Hongcai Joe Zhou, professor of chemistry at Texas A&M University, has been selected to receive a Carl Friedrich von Siemens Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in recognition of his career achievement and impact on the global chemistry community.
An international pioneer in inorganic chemistry as well as ligand design and synthesis, Zhou is a world leader in the design of framework materials — very small, precisely arranged and highly porous polymer-based structures that include metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), porous polymer networks (PPNs) and covalent-organic frameworks (COFs). These highly tunable, adaptable compounds hold promise in a variety of energy and environment-related areas and applications, from fuel and energy storage to emissions controls and drug delivery.
Established in 2015, the Carl Friedrich von Siemens Research Award is bestowed “in recognition of the award winner’s entire academic record to date.” It carries a cash prize of $65,000 Euros (approximately $73,000) and a travel stipend to spend up to one year in Germany collaborating with colleagues on a long-term research project of the recipient’s choosing. Zhou plans to travel to Germany later this year, where he will collaborate with his nominator and longtime collaborator Roland A. Fischer, a professor at the Technical University of Munich, on the application of the synthetic tools for pore modification discovered in Zhou’s lab in vectorial catalysis, a field Fischer pioneered. The collaboration may lead to new catalysts for sustainable energy and environmental protection.
A 2000 Texas A&M chemistry Ph.D. graduate, Zhou joined the Department of Chemistry faculty in 2008 and is holder of the Robert A. Welch Chair in Chemistry. In addition to serving as director of the Center for Electrochemical Systems and Hydrogen Research, he also is a member of the Texas A&M Energy Institute and an affiliated faculty member in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
In addition to being a prolific researcher and esteemed teacher, Zhou is recognized as a valued mentor, having played a critical role in kickstarting the careers of dozens of Texas A&M master's and Ph.D. graduates in chemistry during the past two decades.
"I am delighted that Joe has been recognized with this award," said Simon W. North, John W. Bevan Professor of Chemistry and head of the Department of Chemistry. "He is a pioneer in the area of metal-organic frameworks and continues to be one of the most prolific cited researchers in the field."
A fellow of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the Royal Society of Chemistry and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Zhou has authored 480-plus peer-reviewed papers and articles to date and been listed as a Thomson Reuters/Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researcher for nine consecutive years since 2014. He has received many previous career accolades, including the Research Corporation for Science Advancement’s Research Innovation Award (2003) and Cottrell Scholar Award (2005), a National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2004-2009), the Miami University Distinguished Scholar-Young Investigator Award (2006), the Air Products Faculty Excellence Award (2007), the U.S. Department of Energy Hydrogen Program Special Recognition Award (2010) and a Texas A&M Association of Former Students Distinguished Achievement Award in Research (2017). Zhou also has served since 2013 as an associate editor for the ACS journal Inorganic Chemistry.
Each year, the Humboldt Foundation invites a select number of internationally renowned academics to spend up to one year cooperating on long-term research projects with specialist colleagues in Germany in an effort to further promote international scientific collaboration, irrespective of academic disciplines or nationalities.
“I feel truly honored and humbled at the same time to join this exclusive list of Humboldt Research Awardees, which is essentially a list of ‘Who is Who in Research’ worldwide, including many Nobel laureates," Zhou said.
Learn more about the Humboldt Foundation and its award programs at https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/en/.
For additional information about Zhou and his research, go to https://www.chem.tamu.edu/rgroup/zhou/.