Principal Investigator
Yunyan Qiu Ph.D.
Presidential Young Professor
Department of Chemistry
National University of Singapore
yunyanq@nus.edu.sg
chem.qiulab@gmail.com
Dr. Yunyan Qiu completed his undergraduate training, majoring in medicinal chemistry, at Peking University with Professor Demin Zhou. Then he came to the United States and earned his Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University under the guidance of Professor Kevin Noonan and Tomek Kowalewski. During his graduate study, Dr. Qiu’s research encompassed organometallic chemistry and polymer science, focusing on the rational design of conjugated polymers and developing controlled methodologies to afford well-defined functional materials using metal-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions. Since December 2016, Dr. Qiu has been a postdoctoral fellow working with Professor Sir Fraser Stoddart, the 2016 Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry, at Northwestern University (NU), where he researches molecular machines and related functional materials. In October 2021, Dr. Qiu is promoted to a research assistant professor of chemistry at NU.
In Fall 2022, Yunyan started his independent career as a Presidential Young Professor (PYP) of Chemistry at National University of Singapore.
To know more about Dr. Qiu, please check the spotlight page produced by International Institute for Nanotechnology at Northwestern University.
Professional Appointment
October 2022 Presidential Young Professor of Chemistry
National University of Singapore
October 2021 Research Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Northwestern University
Education and Professional Training
Dec 2016–Sep 2021 Postdoctoral Fellow, Northwestern University
with Sir Fraser Stoddart
Aug 2011–Sep 2016 Ph.D. Chemistry, Carnegie Mellon University
with Professor Kevin Noonan and Tomasz Kowalewski
Sep 2007–Jul 2011 B.S. Medicinal Chemistry / Pharmaceutical Science
Peking University Health Science Center with Professor Demin Zhou
Awards and Recognition
2024 Sauvage-Stoddart-Feringa Junior Award
2021 Foresight Fellow in Molecular Machines
2020 Dream Chemistry Top 5 Prize
2020 International Institute for Nanotechnology Outstanding Researcher Award
2018 CAS SciFinder® Future Leaders
2018 PMSE Future Faculty Scholars, ACS National Meeting, Boston, MA
2017 ACS Excellence in Graduate Polymer Research Symposium
2015 John and Nancy Harrison Legacy Graduate Fellowship in Chemistry and Biochemistry, CMU
The Team
We are looking for creative, dedicated and highly motivated individuals to join our laboratory! Interested postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, undergraduate students, and research assistants who are interested in exploring new chemistry are encouraged to apply directly by contacting Dr. Qiu.
For more information, see the Join Us tab.
Postdoctoral Research Fellows
Yaping Yu
Postdoctoral Researcher
Yaping was born in Dalian, Liaoning Province, China. She got her Bachelor’s degree at Hengshui University in 2014. Then, she joined the Prof Yonggang Wu group to study with a Master’s degree course program in Hebei University from 2014 to 2017. At the same time, she participated in a joint cultivation project of the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and studied in Prof Weiwei Li group for the design and synthesis of novel non-fullerene acceptors and applications from 2015 to 2017. After graduating, she joined Prof Zhaohui Wang group as a research assistant from 2017 to 2018. After that, she moved to Prof Wan Yue's group in Sun Yat-Sen University to design and synthesize n-type organic functional materials. In 2023, she joined Prof Qiu's research group as a Research Fellow. Her research interests focus on constructing 2D and 3D COFs with macrocycles. In her spare time, she likes to watch suspense dramas and travel.
Xin Jiang
Postdoctoral Researcher
Xin was born in Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province, China. He earned his B.S. degree in Polymer Materials and Engineering from Shaanxi University of Science and Technology in 2016. He then moved to the Department of Chemistry at Jilin University, where he focused on the construction and functionalization of metallacages under the supervision of Prof Ming Wang, receiving his Ph.D. degree in 2021. In January 2022, he joined Prof Jing Yu’s group at Nanyang Technological University as a research fellow, where he worked on the design and synthesis of supramolecular elastomers and covalent adaptable networks. In July 2024, he joined Prof Qiu’s group as a research fellow. His research interests include the design and synthesis of precise mechanically interlocked bulk materials or assemblies. In his spare time, he enjoys playing basketball, watching movies, and exploring new foods or landscapes.
Graduate Students
Jiaqi Han
Ph.D. Student (Year 3)
Jiaqi was born and grew up in Heilongjiang, China. He completed his undergraduate training, majoring in organic materials, with Prof Lan Sheng and received his B.S. degree in Chemistry at Jilin University in 2019. Afterwards, he moved to the Department of Chemistry at Nankai University, where he commenced his education in asymmetric hydrogenation and asymmetric total synthesis of natural products under the supervision of Prof Qi-Lin Zhou & Prof Jian-Hua Xie and received his M.S. degree in 2022. In October 2022, he joined the group of Prof Yunyan Qiu in Chemistry at the National University of Singapore as a Ph.D. student. His research interests focus on the design and synthesis of polyrotaxanes. In his spare time, he likes reading and looking for delicious food in Singapore.
