University from 2011 to 2014. He joined Westlake University in July of 2018, found the chemistry department (2019-2023) and is currently the Xu Yiming Endowed Chair Professor, the Vice President in Westlake University, the Executive Dean of School of Science and Chair of University Academic Committee.
Professor Deng is widely recognized as a pioneer and leader in the field of organocatalysis. His research focuses on the invention and the development of new catalytic reactions of importance in synthetic organic chemistry. His studies have established new concepts and strategies for weak bonding organocatalysis that are utilized by laboratories around the world for the successful development of numerous new catalysts and reactions. A broad range of reactions invented in his own laboratories have been successfully applied in academic and industrial laboratories. Several of his catalysts have been licensed to pharmaceutical and chemical companies.
Professor Deng serves as consultants for pharmaceutical and chemical companies and as panel members for public and private funding agencies. He has been recognized by several honors and awards, including the Sloan Research Fellowship, Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciences (JSPS) Fellowship, the Chan Memorial Award in Organic Chemistry, and the Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award from American Chemical Society.
Office of the Dean
Associate Dean Xin Zhang
Dr. Xin Zhang is the Professor of Chemistry and Cell Biology. He serves as Associate Dean for Research and Chair of the Department of Chemistry at Westlake University in Hangzhou. Prior to joining the faculty at Westlake in 2021, Zhang was the Paul & Mildred Berg Early Career Professor and associate professor of chemistry and of biochemistry and molecular biology at Pennsylvania State University. Zhang was a Helen Hay Whitney postdoctoral fellow at the Scripps Research Institute (La Jolla, California) with Professor Jeffery W Kelly. He earned a doctoral degree at the California Institute of Technology with Professor Shu-ou Shan, a master's degree at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences with Professor Ke-Li Han, and a bachelor's degree at the University of Science and Technology of China.
Biological aggregates play significant roles in various cellular pathways and human diseases. Focused on the “Chemistry of Biological Aggregates”, the Zhang lab aspires to develop enabling chemical methodologies and solve transformative biological questions. At present, the Zhang lab combines expertise from synthetic chemistry, biological chemistry, cellular biology and chemical biology to develop chemical tools that quantitatively report on the physicochemical changes of biomolecules during processes of phase separation and aggregation. These results have the potential to correlate the physicochemical properties of biological aggregates to their physiological or pathological functions. Zhang’s work has received multiple honors and awards, including Priestley Prize for undergraduate teaching in chemistry, Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences USA, CAPA Distinguished Junior Faculty Award, NSF CAREER award, NIH Maximizing Investigators' Research Award, Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences, Scialog Fellowship of the Research Corporation, Sloan Research Fellowship, the Lloyd and Dottie Huck Early Career Award, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award at the Scientific Interface, and the ACS Nobel Laureate Signature Award for Graduate Education.
Office of the Dean
Associate Dean Huayi Chen
Professor Huayi Chen is the Chair Professor of Mathematics and serves as Associate Dean for Education at the School of Science, Westlake University.
Professor Chen, born in 1979, is from Fu'an, Fujian province. He obtained his Bachelor's degree from the School of Mathematical Sciences at Peking University in 2000. In 2002, he received an engineering diploma from École Polytechnique in France, followed by a Master's degree from the University of Paris VI (now Sorbonne University) in 2003, and a PhD from École Polytechnique in 2006. From 2006 to 2008, he conducted postdoctoral research and served as a temporary teaching position at École Polytechnique and the University of Paris VIII. He was an Associate Professor at the University of Paris VII (now University of Paris Cité) from 2008 to 2012, a Professor at the University of Grenoble from 2012 to 2016, and a Professor at the University of Paris Cité from 2016 to 2023. He has now joined the Institute for Theoretical Sciences, Westlake University as a chair professor in mathematics.
Professor Huayi Chen is dedicated to research in the field of arithmetic geometry. In the study of arithmetic projective varieties, he has proposed a new method of filtration with real index and applied the ideas of random variable coupling and measure transfer theory to the study of invariants of arithmetic line bundles. In collaboration with Professor Moriwaki, he has established the theory of adelic curves, extending Arakelov geometry to general countable fields.
