Professor Li obtained his B.Eng. from Zhejiang University and M.Phil. from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He received his PhD from the University of Geneva, where he conducted research in the Department of Quantum Matter Physics under the supervision of Professor Jean-Marc Triscone. After completing his doctoral studies, he held postdoctoral appointments at the University of Geneva and Stanford University, working with Professor Harold Hwang as a Swiss National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow. He joined City University of Hong Kong as Assistant Professor in November 2020 and was promoted to Associate Professor in July 2024.

Professor Li’s research spans condensed-matter physics and materials science, with a focus on the atomic-scale fabrication of oxide heterostructures and nanomembranes, kinetic-based synthesis of unconventional quantum materials, low-dimensional superconductivity, and emergent states at oxide interfaces. In 2019, he and Professor Hwang led a team that discovered the first nickelate superconductor, a long-sought breakthrough in the field of superconductivity.

He has received several prestigious awards and recognitions, including the Asian Young Scientist Fellowship in 2025, the Outstanding Alumni Awards from the Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Science and Graduate School of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2025, the Oxide Electronics Prize for Excellence in Research in 2024, the AAPPS-APCTP Chen-Ning Yang Award in 2023, the MIT Technology Review 35 Innovators Under 35 (China) in 2021, and inclusion in Stanford’s list of the world’s top 2% scientists in 2023-2025.