Jiajia Ping
Ph.D. Student (Year 3)
Jiajia was born in Baoding, Hebei province in China. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in polymer materials and engineering from Tianjin University of Science and Technology in 2019. Then she came to Tianjin University to start her master’s study in polymer materials, working on the crystallization and phase transition behavior of isotactic polybutene under the direction of Prof Zhe Ma. She joined the Qiu research group as a Ph.D. student under the guidance of Professor Yunyan Qiu at the National University of Singapore in October 2022. Her current research interests focus on polymer controlled polymerization. In spare time, she like to watch comedy movies and talk shows.
Hua Zhong
Ph.D. Student (Year 2)
Hua was born in Weifang, Shandong Province, China. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree (joint training) at Southwest University of Science and Technology & University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in 2020. Afterwards, He was continuing his Master’s degree in Polymer Chemistry at USTC under the supervision of Prof Feng Wang. In 2023, he joined the group of Prof Yunyan Qiu in Chemistry at the National University of Singapore as a Ph.D. student. In his spare time, he enjoys working out and swimming.
Zhongwei Sun
Ph.D. Student (Year 2)
Zhongwei comes from Jiangsu Province, China. In 2017, she obtained her B.S. degree from Nanjing University of Science and Technology. Afterwards, she joined Prof Shaodong Zhang's research team at Shanghai Jiaotong University, focusing on the design and structure of molecular cages until 2020. After three years’ administrative work in Jiangsu Normal University, she started her Ph.D. journey in 2023 as a member of Prof Qiu's group at the National University of Singapore. During her leisure time, she finds enjoyment in playing PC games and traveling.
Jiameng Deng
Ph.D. Student (Year 1)
Jiameng was born in Changsha, Hunan Province, China. He obtained his bachelor's degree from Peking University in 2021 and I have a double degree in Chemistry and Sociology. Afterward, he came to the National University of Singapore to finish his Master's degree in Chemistry under the supervision of Prof Zhao Yu. In 2024, He joined Prof Qiu's group as a PhD student. In his spare time, he likes music and hiking.
Chengyu Zeng
Master Student
Chengyu was born in Nanning, China. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Peking University in 2020. He joined Prof Qiu’s group as a master student in 2024. His research interests focus on synthetic chemistry and supramolecular materials. In his spare time, he enjoys badminton and gemology.
Zhirui Fan
Master Student
Zhirui was born in Zibo City, Shandong, China. He obtained his bachelor’s degree from Beijing University of Chemical Technology, majoring in Chemical Engineering. He joins Qiu's group as a master student. In his spare time, he likes watching TV series and playing video games
Visiting Scholars & Students
Yantao Sun
Visiting Scholar
Yantao was born in Gansu Province, China. He received his B.S. degree in applied chemistry and a Ph.D. degree in organic chemistry from Lanzhou University under the supervision of Prof Xiangfeng Shao in 2013 and 2018, respectively. His Ph.D. dissertation was on design, synthesis, and photoelectric properties of sulfur-doped curved molecules. After that he moved to the North University of China as a lecturer. In March 2023, he joined Prof Qiu’s group at the National University of Singapore as a postdoctoral research fellow under the support of the China Scholarship Council. His current interests focus on the synthesis of conjugated macrocycles and mechanically interlocked polymers. In his spare time, he likes hiking and watching movies.
Yiruo Yu
Visiting Undergraduate Student
Yiruo is a visiting student from China. She is working on her B.S. degree in Applied Chemistry from Wuhan University, China, and does research in the lab of Prof. Jinping Zhou. At her home institution, Yiruo studies the development of hydrogel based on modified natural polymers, and she focuses on both monomer synthesis and application research of these materials. She came to NUS and joined Prof. Qiu’s group to conduct research on the precision polymer synthesis. In her spare time, Yiruo enjoys reading and movies.
Undergraduate Students
Choi Seung Eun (Erica)
Undergraduate Student
Seung Eun is a Year 3 undergraduate student majoring in both Chemistry and Life Science. She is a Korean international student that got NUS after completing her high school education in Australia. She joined the group last year as a part of UROPS. Under the supervision of Jiaqi, her current research work focuses on the total synthesis of catenane and the controlled synthesis of polyrotaxane.
Caroline Tan Kexin
Undergraduate Student
Caroline is a Year 3 Chemistry undergraduate at NUS. She is currently working on a UROPS project relating to the controlled synthesis of functional materials under the supervision of her mentor, Dr. Yu Yaping. She loves playing the piano and cafe hopping with friends.
Research Assistants
Truong Minh Duong
Research Assistant
Duong was born in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. At 18, he came to Singapore where he later received his Bachelor degree in Chemistry & Biological Chemistry from Nanyang Technological University in 2024. During his undergraduate journey, he worked in the laboratory group of Professor Atsushi Goto, focusing on polymerization methods. He joined Qiu group in January 2024 as a research assistant where he will concentrate on developing new polymerization and depolymerization methods. In his free time, he enjoys watching TV series and documentaries.