Office of the Dean
Associate Dean Guochang Zhang
Dr. Zhang Guochang earned his Bachelor’s (2003), Master’s (2006), and Ph.D. (2016) degrees from Zhejiang University. Since May 2022, he has been serving as Associate Dean for Administration at the School of Science, Westlake University.
He has published more than ten journal articles, and his research interests include university governance, the integration of industry and education, as well as the intersection of science, technology, and society.
Office of the Dean
Hanghang Lan, Assistant Dean & Director
E5-247ㅤㅤ(0571) 88119578 lanhanghang@westlake.edu.cn
Lingli CHEN, Human Resources Coordinator
E5-331ㅤㅤ(0571) 87697609 chenlingli@westlake.edu.cn
Xiaolin WU, Human Resources Coordinator
E5-331ㅤㅤ(0571) 87089397 wuxiaolin@westlake.edu.cn
YuanTian, Human Resources Coordinator
E5-331 (0571) 88110139ㅤ tianyuan66@westlake.edu.cn
Qiuyan YANG, Research Affairs Coordinator
E5-331ㅤㅤ(0571) 85092180 yangqiuyan@westlake.edu.cn
Yi ZHU, Academic Exchange and Research Affairs Coordinator
E5-331ㅤㅤ(0571) 88112033 zhuyi48@westlake.edu.cn
Ruixue CHEN, Education Affairs and Admissions
E5-245（0571）88110273 chenruixue@westlake.edu.cn
Xuechun LI, Admissions Coordinator
E5-245ㅤㅤ(0571) 88112051 lixuechun@westlake.edu.cn
Ran WEI, Education Affairs Coordinator (Chemistry)
E5-245ㅤㅤ(0571) 86590773 weiran@westlake.edu.cn
Chen CHEN, Education Affairs Coordinator (Mathematics & Physics)
E5-245ㅤㅤ(0571) 88113027 chenchen11@westlake.edu.cn
Nan XU, Student and Alumni Affairs Coordinator
E5-245ㅤㅤ(0571) 88119593 xunan01@westlake.edu.cn
Yichen LIU, Undergraduate Counselor
E5-245ㅤㅤ(0571) 88110053 liuyichen@westlake.edu.cn
He ZHANG, Lab Management Coordinator
E4-321ㅤㅤ(0571) 86886858 zhanghe@westlake.edu.cn
Yukun LIU, Communications Coordinator
E4-321ㅤㅤ(0571) 88110633 liuyukun@westlake.edu.cn
Sai JIANG, Financial and Administration Affairs Coordinator
E5-246ㅤㅤ(0571) 88119538 jiangsai@westlake.edu.cn
Sudan He, Party and the Masses Affairs Coordinator
E5-246ㅤㅤ(0571) 88113021 hesudan@westlake.edu.cn
Weijie YAO, IT Coordinator
E5-246ㅤㅤ(0571) 88112032 yaoweijie@westlake.edu.cn
Sangeet SANGROULA, International Affairs Coordinator
E5-246ㅤㅤ(0571) 88112035 sangeet@westlake.edu.cn
Shirley Ji WANG, English Language Support Coordinator
E5-429ㅤㅤ(0571) 88113056 wangji@westlake.edu.cn
Campus Life
Volunteers at the 2019 Chemistry Symposium of Westlake University
Physics Open Day, School of Science
Happy Hour, School of Science
Faculty Winter Outing, Wuzhen
Faculty Spring Outing, Chocolate Town
The Party Branch Event, Longshan Island
Westlake University New Year Gala, Dangerous Problem
“1 vs 10” Simultaneous Chess Event
Football Fans Watching Euro Cup
Brochure & Files
Westlake University School of Science: An Introduction (2023)
Our Faculty
Graduate Admission
The School of Science is committed to cultivating talents with innovative ideas and frontier insights engaged in their studies to propel the development of life sciences and engineering technologies, and having a broad international perspective and a strong sense of social responsibility.
With Westlake University's resource-rich-environment and enduring dedication to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, students are able to develop an in-depth understanding of solid and broad basic theories and systemic expertise in their subject field, grasp the most cutting-edge development trends of the subject and have the basic academic literacy to carry out independent scientific research.
