NYU Shanghai, in partnership with the NYU Graduate School of Arts and Science (GSAS) and the NYU Department of Chemistry, invites applications from exceptional students for PhD study and research in Chemistry.
Participating students are enrolled in the NYU GSAS Chemistry PhD program, complete a portion of their coursework at the NYU Department of Chemistry in New York, and then transition to full-time residence at NYU Shanghai where they finish their coursework and undertake doctoral research under the supervision of NYU Shanghai faculty.
Highlights of the Program
- NYU PhD degree in Chemistry upon graduation
- Graduate coursework at the NYU Department of Chemistry in New York and NYU Shanghai
- Research opportunities with and close mentorship by NYU Shanghai faculty
- Access to the vast intellectual resources of NYU GSAS and NYU Department of Chemistry
- Cutting-edge research environment at NYU Shanghai, including the Center for Computational Chemistry, activities such as a regular program of seminars and visiting academics, a thriving community of PhD students, post-doctoral fellows, and research associates, and links with other universities within and outside China
- Financial aid through the NYU Shanghai Doctoral Fellowship, including tuition, fees, and an annual stipend
- Additional benefits exclusive to the NYU Shanghai program, including international health insurance, housing assistance in New York, and travel funds
Supervising Faculty
William Glover
Theoretical Photochemistry, Biophysics, Quantum Chemistry
Xiang Sun
Theoretical Chemistry, Quantum Dynamics, Statistical Mechanics, Spectroscopy
John Zhang
Protein-Protein Interaction, Computational Drug Design, Protein Dynamics
Representative Publications by NYU Shanghai Faculty
William Glover
Amiel S. P. Paz, William J. Glover, Efficient analytical gradients of property-based diabatic states: Geometry optimizations for localized holes, J. Chem. Phys. 158, 204107 (2023)
Xiao Liu, Alexander Humeniuk, William J. Glover,* Conical intersections in solution with polarizable embedding: Integral-exact direct reaction field, J. Chem. Theory Comput. 18, 6826-6839 (2022)
Xingpin Li, Xiangyu Jia, Amiel S. P. Paz, Yuquan Cao, William J. Glover,* Evidence for water antibonding orbital mixing in the hydrated electron from its oxygen 1s X-ray absorption spectrum, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 144, 19668-19672 (2022)
Yuanming Bai, Leslie Vogt-Maranto, Mark E. Tuckerman, William J. Glover,* Machine learning the Hohenberg-Kohn map to molecular excited states, Nat. Commun. 13, 7044 (2022)
Zhuofan Shen, Shaoting Peng, William J. Glover,* Flexible boundary layer using exchange for embedding theories. II. QM/MM dynamics of the hydrated electron, J. Chem. Phys. 155, 224113 (2021)
Xiang Sun
Zengkui Liu, Wen Xu, Mark E. Tuckerman*, Xiang Sun*, Imaginary-Time Open-Chain Path-Integral Approach for Two-State Time Correlation Functions and Applications in Charge Transfer, J. Chem. Phys. 157, 114111 (2022).
Zhubin Hu, Xiang Sun*, All-Atom Nonadiabatic Semiclassical Mapping Dynamics for Photoinduced Charge Transfer of Organic Photovoltaic Molecules in Explicit Solvents, J. Chem. Theory Comput. 18, 5819-5836 (2022).
Dominikus Brian, Xiang Sun*, Linear-Response and Nonlinear-Response Formulations of the Instantaneous Marcus Theory for Nonequilibrium Photoinduced Charge Transfer, J. Chem. Theory Comput. 17, 2065-2079 (2021).
Tao Wang, Zhubin Hu, Xiancheng Nie, Linkun Huang, Hui Miao, Xiang Sun*, Guoqing Zhang*, Thermochromic Aggregation-Induced Dual Phosphorescence via Temperature-Dependent sp3-Linked Donor-Acceptor Electronic Coupling, Nat. Commun. 12, 1364 (2021).
Zhubin Hu, Dominikus Brian, Xiang Sun*, Multi-State Harmonic Models with Globally Shared Bath for Nonadiabatic Dynamics in the Condensed Phase, J. Chem. Phys. 155, 124105 (2021).