Xiaoyang Wang
Postdoctoral Researcher
Xiaoyang was born and grew up in Henan Province, China. He received his B.S. degree in Applied Chemistry at Xuchang University in 2014. Afterward, he moved to the Department of Chemistry at Tianjin University, where he received his PhD under the supervision of Prof Guangwei Wang in 2019. Under the guidance of Prof You Wei, he completed his first postdoctoral training on ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) at Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences in May 2023, and then, he joined the group of Prof Yunyan Qiu in Chemistry at the National University of Singapore as a research fellow. In his spare time, he enjoys playing basketball and climbing mountains.
Qi Xiao
Master student
Qi was born in Guangdong, China. In 2023, she earned a bachelor's degree from Shenzhen University. She engaged in research on liquid metal flexible electronic devices in Professor Zhou Xuechang's research group. In 2024, she joined the Qiu research group for her master's degree. In her free time, she enjoys photography and extreme sports.
Runzhi Li
Master student
Runzhi was born in Gansu Province, China. He obtained his bachelor's degree from Dalian University of Technology in 2023, majoring in Applied Chemistry. In Jan 2024, he joined the Qiu research group as a master student at the National University of Singapore. His research focuses on controlled radical polymerization. In his free time, he enjoys music, billiards, and badminton.
Ziao Jia
Exchange Undergraduate Student
Ziao is an exchange student majoring in chemical biology from Xi'an Jiaotong University. He is mainly researching on polymer synthesis. Currently he is studying synthetic methods towards mechanical interlocked structures. In Jan 2024, he joined the Qiu research group for his UROPS project.
Enhui He
Visiting Ph.D. Student
Enhui was born in Zhengzhou, Henan Province of China. She gained her bachelor’s degree at Northeast Agricultural University in 2018. Afterwards, she got the successive master and doctor programs of study at Ocean University of China from 2018 to 2024. Under the guidance of Prof Liangmin Yu, she was mainly engaged in the research of the preparation and application of capsaicin-containing polymer/carbon microspheres. In August 2023, she joined the Qiu’s group at the National University of Singapore as a visiting PhD under the support of the China Scholarship Council. In her spare time, she likes swimming and pilates.
Renhui Qiu
Visiting Student
Renhui was born in Zhejiang, China. She is working on her B.S. degree in chemistry from Zhejiang University. In her home institution, Renhui studies the preparation of single-molecule devices under the guidance of Prof Hongliang Chen. She came to NUS as a visiting student and joined Prof Qiu’s group to research on the precision polymer synthesis. In her spare time, Renhui enjoys photography, movies and music.
Chenzhi Yao
Visiting Scholar
Yao Chenzhi obtained the Ph.D degree in polymer chemistry and physics from University of Science and Technology of China in 2020, and then worked as a postdoctoral fellow in Fudan University, Shanghai. From May 2023, he worked at the department of Chemistry and Materials Science, Anhui Normal University. Some related work have been published in Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., ACS Nano, Macromolecules.
EJ Brannan
Visiting Student
EJ is an international exchange student from the United States. He is working on his B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of Washington, Seattle, and does research in the lab of Dr. Dianne Xiao. At his home institution, EJ studies structure-property relationships in metal-organic frameworks through the investigation of tetraoxolene-based 1D metal-organic chains. He came to NUS on a fellowship from the American Chemical Society to research interfacial approaches to the synthesis of 2D and 3D covalent organic frameworks for diverse applications. In his free time, EJ enjoys listening to music, spending time with his friends, and making music with his bands.
Qiyao Yim
Undergraduate Student
Jiahao comes from Huanggang city, China. He got his B.S. degree in material science and engineering at Wuhan University of Technology in 2021. During his undergraduate study in Prof. Yu Jiaguo and Assoc. Prof. Liu Tao’s group, Jiahao concentrated on the area of energy and environment, especially MOFs and carbon used in supercapacitors and batteries. In September 2022, he joined Prof. Qiu’s group at the National University of Singapore with his research on conjugated frameworks.
Jiahao Liu
Master Student
Jiahao comes from Huanggang city, China. He got his B.S. degree in material science and engineering at Wuhan University of Technology in 2021. During his undergraduate study in Prof. Yu Jiaguo and Assoc. Prof. Liu Tao’s group, Jiahao concentrated on the area of energy and environment, especially MOFs and carbon used in supercapacitors and batteries. In September 2022, he joined Prof. Qiu’s group at the National University of Singapore with his research on conjugated frameworks.
Lanxi Li
Master Student
Lanxi was born and grew up in Tianjin, China. She obtained her bachelor's degree from Southwest University in 2022, majoring in Applied Chemistry. In October 2022, she joined the Qiu research group as a master student at the National University of Singapore. Her research interests focus on reprocessable and recyclable covalent adaptable networks.