Leiting Zhang

Leiting Zhang

Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry - Ångström Laboratory

About the PI

Academic Qualifications

  • Docent (2025) in Chemistry with Specialization in Materials Chemistry, Uppsala University (UU), Sweden
  • Ph.D. (2018), M.Phil. (2014), and B.Eng. (2011, honors) in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), China
  • Collège de France, France (Ph.D. co-supervision)
  • Ph.D. supervisors: Prof. Guohua Chen and Prof. Jean-Marie Tarascon

Employment

  • June 2023–present Assistant Professor/Associate Senior Lecturer, Uppsala University, Sweden
  • 2021–2023 Postdoctoral Researcher, Uppsala University, Sweden (with Prof. Kristina Edström and Prof. Erik J. Berg)
  • 2018–2021 Postdoctoral Researcher, Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Switzerland (with Prof. Petr Novák)

Awards and honors

  • 2025 Future Research Leader, Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research, Sweden
  • 2025 Göran Gustafsson Large Prize for Young Researchers, Göran Gustafsson Foundation (UU/KTH), Sweden
  • 2025 Promising Early Career Scientists, Materials Today Energy, Elsevier
  • 2025 Rising Star in Materials Science, American Chemical Society (ACS)
  • 2024 Bergstedt Prize, Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala, Sweden
  • 2024 Finalist, inaugural Energy Lectureship (early career), ACS
  • 2017 Chan Tak Kei & Wong Kwai Ying Award for Excellent Research, CBME, HKUST
  • 2016 Overseas Research Awards, School of Engineering, HKUST
  • 2012 Sinopoly Battery Scholarship, Sinopoly Battery Research Center, Shanghai
  • 2011 Gold Award, President’s Cup, HKUST
  • 2011 First Runner-up, Mr. Armin and Mrs. Lillian Kitchell Research Award, HKUST

Grants

  • 2027–2031 WASP-WISE NEST 2 joint project grant (7 MSEK), “AIM-BATT: AI-assisted multi-fidelity battery design and management: from materials to systems,” Grant no. 43, Wallenberg Initiative Materials Science for Sustainability (WISE), Sweden (main PI)
  • 2026–2030 Project grant (10 MSEK), “Online electrochemical mass spectrometry for probing and stabilizing interfaces in high-energy solid-state batteries,” Grant no. 2026-03582, Swedish Energy Agency, Sweden (main PI)
  • 2026–2030 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Network (649,300 EUR), “Training researchers in safe, resilient and economically viable ultra-fast battery charging systems (TRAIN-FAST),” Grant no. 101312848, European Commission (co-PI, work package lead)
  • 2026–2027 Staff exchange grant for early-career AI project (0.3 MSEK), “Battery time-series data interpretation by machine learning,” Faculty of Science and Technology, UU, Sweden
  • 2026–2028 COMPEL project grant (2.2 MSEK), “Learning switching dynamical systems for predictive and mechanistic insights into battery aging,” CompelUU, Sweden
  • 2025–2030 Future Research Leaders (FFL-9) grant (15 MSEK), “High-energy anode-free batteries,” Grant no. FFL24-0190, Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF), Sweden
  • 2025–2028 Göran Gustafsson Young Researcher grant (3.75 MSEK), “Electro-chemo-mechanics of solid-state batteries,” Grant no. 2533, Göran Gustafsson Foundation (UU/KTH), Sweden
  • 2024–2028 FFI project grant (3.3 MSEK), “Online acoustic emission monitoring of electric vehicle battery health,” Grant no. 2023-00990, Swedish Energy Agency, Sweden (main PI)
  • 2023–2027 Starting grant (4 MSEK), “Electrode–electrolyte interphases in sustainable aqueous alkali-ion batteries,” Grant no. 2022-03856, Swedish Research Council (VR), Sweden
  • 2023–2024 Young scientist grant (0.5 MSEK), “Sound of gas evolution: an acoustic emission study of battery aging,” Grant no. 23-372, ÅForsk Foundation, Sweden

Travel and conference grants

  • 2026 Travel grant (15,000 SEK), Uppsala University, Sweden
  • 2025 Young professional travel grant (2,000 USD), Battery Division, Electrochemical Society (ECS)
  • 2025 Travel grant (15,000 SEK), Uppsala University, Sweden
  • 2024 Travel grant (16,000 SEK), Uppsala University, Sweden
  • 2015 Travel grant (5,000 HKD), University Grants Committee, HK
  • 2014 Travel grant (9,000 HKD), University Grants Committee, HK
  • 2011 Student conference grant (49,000 HKD), Research Grants Council, HK

