Education and positions

• 08/2011-present: Head of the research group Mechanics of Functional Materials, Department of Materials and Geosciences, TU Darmstadt, Germany
• 2023-2028: Guest professor at Central South University, School of Civil Engineering, Changsha, China
• 08/2010-07/2011: Postdoctoral Researcher, Chair of Applied Mechanics, TU Kaiserslautern, Germany
• 08/2008-07/2010: Alexander von Humboldt Posdoctoral Scholarship, Institute of Solid Mechanics, TU Darmstadt, and Chair of Applied Mechanics, TU Kaiserslautern, Germany
• 05/2008: Ph.D. (Boshi) in Solid Mechanics, Peking University, China
• 12/2005-11/2007: Daimler und Benz Scholarship, Institute of Solid Mechanics, TU Darmstadt, Germany
• 10/2002-07/2008: Graduate Research Assistant at Peking University, China
• 07/2002: B.Sc. in Solid Mechanics, Hohai University, Nanjing, China

Prizes and Awards

• 2015: Adolf Messer-Prize, Adolf Messer Foundation, Germany
• 2010: Nomination Award of The National Excellent Ph.D Thesis of China
• 2008: Postdoctoral Fellowship of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
• 2005: Fellowship of the Daimler- und Benz-Stiftung Foundation
• 2004: Scholarship of The Kwang-Hua Educational Foundation, Taiwan
• 2002: Honored Graduate of the University, Hohai University, Nanjing, China

Further Activities

• Member of Scientific Council to the President, TU Darmstadt, Germany (2024 – 2026)
• Member of the Editorial Board for the
• • Archive of Applied Mechanics
  • Journal of Physics Communications (IOP)
  • Forces in Mechanics
  • Acta Mechanica
• Member of
• • The International Association of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics (GAMM)
  • The German Materials Society (DGM)
  • The German Association for Computational Mechanics (GACM)