On 14 April, Elsevier, a global information analysis company, officially released the 2021 Highly Cited Chinese Researchers list, and six professors from our School were ranked on the list. Since 2015, a total of seven professors have been included in the list of highly cited researchers by Clarivate and Elsevier, and the total number of selections has reached 26 times, ranking first in the university. They are Professor HUANG Yunhui, Professor ZHAI Tianyou, Professor HU Xianluo, Professor YUAN Lixia, Professor YANG Junyou, Professor CHANG Haixin and Professor YAO Yonggang, a number of professors who have been selected for several consecutive years, and their fields of research cover lithium-ion power and energy storage batteries, low-dimensional inorganic optoelectronic functional materials and micro-nano devices, lithium batteries and key materials, two-dimensional nanomaterials like graphene, materials synthesis related to quantum materials, etc.

The Elsevier Highly Cited Chinese Researchers list adopts Scopus, the world's authoritative citation and indexing database, as a statistical source for the research output of Chinese scholars, and uses a methodology developed by Shanghai Ranking Consultancy. Since its debut in 2015, it has published the list for the eighth time in 2021. Being listed in Elsevier's list of highly cited researchers means that the total number of citations of the researcher's papers published as the first and corresponding author is at the top level among all researchers in China, with a high global influence and outstanding contributions to the development of the field.

The selection of highly cited researchers in School of Materials Science and Engineering signifies that the research achievements of the School have been recognized by international peers. In line with the strategy of "strengthening the School through human resource development", the School has held the "East Lake Forum" to attract global talents through academic exchanges and has rapidly gathered a number of first-class scientists and scholars who are active in the international academic frontier with strong research characteristics. Among the eight professors on the lists, seven are high-level national talents.

The School continues to optimize the environment for attracting and nurturing talents, creates a good atmosphere for teaching and research, and builds a high-level faculty "with ideal beliefs, with moral values, with solid knowledge and benevolence". There are three academicians, 15 national leaders and 28 national young talents in the School by now.