On January 23, 2026, the 2025 Annual Academic Exchange Meeting of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Distinguished Research Group on Single-Atom Catalysis (formerly the Basic Science Center program), led by our laboratory, was successfully held at the Xiang’an Campus of Xiamen University. Leaders from the Department of Chemical Sciences of the NSFC, Academic Leader Academician Tao Zhang, key project members Academician Yadong Li, Academician Jun Li, Academician Nanfeng Zheng, Researcher Aiqin Wang, as well as young backbone researchers from the participating teams attended the meeting. The expert panel comprised Academician Jiannian Yao, Academician Xiaoming Chen, Academician Haiping Xia, Academician Lansun Zheng, Academician Suyuan Xie, Professor Xiaojun Bao, Researcher Rong Cao, Professor Ye Wang, and Professor Bin Ren.
Professor Wenping Hu, President of Xiamen University and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, delivered the opening remarks on behalf of the university. He extended a warm welcome to the attending experts and guests and expressed sincere appreciation to the NSFC for its long-term support. Director Feixue Gao from the Department of Chemical Sciences of the NSFC addressed the meeting on behalf of the Foundation, reviewing the development of the Distinguished Research Group on Single-Atom Catalysis since its establishment. He affirmed the substantial achievements and encouraging progress made by the project and expressed the expectation that the team would further strengthen collaboration, focus on building a more comprehensive theoretical framework, and deliver additional landmark outcomes.
Academician Tao Zhang, the Academic Leader of the project, presented a systematic report on the annual progress. Project core members Academician Yadong Li, Academician Jun Li, Researcher Aiqin Wang, and Academician Nanfeng Zheng delivered reports on their respective research progress, followed by on-site expert questioning and in-depth discussions. Focusing on future development, the attending experts conducted extensive deliberations and put forward several key recommendations: first, to further deepen theoretical development and clarify the scientific connotations and dynamic nature of single-atom catalysis; second, to strengthen application-oriented exploration and highlight the distinctive advantages of single-atom catalysis in key reactions; third, to enhance group-level collaboration by improving top-level planning and design, promoting deeper integration among teams, and delivering landmark collaborative achievements; and finally, to advance interdisciplinary integration by leveraging emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics to address complex catalytic problems.
In his concluding remarks, Academician Tao Zhang responded that the team will continue to advance single-atom catalysis from a conceptual framework toward a higher theoretical level, pool collective wisdom, and further enhance the international impact of this original research field.