Our doctoral students are studying in joint programs with Zhejiang University and Fudan University which are both top-ranked, large-sized, long-established and comprehensive universities, so we can offer all the advantages of studying at a small, dynamic and new university but at the same time students also get the advantage of studying at a large, established university. The Joint Doctoral Program with Zhejiang University and Fudan University both offers PhD Programs in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry.
Facilities
Initiated by the School of Science, the Instrumentation and Service Center for Physical Sciences (ISCPS) hosts state-of-the-art facilities not only to meet routine analysis needs, but also to collaborate with our faculty and researchers in developing novel instrumental technologies or methodologies that address problems emerging from dynamic, cutting-edge research. ISCPS has currently installed a series of instruments covering X-ray diffraction, surface physics analysis, cryogenic measurement, electron microscopy and physical property characterization, which together provide strong support for the development of Westlake University.
The Instrumentation and Service Center for Molecular Sciences (ISCMS) is a shared-use core facility at Westlake University to provide a collaborative multi-disciplinary research environment to support of the creation and evolution of world-class molecular sciences and technical expertise, for the Westlake research community as well as the larger community of external researchers both from academia and industry. ISCMS is composed of four professional analytical laboratories: Spectroscopy Lab, Magnetic Resonance Lab, Chromatography and Mass Spectroscopy Lab, In-situ Chemical Analysis Lab, focusing on the exploration of molecular structure, intra- and inter-molecular interactions and molecular dynamics. The characterization service covers organic and inorganic components and structures analysis, qualitative and quantitative measurements of drugs and polymers, determination of the structure of functional materials and the conformation of polypeptides and biomolecules, stability and dynamics analysis, metabolomics analysis of drugs or clinical markers, inspections of quality for water, food or drug, as well as detection of environmental pollutant etc. The focus of ISCMS technical team has been not only to serve a broad, diverse, international set of researchers who are focus on pioneering scientific innovations, but also to develop specialized methodologies, protocols, instrumentation, and expertise to help simulate, characterize, and analyze novel molecules, materials, and systems going beyond conventional approaches.
Labs
The Key Laboratory of Precise Synthesis of Functional Molecules of Zhejiang Province
The Key Laboratory of Precise Synthesis of Functional Molecules of Zhejiang Province was established with approval by the Science Technology Department of Zhejiang Province, the Zhejiang Provincial Development and Reform Commission and the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Finance, on November 2019. Li Deng, Xu Yiming Endowed Chair Professor and Executive Dean of School of Science at Westlake University, will be the director of the Key Laboratory. The academic committee consists of prominent educators and scholars from China and overseas, providing advise on major issues in decision making process such as the strategic planning of the Key Laboratory.
Focusing on the development of new synthetic methodology and innovative synthetic strategies, the Key Laboratory aims to achieve rapid construction of libraries of bioactive functional molecules and efficient synthesis of novel functional materials, thereby providing materials for the original discovery and development of novel functional molecules of medicinal and biomedical applications. By achieving these goals, the Key Laboratory will become a world-class center of excellence in fundamental research and education.
The Key Laboratory for Quantum Materials of Zhejiang Province
The Key Laboratory for Quantum Materials of Zhejiang Province was established in November 2020, with approval by the Science Technology Department of Zhejiang Province, as a consortium of multiple research groups and labs in condensed matter physics and the Instrumentation and Service Center for Physical Sciences of the University.
By joining forces of Westlake University on fabrication, measurement, theory and computation of quantum materials, and taking advantage of the technical strength in quantum materials synthesis and characterization of the Instrumentation and Service Center for Physical Sciences, the Key Laboratory seeks for fundamental and technical breakthroughs on related foci and bottlenecks in quantum materials research. Specifically, four priority research directions are focused on (i.e., harnessing topological states for groundbreaking surface properties, exploring novel bulk properties of correlated electron materials, manipulating quantum effects in low dimensional nanostructures, developing cutting-edge tools to accelerate discovery and technological deployment of quantum materials), which include in total 10 key points and 30 projects for research in the early stage, paving the way to better understanding quantum materials and exploiting their rich technological potentials.
