The WeChat profile of Professor Zheng Zhiping is unique, an eye-catching Chinese map in flaring redness. Giving up the carefree life in America and come back to his motherland, he commits himself in the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) and shoulder the responsibility as the Executive President of Grubbs Shenzhen Institute… Without much stirring rhetoric, Professor Zheng Zhiping is interpreting his fervent love for China with every choice he made.

From 1997 to 2017, Professor Zheng was a faculty member of the Department of Chemistry in the University of Arizona. Being a tenured professor, he could lay on his back and expect a promising career, but he always felt that something is missing in his life. He thought long and hard, “I always felt the absence of sense of achievement after making something of myself. No matter how many achievements I made, I never felt at home. I need to apply my knowledge to an area in want of it.” To most people’s surprise, he decided to come back to China in 2017 and become a full-time faculty member of the budding SUSTech.

Shortly after returning to China, he became the Executive President of Grubbs Shenzhen Institute. On October 12th, 2016, the Grubbs Shenzhen Institute named after Professor Robert H. Grubbs, the Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, was unveiled; in May 2017, the Institute was integrated into SUSTech. As the first research institute that is named after a Nobel Prize winner in Shenzhen, the Institute is obviously of great significance. Back then, although Grubbs Institute had a framework, the actual development is still a blank slate. Zheng Zhiping said, he and his team had racked their brains to figure out how to build up the magnificent blueprint. “What we desire is not a glamourous name of Nobel Prize Winner. We are longing for a high-end platform with global influence that integrates talent training, scientific research, and application of research results.”

Up to now, Zheng Zhiping has served as the Executive President of GruBBS Research Institute for one year. During this period, he also took over as the Head of the Department of Chemistry of SUSTech. He admitted that the workload of the two administrative posts is much heavier than that in the United States. However, to his satisfactory, the Institute has been on the right track.  In terms of talent training and recruitment, the faculty composed of more than a dozen members dedicated to full-time scientific research and administrative personnel has been set up. At the same time, in accordance with the its research direction, the Institute has recognized and optimized its core scientific research team through co-employment; it has set up a top-notch team of foreign visiting professor and strengthened SUSTech’s exchange and cooperation with first-class overseas scientific research team. As the scientific research team is built up, the research result is fruitful: dozens of high-level papers have been published in top international journals such as Science, Nature Chemistry, etc.

“This year, the equipment for high-throughput catalyst screening will be put in place. Therefore, the robot-controlled equipment can complete thousands of chemical reactions every day, greatly improving our efficiency and accuracy. It will be a trump card of the Institute.” Equipped with advanced instruments, Grubbs Shenzhen Institute will gain another huge plus. In Zheng Zhiping's vision, the Institute will forge "the most advanced research and development base of new medicine, new materials and new energy with global visibility and the top scientific research center opening to the world".

At the same time, his own research does not ground to a halt. As a world-renowned scholar in the field of rare earth coordination chemistry and materials, he currently focuses on the exploration of “methanol steam reforming for hydrogen generation" and "water electrolysis catalyst for the production of hydrogen and oxygen". Interestingly, "methanol steam reforming for hydrogen generation " has made a breakthrough, and what makes the dream come true is research results of Professor Grubbs, Grubbs catalyst. "It's both a destiny and an inspiration." Zheng Zhiping said, today’s Grubbs Shenzhen Institute concentrates on small-molecule catalysis and macromolecular materials. Its research will contribute to many areas closely related to national economy and people’s livelihood, such as new medicine, new energy and new materials.

“I hope that in some day, the research of the Institute can make far-reaching and positive influence on the industries of Shenzhen, on the scientific research of China, and even on people’s health and life.” This is the original aspiration that Professor Zheng Zhiping remains committed to for all the difficulties he may face.

Text/photo by Wu Ji

Report from Shenzhen Economic Daily