Living systems feature sophisticated response characteristics, self-regulation, energy dissipation, adaptive behaviors and feedback control mechanisms, providing essential inspiration for scientific research. His research focuses on bioinspired soft matter, exploring the multi-scale emergent properties of soft materials (especially hydrogels) from nanoscale to macroscale, as well as their applications in light-driven soft systems.
Profile
Hang Zhang serves as Associate Professor (Research Professor, PhD Supervisor) at the Faculty of Engineering, Eastern Institute of Technology, Ningbo. He is awarded the National Overseas High-Level Young Talent and Ningbo Outstanding Talent titles. Dr. Zhang received his B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Tongji University in 2010, M.S. in Chemistry from RWTH Aachen University in 2012, and PhD with the highest honor of Summa Cum Laude from RWTH Aachen University in 2017. He completed postdoctoral training at Aalto University, Finland, where he worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher and subsequently a Researcher funded by the Academy of Finland. His research focuses on the design of polymeric hydrogel networks, structure–property relationships, and bioinspired soft matter materials. To date, over 30 SCI-indexed papers have been published in top-tier journals including Nature Materials, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Communications, and Advanced Materials. The researcher has led multiple research projects with a total funding of over €2.8 million, covering the Postdoctoral Fellowship and Research Fellowship of the Academy of Finland, as well as the European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant. Dr. Zhang also acts as a regular peer reviewer for prestigious journals such as Advanced Materials, Nature Communications, and Matter.
Research Interests
Living systems feature sophisticated response characteristics, self-regulation, energy dissipation, adaptive behaviors and feedback control mechanisms, providing essential inspiration for scientific research. His research focuses on bioinspired soft matter, exploring the multi-scale emergent properties of soft materials (especially hydrogels) from nanoscale to macroscale, as well as their applications in light-driven soft systems.
Keywords: polymeric hydrogels, nanocomposites, bioinspired soft matter materials, light-driven soft systems
Education
· 2005 – 2010: Bachelor’s Degree, Tongji University
· 2010 – 2012: Master’s Degree, RWTH-Aachen University
· 2012 – 2017: Doctoral Degree, RWTH-Aachen University
Work Experience
· 09.2025 – now, Associate Professor (tenure track),Group Leader of Life-inspired Soft Matter, College of Engineering, Eastern Institute of Technology, Ningbo, China.
· 09.2020 – 08.2025, Academy Research Fellowand Group Leader of Life-inspired Soft Matter, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems, Aalto University, Finland.
· 09.2017 – 09.2020, Postdoctoral Researcher in Molecular Materials (MolMat) led by Prof. Olli Ikkala, Department of Applied Physics, Aalto University, Finland.
Awards & Honors
· 2026 Exceptional Talent of Ningbo City, Ningbo, China
· 2024 NSFC Excellent Young Scientists Fund (Overseas), China
· 2019 ACS Central ScienceBest Poster Prize,ISMSC 2019, Lecce, Italy.
· 2017 Borchers Badge for PhDs graduating with distinction, Aachen, Germany.
· 2015 Best Poster Prize, Lanxess Summer School, Aachen, Germany.
· 2014 Nature Physics Best Poster Prize, Jülich Soft Matter Days, Bad Honnef, Germany.
· 2014 Prize for Best Oral Presentation, Leibniz Young Polymer Scientist Forum, Aachen.
Google Scholar：
5 Representative Publications (* Corresponding Author, † Co-first Author)
1. C. Liang, V. Dudko, O. Khoruzhenko, X. Hong, Z.-P. Lv, I. Tunn, M. Umer, J. V. I. Timonen, M. B. Linder, J. Breu*, O. Ikkala*, and H. Zhang*, Stiff and self-healing hydrogels by polymer entanglements in co-planar nanoconfinement. Nature Materials, 2025, 24, 599–606.
2. Y.-H. Fang, C. Liang, V. Liljeström, Z.-P. Lv, O. Ikkala, and H. Zhang*, Toughening hydrogels with fibrillar connected double networks. Advanced Materials. 2024, 36, 2402282.
3. S. Hu, Y. Fang, C. Liang, M. Turunen, O. Ikkala*, and H. Zhang*, Thermally trainable dual network hydrogels. Nature Communications, 2023, 14, 3717.
4. H. Zhang, H. Zeng*, A. Eklund, H. Guo, A. Priimagi*, and O. Ikkala*, Feedback-controlled hydrogels with homeostatic oscillations and dissipative signal transduction. Nature Nanotechnology. 2022, 17, 1303.
5. H. Zhang†, H. Zeng†, A. Priimagi*, and O. Ikkala*, Programmable responsive hydrogels inspired by classical conditioning algorithm. Nature Communications. 2019, 10, 3267.
