On July 12, 2024, the Department of Astronomy at Tsinghua University welcomed a new member, Prof. Di Li, a renowned astronomer and the Chief Scientist of the 500-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST). His joining significantly strengthens the Astronomy program at Tsinghua University.
Prior to joining Tsinghua University, Prof. Di Li was a researcher at the National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He has been the Project Scientist of FAST since 2008 and the Chief Scientist of FAST since 2018, focusing on astrophysics and space science, and is an internationally renowned radio astronomer. He has made original contributions in observational studies of star formation, radio instruments and techniques, astrochemistry and spectroscopy, pulsar search and fast radio bursts, and data analysis algorithms.
Prof. Di Li has received the National Innovation Award, the National Science Council Scholar Award, the Outstanding Scientific and Technological Achievement Award of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the "Science and Technology Person of the Year" award of the 2023 Influential People, and was recently awarded the 17th Marcel Grossman Award on July 9, 2024 (CET). The Marcel Grossman Award is regarded as one of the most important prizes in the international physics community, with six Nobel Prize winners and several scientists with Chinese origins, including Chen-Ning Yang, Tsung Dao Lee, and Shing-Tung Yau, among others. Prof. Li is the first scientist to receive the Marcel Grossman Award for the academic achievements obtained inside China.
Di Li awarded the Marcel Grossman Award on July 9 2024, photographed by Xinhua News Agency
The addition of Prof. Di Li will fill a major gap in the field of radio astronomy in the Department of Astronomy at Tsinghua University. Prof. Li's joining is also of great significance in promoting complementary synergies between the radio astronomy and other wavelengths, and broadening the scientific scopes of the Department of Astronomy.
Again warm welcome to Prof. Di Li!