John Zhang
Jianwen Zhang, Yalong Cong, Lili Duan,* John Z. H. Zhang,* Combined Antibodies Evusheld against the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variants BA.1.1 and BA.5: Immune Escape Mechanism from Molecular Simulation, J. Chem. Inf. Model. 63, 5297-5308 (2023)
Xiaolin Pan, Fanyu Zhao, Yueqing Zhang, Xudong Xiao, John Z. H. Zhang,* Change Ji,* MolTaut: A Tool for the Rapid Generation of Favorable Tautomer in Aqueous Solution, J. Chem. Inf. Model. 63, 1833-1840 (2023)
Lei Zheng, Yunpeng Yang, Jingxiao Bao, Lipeng He, Yifei Qi,* John Z. H. Zhang,* Discovery of novel inhibitors of CDK2 using docking and physics-based binding free energy calculation, Chem. Biol. Drug Des. 99, 662-673 (2022)
Liquan Cao, Jinzhe Zeng, Bo Wang, Tong Zhu,* John Z. H. Zhang,* Ab initio neural network MD simulation of thermal decomposition of a high energy material CL-20/TNT, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 24, 11801-11811 (2022)
Jinzhe Zeng, Liquan Cao, Mingyuan Xu, Tong Zhu,* John Z. H. Zhang,* Complex reaction processes in combustion unraveled by neural network-based molecular dynamics simulation, Nat. Commun. 11, 5713 (2020)
Selected Faculty and Student Features
“Scholars Gather for Computational Molecular Science & Machine Learning Symposium” (William Glover, Sun Xiang, John Zhang)
"Cover article: New Computational Technique Investigates Charge Transfer in DNA" (Amiel Paz, William Glover)
"NYU Shanghai PhD Student Wins Best Poster at Chinese Chemical Society Congress" (Zengkui Liu, Xiang Sun)
"Communicating Science: NYU Shanghai’s First Postdoctoral and Doctoral Research Assembly" (Shiyu Hu, Fanyu Zhao)
"NYU Shanghai Awards First PhD in Chemistry" (Amiel Paz)
"Dialogue with Directors: Pushing the Boundaries of Research Through Interdisciplinary Collaboration" (William Glover, John Zhang)
"Scientists Develop Artificial Intelligence to Predict Photochemical Reactions" (William Glover, Yuanming Bai)
"Professor William Glover Wins OpenEye Outstanding Junior Faculty Award in Computational Chemistry" (William Glover)
"New NYU Shanghai Study Explores the Nature of Hydrated Electrons" (William Glover, Xinping Li)
"NYU Shanghai Scientists Propose New Approach for Charge Transfer Rate Calculation" (Xiang Sun, Zengkui Liu)
"NYU Shanghai Researchers Construct New Models for Energy Transfer Simulation" (Xiang Sun, Dominikus Brian)
“Professor John Zhang elected as Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry” (John Zhang)
Structure of Program
Participating students complete the PhD degree requirements set by the NYU Department of Chemistry and in accordance with the academic policies of NYU GSAS. Each student develops an individualized course plan in consultation with the Director of Graduate Study at the NYU Department of Chemistry and the student’s NYU Shanghai faculty advisor. Most students will complete their PhD in 5 years. A typical sequence follows:
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Begin program with funded summer research, up to 3 months preceding first Fall semester, to familiarize with NYU Shanghai and faculty as well as lay a foundation for future doctoral study.
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Pursue PhD coursework at Department of Chemistry alongside other NYU PhD students.
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Complete PhD coursework and conduct research rotations with NYU Shanghai faculty. Select PhD advisor and make further progress in research during the summer in Shanghai.
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Under supervision of NYU Shanghai faculty advisor, pursue dissertation research. Complete all required examinations and progress evaluations, both oral and written, leading up to submission and defense of doctoral thesis.
To learn more about the NYU Chemistry PhD program degree requirements, please visit this page.
Current Students
| Name | Research Areas |
| Yuquan Cao | Quantum Chemistry, Photochemistry, Excited States |
| Kai Chen | Molecular Simulations |
| Shiyu Hu | Bioinformatics, Machine Learning, Drug Design, Protein Interactions |
| Zengkui Liu | Quantum Effects in Spectroscopy and Charge Transfer |
| Raj Roy | Non-adiabatic Dynamics, Electronic Structure Theory, Excited State Properties |
| Jialong Wang | Theoretical Photochemistry, Excited State, Electronic Structure Theory |
| Wei Xia | TBD |
| Yuzhi Xu | Machine/Deep Learning in Chemistry, Protein Structure Prediction |
| Lei Zheng | Drug Discovery, Machine Learning, Molecular Dynamics |
| Fanyu Zhao | Machine Learning, Quantum Chemistry, Drug Design |
| Xiaofang Zhang | Ultrafast Spectroscopy in Liquids System |
Alumni
| Name | Placement |
| Yuanming Bai, PhD '23 | Research Scientist at Solvay, China |
| Xingpin Li, PhD '23 | Chemistry Olympiad Coach at Xishan Senior High School |
| Amiel Paz, PhD '23 | PRISM Postdoc fellow in theoretical chemistry at Stanford University |
Application Process and Dates
Applications are to be submitted through the NYU GSAS Application portal, within which students should select the Chemistry PhD as their program of interest, and then indicate their preference for NYU Shanghai by marking the appropriate checkbox when prompted. Applicants will be evaluated by a joint admissions committee of New York and Shanghai faculty. Application requirements are set by the NYU Department of Chemistry and are the same as those for all NYU PhD applicants; however, candidates are recommended to elaborate in their application and personal statements about their specific interests in the NYU Shanghai program and faculty.
For admission in Fall 2025, the application deadline is December 1, 2024.
Contact Us
Interested students are welcome to contact Prof. William Glover, NYU Shanghai Graduate Coordinator of Chemistry, at william.glover@nyu.edu for inquiries regarding the academic program, or Vivien Du, PhD Program Manager, at shanghai.phd@nyu.edu with general inquiries.