Professor Jun Zhang Elected as Member of Academia Europaea

NYU Shanghai Professor of Physics and Mathematics and NYU Global Network Professor Jun Zhang has been elected as a 2024 Member of Academia Europaea (MAE) in recognition of his outstanding contributions to fluid physics and related fields.

Established in 1988, Academia Europaea is one of the most prestigious international scientific organizations and is regarded as one of Europe's highest academic institutions. The academy was jointly initiated by the Royal Society of the United Kingdom and national academies representing several European countries, including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Sweden, with its headquarters located in London.

The aim of the Academy is to promote European research, advise governments and international organizations in scientific matters, and further interdisciplinary and international research. Membership in Academia Europaea (MAE) is one of the highest honors bestowed on researchers, recognizing international scholars who have made “sustained academic excellence,” outstanding contributions across four academic sections: natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and life sciences, encompassing 23 disciplinary fields. Since its inception, nearly 5,500 MAE have been elected, including almost 90 Nobel laureates.

Membership of the academy is conferred by invitation only and follows a “rigorous peer review selection process.” After initial scrutiny by the scientific sections, recommendations are forwarded to the nomination committee for peer review. Final selection is made by a dedicated committee of Academia Europaea. Professor Jun Zhang's election as a member of the academy is a testament to his outstanding contributions and academic achievements in the field of physics, gaining recognition in the highest academic circles globally.

Throughout his nearly thirty-year research career, Zhang has been active in interdisciplinary fields such as fluid physics, complex systems, and soft matter, making internationally recognized contributions, particularly in areas such as fluid-structure interactions, biolocomotion, and geophysical fluid dynamics.

In 2017, Zhang was named an American Physical Society (APS) Fellow, in recognition for his work which the APS praised, saying, "His elegant and artful experiments have moved fluid-structure interactions into the scientific mainstream, and which have inspired their study in physics, biology, engineering, geophysics, and applied mathematics."

_{Professor Jun Zhang with students in the laboratory}

Upon learning of his membership in Academia Europaea, Zhang reflected on his international research experience which has taken him from China, Israel, Denmark, and the US, before joining NYU Shanghai over a decade ago. “It seems like a long journey, but every step feels invaluable. Along this journey, I have enriched my knowledge and, more importantly, enriched myself. Being honored as an MAE with Chinese nationality feels both heartwarming and exciting, reminding me of my good time studying in Europe. This recognition further acknowledges the importance of fundamental experimental science by Academia Europaea."

Joining NYU Shanghai in 2013, Jun Zhang has also served as co-director of the Applied Math Laboratory at Courant Institute of NYU since 2001. Zhang obtained his bachelor's degree from Wuhan University, pursued his doctoral studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, where he earned his PhD in physics. He also conducted postdoctoral research at Rockefeller University in the United States.

For more information about Professor Jun Zhang's research interests and achievements, please visit this webpage.