Professor Lianzhou Wang named a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science

Professor Lianzhou Wang has received one of the highest honours available to members of the local research community: being named a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.

Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science are among the nation’s most distinguished scientists, elected by their peers for ground-breaking research and contributions that have had clear impact. Up to 25 new fellows are admitted each year.

Professor Wang is a senior group leader and Australian Research Council Australian Laureate Fellow at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology AIBN (AIBN) and School of Chemical Engineering UQ, where he is focussed on the clean energy sector, and developing new functional materials for solar energy conversion and storage systems.

His nomination to the Academy comes just weeks after he was named The University of Queensland’s first ever Australian Research Council Industry Laureate Fellow, winning $3.6 million to help position Australia as a leading supplier of superior batteries for electric vehicles.

“I am incredibly humbled to be named among this distinguished group,” Professor Wang said.

“To be recognised in such a way by my peers is truly an honour.”

Professor Wang joins AIBN colleagues Professor Alan Rowan, Professor Debra Bernhardt, and Professor Tom Davis as members of the Academy, as well as other high-profile names such as Australia’s Chief Scientist Dr Cathy Foley, UQ Emeritus Professor Ian Frazer, and Nobel Laureates Professor Barry Marshall, Professor Brian Schmidt, Professor Peter Doherty, and Professor Robin Warren.

The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London, with the distinguished physicist Sir Mark Oliphant as founding President.

Professor Wang’s work in renewable energy applications at UQ earned him an ARC Laureate Fellowship in 2019 after his lab set the world record for efficiency in quantum dot solar cells.