ORCID iD: 0000-0003-4060-8777
Scopus Author ID: 8095117400
Google Scholar Profile: sGDdDYYAAAAJ

Metrics for Academic and Research Impact

In August 2012, Professor Xun-Li Wang joined City University of Hong Kong as a Chair Professor and Head of the Department of Physics and Materials Science. In July 2017, the department split, and Professor Wang assumed the headship of the new Department of Physics. He oversaw a rapid expansion of the new department, which grew from 12 faculty members to 25 in five years. In 2022-2023, Professor Wang served as Executive Director of Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS). Following the lift of COVID-19 related travel restrictions in Hong Kong, he quickly revitalized the academic life of HKIAS, through the appointments of distinguished visiting scholars and a host of high-level conferences and lectures.

Prior to coming to Hong Kong, he worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the US, rising through the ranks to Distinguished Staff Member. He was responsible for the design, construction, and commissioning of VULCAN, a powerful engineering diffractometer at the Spallation Neutron Source, Oak Ridge National Laboratory. As a senior scientist in the Neutron Science Directorate, he led innovative research, using neutron scattering as a primary tool, to understand phase transformation and deformation behaviors in complex materials.

Since joining City University of Hong Kong, Professor Wang has been committed to establishing Hong Kong as an international hub for neutron scattering research. With the support from The Croucher Foundation, he initiated the biennial Croucher Summer Course on Neutron Scattering. He was also instrumental in launching the Gordon Research Conference series on Neutron Scattering, serving as the inaugural Chair in 2015. In addition, he and Professor Hesheng Chen of the Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, co-founded a joint laboratory on neutron scattering. The joint laboratory has received financial support from The Croucher Foundation, Hong Kong’s Research Grants Council, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 2020, Professor Wang contributed to the establishment of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Joint Laboratory on Neutron Scattering and served as the Executive Director in Hong Kong.

Professor Wang earned his Ph.D. from Iowa State University and B.S. from Peking University, both in Physics. He is an elected Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Neutron Scattering Society of America (NSSA). In 2024, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the American Physical Society.

In Professor Wang's Group, we apply state-of-the-art neutron and synchrotron scattering techniques to study the structure and dynamics of advanced materials.  The experiments are designed in Hong Kong, but the students will travel to world-leading neutron and synchrotron sources to carry out the measurements.  For more information about Professor Wang’s group, please visit www.wangxl.hk. 

We seek high-quality students to work on the following research topics,

1. Deformation in high-entropy alloys
2. Structure and phase transformation in amorphous alloys
3. Phonon dynamics in amorphous alloys

More details of the research topics can be found at www.wangxl.hk/research.  A strong background in material physics or materials science is required.  Prospective students should contact Professor Xun-Li Wang on topics of interest and preparation of the application materials.

Outstanding applicants are encouraged to apply for the “Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS).” HKPFS is a prestigious scholarship established by the Government of Hong Kong to attract the best and brightest students in the world to pursue PhD study at renowned institutions in Hong Kong.  The Fellowship provides the following financial support,

• Stipend: HK$26,600 (~US$3,410) per month
• Chow Yei Ching School of Graduate Studies Entrance Scholarship, HK$81,096 (~US$10,396)
• Conference and Research-Related Travel Allowance: HK$13,300 (~US$1,705) per year
• Additional academic awards, allowances, and subsidies are available

To apply, please visit https://www.sgs.cityu.edu.hk. The deadline for application is December 1, 2025.

• Neutron and synchrotron X-ray scattering
• Phase transformation, deformation, magnetism
• Metallic glasses, high-entropy alloys, magnetic shape memory alloys

• PHY4285, Introduction to Scattering Science (2025)
• PHY5502, Frontiers in Physics (2025)
• GE1305, Everyday Physics (2020, 2025)
• AP8180, Modern Scattering Methods in Materials Science (2014)
• AP1201, General Physics (2013)

• Member, Board of Directors of the American Physical Society (2024 - present)
• International Councilor, American Physical Society (2023 - present)
• Member of the Academic Committee, China Center of Advanced Science and Technology (CCAST, 中国高等科学技术中心学术委员会) (2020 – present).
• President, Physical Society of Hong Kong (2020 - 2023).
• Member, The Bragg Institute (now Australia Center for Neutron Scattering) Program Advisory Committee, The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO) (2013 – 2016).
• Member of Selection Committee for “Sustained Research and Science Prize”, Neutron Scattering Society of America (2012)
• Member, Review Committee, US Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences, Operational Review of the Advanced Photon Source. USA (2011)
• Chair, Chemistry and Physics of Materials Committee, TMS (2011-2013)
• Member, Neutron Science Proposal Review Committee (NSPRC), Japan Proton Accelerator Complex (2010-2013)
• Member of Review Committee of Los Alamos Lujan Neutron Science Center, US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences. USA (2009)