We are delighted to welcome Professor Xiaohui Qiu (National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (NCNST), China) as our new Editorial Board Chair for Nanoscale and Nanoscale Advances. To celebrate his appointment to the role, we asked Professor Qiu to share his thoughts on his connection to the journals, his advice for communicating research effectively, and his predictions for the future directions of nanoscience research.
Tell us about your background and current research
I majored in chemistry during my undergraduate studies. When I was choosing my PhD research direction, I felt increasingly drawn toward physics. During my postdoctoral training, I had the opportunity to work in surface science and nanomaterials, which further broadened my perspective.
I’ve been very fortunate to have the chance to work in different areas and interact with people from different backgrounds, and these experiences helped me gradually identify my own research direction. My research today mainly focuses on scanning probe microscopy and ultrafast spectroscopy. I use these techniques to study the properties of nanomaterials and, in particular, emerging quantum phenomena at the nanoscale.
Through this journey, I’ve really come to appreciate how interdisciplinary and diversified nanoscience is. Many interesting questions are at the interfaces between chemistry, physics, materials science, engineering and other fields. And because the field is so diverse and dynamic, I don’t think any one person can address the really challenging problems alone.
For me, collaboration is extremely important, especially for frontier research. As an experimentalist working with advanced characterization techniques, I rely on collaborations with materials scientists and theoreticians. Materials scientists can create new materials and structures for us to investigate, while theoreticians can help us gain deeper insight into the underlying mechanisms. I think it is this interaction between different areas of expertise that leads to the most interesting science. A recent themed collection, ‘Fundamental Processes in Optical Nanomaterials’, is a good example of this philosophy!
Do you have any advice for early-career researchers?
Regarding early-career researchers, I think one of the biggest challenges for a new PI is to find their own research direction. Of course, this direction is naturally rooted in their previous experience, but there is also a challenge in moving beyond simply being an extension of their PhD or postdoctoral work. Establishing an independent research identity takes time, thoughtful perseverance, persistent curiosity, and probably a little bit of luck as well.
The lesson I’ve learned is not to be afraid of failure and to keep trying. Failure is inevitable in frontier research. We accumulate skills, experience and ideas through both our successes and failures, and we also learn a great deal from the people around us. I think maintaining curiosity, being open to new ideas and continuing to explore are ultimately what allow us to develop our own scientific identity. Our Nanoscale Emerging Investigators series aims to shine a spotlight on early-career researchers who are establishing their own identities and becoming rising stars in the field.
Tell us about your connection with Nanoscale and Nanoscale Advances
I have a very natural and personal connection with Nanoscale. I joined the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (NCNST) in China in 2006, and Nanoscale was launched in 2009 as a joint initiative between the NCNST and the Royal Society of Chemistry, followed by the launch of Nanoscale Horizons and Nanoscale Advances. So, I have really watched this journal family grow alongside the development of my own career over the past two decades. I feel very honored to now have the opportunity to serve as Editorial Board Chair for both Nanoscale and Nanoscale Advances.
I believe interdisciplinarity is one of the things that makes nanoscience such an exciting field to be part of, and it is also one of the reasons why a journal like Nanoscale is so important. Over the past decades, we have seen many exciting developments emerge at the interfaces between chemistry, physics, materials science, engineering and other disciplines. Nanoscale has been an important platform for these developments and, as one of the flagship journals in the field, has helped reflect and shape many of the emerging directions in nanoscience since its launch. The field has become broader, more interdisciplinary, and also more competitive. There are now many more journals serving the nanoscience community, and in some areas there is considerable overlap between journals. I think this creates both opportunities and challenges for Nanoscale and Nanoscale Advances.
For me, one important question is how we can continue to make these journals distinctive and valuable to the community. We need to respond to the way the field is evolving, while maintaining a strong commitment to the quality and significance of the science we publish. At the same time, researchers increasingly expect the publishing process to be efficient, transparent and accessible, so we also need to think about how different publication models and formats can best serve the community. In our recent Editorial, we have made a start at answering some of these important questions and outline our vision for the Nanoscale journal family.
I see my role as working closely with the Editors and the Editorial Boards to think about these questions and, more importantly, to listen to the community. I hope we can continue to make Nanoscale and Nanoscale Advances welcoming homes for high-quality research across both emerging and established areas, and particularly for work that connects different disciplines and opens up new directions. The two journals will continue to play an important role in bringing different parts of the nanoscience community together and in helping the field move forward.
Do you have any advice for authors aiming to communicate their research more effectively?
The most important thing is always to first identify the central message of your research. A paper can have many interesting results, but if the main message is not clear, it is difficult for the reader to follow. So, before going into the details of the experiments, figures and discussion, you should first ask yourself, “What is the one thing I want the reader to remember after reading this paper?”. That is also why, although a cover letter is not always mandatory, I find it very helpful. It forces you to think clearly about the main message and why the work is important.
When communicating with a wider audience, I think it is important to explain why the research is interesting and why it matters, rather than focusing too much on the technical details. We should tell the story in a way that allows people from different backgrounds to appreciate the question, the discovery and its significance.
I also think journals have an important role here. A journal with a broad readership can provide a platform for research to reach people from different communities. That is one of the things I find particularly exciting about my new role with Nanoscale and Nanoscale Advances. Our journals strive to increase the reach of authors’ research through various activities, such as our yearly Nanoscale Most Popular Articles collection, and regularly updated Nanoscale Advances Popular Advances collection.
What do you think will be the future trends in nanoscience?
I think the ultimate goal of science, across all disciplines, is to improve our understanding of the world and, ultimately, to improve the quality of human life. So I expect nanoscience to become increasingly connected with technology development and focused on some of the major challenges facing society, such as energy, resources and climate.
At the same time, I think AI will have a significant impact on how nanoscience is conducted. Our Nanoscale & Nanoscale Advances Associate Editor, Renzhi Ma, also shared his thoughts on this in a recent Editorial. I believe that AI will be a valuable tool which will help us discover new materials with desired properties, extract new insights from the enormous amount of data we have accumulated, and make knowledge from different fields much more accessible. This will accelerate research and further strengthen the connections between different disciplines. I think this convergence of knowledge is very much in the spirit of nanoscience, and it will create many new opportunities for the field.
