University Awards
Recognising Excellence

Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award

To me, being a graduate mentor means being three things: a guide, a supporter and a cheerleader. I try to help students find their own path, support them through the ups and downs of research, and celebrate their progress along the way. My greatest hope is that they leave my group not only as independent thinkers, but also as confident individuals ready to pursue their own paths. ”
Professor Liu Xiaogang
Distinguished Professor

Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science
Department of Surgery, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
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Research interests

  • Nanophotonics and luminescent nanomaterials
  • Biomedical imaging and sensing
  • X-ray scintillators and optogenetic devices
  • Advanced materials chemistry for diagnostics and therapeutics

Mentoring achievements

  • Professor Liu builds a research environment that is intellectually demanding yet highly supportive, tailoring the level of structure, pace, and support to each student while holding all mentees to the same standards of scientific rigour, integrity, and evidence-based reasoning.
  • He has mentored more than 40 PhD students, 45 Master's students, and over 50 postdoctoral fellows over a career spanning nearly two decades at NUS.
  • His students consistently publish in leading journals such as Nature, Science, and JACS, and many have secured competitive honours, including the Outstanding Self-Financed Student Abroad Scholarship, the National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars (Overseas), and the A*STAR International Fellowship.
  • Beyond individual supervision, Professor Liu also integrates advanced research methodologies into group learning, facilitates international collaborations, and connects trainees with industry partners to enhance career readiness.
  • His mentorship endures well beyond graduation; former students describe him as a lifelong mentor who has supported them personally through career transitions, entrepreneurship, and periods of hardship, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

International standing

  • Associate Editor for BMEMat, FlexMat, and Research.
  • Editorial board member of Nanoscale, Journal of Luminescence, The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, COSMOS, Journal of the Chinese Chemical Society, Chemistry—An Asian Journal, ChemNanoMat, Advanced Optical Materials, Nanoscale Horizons, The Innovation, and Nano Letters.
  • Fellow of the American Institute for Biological and Medical Engineering (2024).
  • Fellow of Singapore National Academy of Science (2022).
  • External proposal reviewer for the National Science Foundation (USA), Australian Research Council, European Research Council, and other international organisations.
  • Plenary speaker at multiple international conferences, including the Gordon Research Conference on Photon Upconversion and the International Conference on Luminescence (2023)

Awards and accolades

  • Top 10 Winner, Falling Walls Science Breakthrough of the Year [Physical Sciences] (2024)
  • Centenary Prize, Royal Society of Chemistry (2024)
  • SNIC-AsCA2019 Singapore Award for Solid State Chemistry & Materials (2023)
  • IMRE Distinguished Adjunct Fellow, A*STAR (2020)
  • NUS Outstanding Researcher Award (2017)
  • President’s Science Award (2016)

Education

  • PhD (Northwestern University)
  • MSc (East Carolina University)
  • BEng (Beijing Technology and Business University)
 Honour Roll Recipients