Invited Talks

Invited conference and workshop talks

  1. The 3rd International Aqueous Batteries Conference, Hong Kong, China (20 August 2026).
  2. The International Symposium on Frontiers in Chemical Engineering & The 18th Annual Conference of the Global Chinese Chemical Engineering Scholars, Shanghai, China (11 August 2026).
  3. International Symposium on Beyond Lithium-Ion Batteries 2026 (BeLi26), ETH Zürich, Switzerland (28 June 2026).
  4. Machine Learning for Materials and Molecular Discoveries (ML2MD) Workshop, Uppsala University, Sweden (18 June 2026).
  5. Materials for Sustainable Development Conference, Spain (24 March 2026, session chair).
  6. 248th ECS Meeting, Chicago, US (12 October 2025, session chair).
  7. Applied Materials & Interfaces Conference 2025, Singapore (4 July 2025).
  8. International Conference Celebrating the 220th Anniversary of the First Theory of Electrolysis by Theodor von Grotthuss, Vilnius, Lithuania (5 June 2025).
  9. International Conference on the Cooperation and Integration of Industry, Education, Research and Application: Energy Materials and Magnetic Materials, Hefei, China (21 December 2024, virtual).
  10. ACS Fall Meeting (Award symposium), Denver, US (18 August 2024).
  11. International Conference on Low Carbon Green Development, Changsha, China (20 October 2023).
  12. European Materials Research Society (E-MRS) Fall Meeting, Warsaw, Poland (18 September 2023).
  13. Octagon Bay International Innovation Forum, Yantai, China (6 August 2023).
  14. NanoInnovation Conference, Rome, Italy (21 September 2022).

Invited departmental lectures and seminars

  1. Department of Chemistry – Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University, Sweden (4 September 2026).
  2. Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden (3 September 2026).
  3. State Key Laboratory of Precision Blasting, Jianghan University, China (17 August 2026).
  4. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China (12 August 2026).
  5. COMPEL Biannual Meeting, Gothenburg, Sweden (12 November 2025).
  6. Department of Chemistry, University College London, UK (5 November 2025).
  7. Swedish Electric Transport Laboratory (SEEL), Sweden (23 September 2025, keynote speaker).
  8. Department of Applied Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, China (22 July 2025).
  9. Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, China (21 July 2025).
  10. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, South China University of Technology, China (11 July 2025).
  11. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, HKUST, China (8 July 2025).
  12. Sustainable Energy and Environment Thrust, HKUST (Guangzhou), China (30 June 2025).
  13. Scientific Frontier Seminar, Research Cloud online platform, China (10 June 2025, virtual).
  14. Chair of Molecular Functional Materials, Dresden University of Technology, Germany (14 May 2025).
  15. Center for Materials, Architectures and Integration of Nanomembranes, Chemnitz University of Technology, Germany (12 May 2025).
  16. Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University – Campus Gotland, Sweden (6 May 2025).
  17. MAX IV Battery Workshop, MAX IV Laboratory, Sweden (19 March 2025).
  18. Department of Materials Science, Fudan University, China (5 March 2025).
  19. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji University, China (3 March 2025).
  20. L(a)unch Seminar, Berlin Technology Center, Germany (10 December 2024, virtual).
  21. Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Seoul National University, Korea (15 November 2024).
  22. Guangzhou Municipal Key Laboratory of Materials Informatics, China (26 July 2024).
  23. School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, China (25 July 2024).
  24. Batteries Sweden (BASE) Annual Meeting, Uppsala University, Sweden (3 April 2024).
  25. Department of Chemistry – Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University, Sweden (19 February 2024).
  26. School of Metallurgy and Environment, Central South University, China (19 October 2023).
  27. ESS Knowledge Day, AB Volvo, Gothenburg, Sweden (29 June 2023).
  28. Stockholm Materials Hub (SMH) Workshop, Stockholm University, Sweden (25 May 2023).
  29. Battery Pub (14 March 2023, virtual).
  30. Laboratory “Chimie du Solide et de l’Énergie,” Collège de France, France (20 December 2022).
  31. Energy Institute, HKUST, HKSAR (10 November 2022).
  32. School of Chemistry, Chinese University of Hong Kong, HKSAR (10 November 2022).
  33. School of Materials, Sun Yat-sen University, China (13 May 2021, virtual).
  34. CRISMAT Laboratory, CNRS, France (8 December 2020, virtual).

