We are delighted to announce that Professor Liang Zhang, at Fudan University, is named as the recipient of the 2026 Cram Lehn Pedersen Prize in Supramolecular Chemistry. This prize, sponsored by ChemComm, is named in honour of the winners of the 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and recognises significant original and independent work in supramolecular chemistry. Please join us in celebrating Liang’s achievement.
Liang Zhang is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Fudan University, Shanghai, China. He obtained his BSc and MSc degrees from Fudan University and completed his PhD at the University of Manchester with Professor David A. Leigh FRS. Following postdoctoral research as a team leader in the Leigh–ECNU Research Laboratory, he established his independent research program in molecular topology and supramolecular chemistry.
Prof. Zhang’s research centres on molecular nanotopology, an emerging field that treats molecular entanglement as a fundamental structural dimension for encoding function. His group develops synthetic strategies to construct molecular knots, links, catenanes, rotaxanes, and woven polymers. By combining advanced synthetic strategies with single-molecule techniques and theoretical analysis, his group explores how topological information can be encoded to control molecular mechanics, chirality, electronic behaviour, and material properties. Since 2020, his work has appeared in journals including Nature Materials, Nature Chemistry, Chem, PNAS, JACS, ACIE, Matter, and Chemical Society Reviews.
Zhang has received multiple international recognitions, including the Sessler Early Career Researcher Prize, the RSC Horizon Prize (Perkin Prize in Physical Organic Chemistry), Shanghai S&T 35 Under 35, and the 2026 Cram Lehn Pedersen Prize in Supramolecular Chemistry. He serves on the advisory boards of Chemical Science and Chem, and actively promotes international collaboration and chemical topology education.
Explore Liang’s research further at his group’s website (www.chemnanotopology.com) or his personal webpage ( https://chemistry.fudan.edu.cn/b8/9a/c45137a768154/page.htm, Chinese)
