Learn about the 2026 winners of ACS Publications' Nanoscience lectureships and awards.
Join us as we celebrate the 2026 Nanoscience Lectureship and Award winners, including the ACS Nano Lectureship and the ACS Nano Impact Award.
These awards recognize researchers whose work is pushing the boundaries of nanoscience and nanotechnology, advancing the tools and techniques that drive breakthroughs across chemistry and related fields.
This year’s recipients reflected on the influence of their research and shared their perspectives on where nanoscience and nanotechnology are headed next.
In their interviews, they discussed:
- How their research is making a difference in their field
- What excites them about the future of their research area
Together, their reflections offer insight into curiosity, discipline, and inventive thinking, shaping the future of nanoscience.
Browse by Award or Winner:
ACS Nano Lectureship
Winner: Dr. Ruquan Ye
Winner: Dr. Wei Tao
ACS Nano Impact Award
Winning team: Led by Prof. Ernst Meyer, Dr. Rémy Pawlak, and Dr. Chao Li (University of Basel); Prof. Shi-Xia Liu (University of Bern); and Dr. Martin Žonda (Charles University)
Winning Article: Individual Assembly of Radical Molecules on Superconductors: Demonstrating Quantum Spin Behavior and Bistable Charge Rearrangement
ACS Nano Lectureship
This award, presented in partnership with ACS Nano, honors two outstanding early career investigators conducting research in the areas of nanoscience and nanotechnology.
Winner: Dr. Ruquan Ye
Dr. Ruquan Ye is a full professor in the Department of Chemistry at City University of Hong Kong. He received his B.S. in Chemistry from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (2012) and his Ph.D. from Rice University with Prof. James M. Tour (2017). He conducted postdoctoral research with Prof. Karthish Manthiram at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before joining City University of Hong Kong as an Assistant Professor in 2018. His current research focuses on the rational design of molecular interfaces to address critical challenges in molecular catalysis. He serves on the early career editorial board of Materials Today Physics and Science China Chemistry.
Dr. Ye has received several honors such as Emerging Investigator/Rising Star from Small (2021), Journal of Materials Chemistry A (2022), Chemical Communications (2024), and Materials Today (2024), as well as the Wiley-ACES Outstanding Young Scientist in Porphyrin Chemistry (2023) and the ACS Nano Lectureship (2026).
Winner: Dr. Wei Tao
Dr. Wei Tao is the Farokhzad Family Distinguished Chair in Innovation (Endowed Chair) at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School), and an Associate Professor of Harvard Medical School. He is also the Co-Director of the Nano Immune-Imaging Core, a core facility funded by the NIH through a P01 grant that supports research at the intersection of nanotechnology and immunology. He is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE; elected 2025), and a Member of the Academia Europaea (The Academy of Europe, MAE; elected 2025). He has been named a Clarivate Analytics “Highly Cited Researcher” since 2021. His research focuses on nanotechnology, biomaterials, drug delivery, and translational medicine, with a specialized emphasis on gene and cell therapy.
ACS Nano Impact Award
This award is presented to a team of authors of a paper—or papers—published in ACS Nano in the two calendar years immediately prior to the year the award is presented.
Winning Team: Led by Prof. Ernst Meyer, Dr. Rémy Pawlak, Dr. Chao Li Prof. Shi-Xia Liu, and Dr. Martin Žonda
Winning Article: Individual Assembly of Radical Molecules on Superconductors: Demonstrating Quantum Spin Behavior and Bistable Charge Rearrangement
Stay informed about upcoming nomination opportunities
Bookmark the post below and check back throughout the year for the latest news and announcements about nominations for future lectureships and awards.
Nanoscience Lectureships and Awards
Explore both current and past journal lectureships and awards from ACS Publications' Nanoscience portfolio.
