Professor Andre Geim (L) is appointed honorary professor at XJTU.

Professor Andre Geim, Nobel laureate in Physics, was appointed honorary professor at Xi'an Jiaotong University (XJTU) on April 8.

Born in Russia in 1958, Geim is currently a professor at the University of Manchester. In 2004, he and his colleague isolated single-layer graphene for the first time using the simple "Scotch tape method", pioneering the entirely new research field of 2D materials. For this achievement, he was co-awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics with Konstantin Novoselov. He was elected as a foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2017 and has long been deeply involved in scientific research collaborations with China.

At the appointment ceremony, Zhang Liqun, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and president of XJTU, expressed hope that scholars such as Professor Geim would join XJTU in cultivating future talent and advancing global scientific progress.

Professor Geim praised XJTU as an excellent institution and expressed his eagerness to collaborate in advancing scientific discovery and education.

During the subsequent "Wonder Materials" lecture, Professor Geim shared his research findings and personal insights on graphene and other 2D materials. He focused on what makes these materials unique and remarkable, how 2D materials have reshaped numerous research fields, and their current application prospects.

He encouraged young scholars to remain curious about the world and persist in their exploration to contribute to technological advancement.

The lecture concluded with a Q&A session. Professor Geim addressed students’ questions with patience and clarity; his rigorous academic spirit and witty delivery earned frequent applause from the audience.

During his visit, Professor Geim toured an exhibition of research achievements at the School of Materials Science and Engineering. He gained a systematic understanding of the school's latest progress in high-end information materials, energy materials, and advanced structural materials

Both parties held a symposium to discuss frontiers such as the modulation of physical properties in low-dimensional materials, the design of functional information materials, and materials for new computing architectures.