University and Professional Service

  • Board member of the Master’s Program in Battery Technology and Energy Storage, UU (since 2025)
  • Steering Committee member, Smart Electrical Networks and Systems (SENSE) MSc program, EIT InnoEnergy (since 2023)
  • Organized laboratory safety meetings at the Structural Chemistry Program, UU (2023–2026)
  • Organized weekly Ångström Battery Monday Seminars, UU (50–70 regular attendees, 2023–2026)
  • Board member and Deputy CEO, Metrilytics AB (spin-off company commercializing gas analysis)
  • JACS Au Early Career Advisory Board (2024–2025, 2025–2026)
  • Guest editor, JACS Au Special Issue, “Future Perspectives on Battery Chemistries”
  • Guest editor, Materials Today Energy Special Issue, “Promising Early Career Scientist 2026”
  • Peer reviewer: ACS Applied Energy Materials, ACS Energy Letters, ACS Nano, Advanced Energy Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, Advanced Materials, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Applied Energy, Batteries, Batteries & Supercaps, Carbon Energy, ChemElectroChem, Chemical Engineering Journal, Chemical Science, ChemSusChem, Chinese Chemical Letters, Digital Discovery, Energy Storage Materials, Energy Technology, Ionics, Joule, Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Journal of Energy Storage, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Journal of Power Sources, Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Materials Advances, Materials Science Engineering B, Materials Today, Materials Today Energy, Nano Energy, Nano Research, Nature Chemistry, Nature Communications, Nature Energy, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Synthesis, Science China Chemistry, Scripta Materialia, Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, Small Methods.
  • Funding evaluator: Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship (VLAIO), Belgium
  • Conference, symposium, and workshop organization:
    • Batteries at Temperature Extremes, 253rd ECS Meeting, Gothenburg, Sweden (2028, upcoming)
    • AI-Based Manufacturing for Energy Storage Technologies, 252nd ECS Meeting, Detroit, US (2027, upcoming)
    • Inaugural Nordic Workshop on Battery Sensing, Trondheim, Norway (2027, upcoming)
    • Safe Materials for Advanced Battery Systems, MATSUS Conference, Barcelona, Spain (2026)
    • Young Scientist Event, Battery 2030+, Uppsala, Sweden (2022)
  • Ph.D. examination committees:
    • September 2025: Moritz Hisbrunner, Uppsala University, Sweden
    • May 2025: Hongmei Tang, Chemnitz University of Technology, Germany
    • March 2025: Jingrong Hou, Tongji University, China
  • Outreach activities:
    • 2024 Participated in UU’s SciFest to disseminate battery science to the general public
    • 2022 Co-drafted a Young Scientist Manifesto for the battery community
    • 2016 Performed interactive experiments for the public in the Fête de la Science 2016, CdF
    • 2012 Interviewed prospective local students via JUPAS, HKUST
    • 2011–2014 Organized events and demonstrations during HKUST outreach days
    • 2008–2009 Mentored new undergraduate students of HKUST

Pedagogy and Leadership Development

  • 2025–2030 SSF Future Research Leaders (FFL-9) program
  • 2024–2026 Science Diplomacy Academy, Sweden–Korea academic leadership program (SKERIC)
  • 2024 Course Development Course, UU (2-week pedagogic training)
  • 2024 Supervising Doctoral Students, UU (3-week pedagogic training)
  • 2024–2025 TUR Assistant Professor Mentorship, UU
  • 2023 Supervising Oral Presentations, UU (2.5-day pedagogic training)
  • 2023 Academic Teacher Training, UU (5-week pedagogic training)
  • 2023–2024 Early Career Peer Review Mentoring, Nature Communications
  • 2022–2023 TekNat Faculty Mentorship, UU
  • 2022 Curious about Leadership, UU (2-day intensive leadership training)
  • 2021–2022 Postdoc Career Success program, UU
  • 2011 Teaching Assistant Training, HKUST (2-week pedagogic training)