Recently, the Department of Science and Technology of Hubei Province announced the performance evaluation results of Hubei Provincial Key Laboratories for 2023. The Hubei Key Laboratory of Materials Chemistry and Service Failure at Huazhong University of Science and Technology was once again rated as an “outstanding benchmark”. This marks the fifth consecutive year since 2019 that the laboratory has received this honor, fully demonstrating its outstanding contributions in scientific research, technological innovation, talent cultivation, and serving local economic and social development.
1.Focusing on National Strategic Needs with Fruitful Research Results
Since its establishment in 2006, the Hubei Key Laboratory of Materials Chemistry and Service Failure has closely focused on hot topics in the field of materials chemistry and service failure both domestically and internationally. By integrating the industrial characteristics of Hubei Province, it has built a research system that combines basic research and applied transformation.
In recent years, the laboratory has focused on four major research directions: polymer materials and supramolecular gels, material service failure and protection, synthesis and application of catalytic materials, and special functional materials, achieving a series of breakthrough results. In 2023, the laboratory added 66 scientific research projects with approved funding of over 35 million yuan. It published 180 SCI papers, including 104 papers in the Chinese Academy of Sciences Zone 1 and 53 high-level papers with an impact factor greater than 10. Additionally, 43 invention patents were authorized, and 58 invention patent applications were filed, with multiple technologies achieving industrial application.
The laboratory has strongly supported the global competitiveness of Huazhong University of Science and Technology's chemistry and materials disciplines. In 2023, the chemistry and materials disciplines ranked 52nd and 29th, respectively, in the US News World Rankings, and 33rd and 18th in the Shanghai Ranking.
2.Top Team Leading with Remarkable Talent Cultivation
The laboratory has gathered a high-level research team led by academicians and national outstanding youth scholars, totaling 66 researchers, including one dual-appointed academician and 32 professors. Young key members under the age of 45 account for 65% of the team. Over the year, the laboratory trained 25 doctoral students and 54 master's students. Outstanding graduates went on to further their studies at Harvard University, Oxford University, and other prestigious institutions, or joined industry leaders such as Huawei. Undergraduate teams won multiple honors, including the first prize in the National Chemistry Experiment Innovation Design Competition.
3.Emphasizing Open Sharing and Social Services
The laboratory actively promotes academic exchanges and industry-university-research collaboration. It hosted high-level conferences such as the "2023 National Polymer Academic Paper Report Conference" and the"China-Australia Sustainable Composite Materials Forum" inviting 134 lectures by domestic and international experts throughout the year. Eight open projects were established to support cross-institutional collaborative research. The laboratory also actively organized science popularization and public welfare activities, including lectures delivered to primary and secondary schools and communities, covering 5,800 participants online and offline. It collaborated with companies such as Huawei and COFCO Group to promote technology transfer and serve the local economy. The laboratory vigorously promoted platform sharing, with large-scale instruments and equipment open for 8,600 hours, serving multiple universities and institutions in the Wuhan area.
Professor Li Zhong’an, Director of the Laboratory, stated, "Being rated as an "outstanding benchmark" for five consecutive years is a recognition of the unremitting efforts of all laboratory members. In the future, we will aim to build a national key laboratory, further deepen the integration of basic research and applied development, and make greater contributions to the development of national materials science and technological innovation in Hubei Province.
The School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Huazhong University of Science and Technology will continue to support the laboratory's construction, striving to build a research hub in materials chemistry and service failure with international influence and injecting new momentum into serving national major strategic needs and regional economic development.
