The Department of Chemistry is celebrating with two postdoctoral fellows who have been awarded 2025 Postdoctoral Fellowship Awards this spring from the Faculty of Arts & Science.
A&S Postdoctoral Fellowships are designed to provide outstanding recent doctoral students advanced training in their field of study who have demonstrated academic excellence and high potential for success in their chosen fields. The fellowships are not discipline specific, but rather can be held in any UofT department or research unit within A&S. Applications are due in the fall, with a December deadline, and the duration of the award is for a maximum of two years.
We asked the 2025 fellowship recipients to tell us about their application process, what the fellowships might mean to them personally, as well as the implications for their research. Here’s what they shared:
Wenqiang Qu - Ozin Group
I am deeply honored to receive this prestigious fellowship, which recognizes the potential of our work in advancing light-driven nanomaterials for sustainable energy solutions. The FAS fellowship award not only fuels my scientific curiosity but also empowers me to pursue bold, high-impact ideas at the intersection of chemistry and nanotechnology.
None of this would have been possible without the visionary mentorship of Professor Geoffrey Ozin. His relentless drive for innovation and ability to bridge fundamental science with real-world applications have profoundly shaped my research approach.
U of T's position as a global nexus for nanomaterials innovation made it the ideal crucible for this work. Building upon our team's groundbreaking work in photon-driven green chemistry, my upcoming research will focus on developing solar-powered hydrogen generation. This approach aims to provide a more environmentally sustainable alternative to traditional fossil-fuel-powered thermal catalytic reforming processes, potentially unlocking a carbon-neutral pathway for clean energy carriers.
This fellowship is more than an accolade - it is a catalyst for discovery. I am driven to advance U of T's tradition of translating molecular-scale insights into technologies with global impact.
Zhipeng Cheng - Peng Group
I am deeply honored to receive the 2025 Postdoctoral Fellowship Award from the Faculty of Arts & Science, a significant recognition of my research achievements in recent years with Prof. Hui Peng's research group. This award not only acknowledges my efforts but also inspires me to strive for greater accomplishments in the future.
I am profoundly grateful for the guidance and mentorship I have received throughout my academic journey. My intellectual growth and research accomplishments have been shaped by exceptional mentors and fueled by my enduring passion for scientific exploration.
Looking ahead, my research will focus on establishing an innovative Affinity Selection Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) platform, integrated with combinatorial synthesis techniques, to generate large chemical-protein interaction datasets for AI-driven chemical discovery. I am confident that my time at the UofT will be both intellectually rewarding and personally fulfilling, and I look forward to contributing to the academic community here.
The prime criteria for A&S Postdoctoral Fellowships is demonstrated academic excellence and high potential for success in the applicant’s chosen field. More information on the Postdoctoral Fellowship program can be found on the A&S website, on their research support services funding page.