Introduction
Assistant Professor
Mechano-X Institute, Applied Mechanics Laboratory,
Department of Engineering Mechanics, Tsinghua University
Mengminwei Science Building (South) S-607
Beijing 100084, China
Email: guijin_zou@tsinghua.edu.cn
Education background
2013-2019: Ph.D., Solid Mechanics, School of Engineering, Brown University, USA
2009-2013: B.Sc., Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, College of Engineering, Peking University
2009-2013: B.Sc., Statistics (double major), School of Mathematical Sciences, Peking University
Experience
2025/08-Present: Assistant Professor, Tsinghua University
2024/03-2025/08: Senior Research Fellow, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
2019/11-2024/02: Scientist, Institute of High Performance Computing, A*STAR, Singapore
Concurrent Academic
Editorial Board Member of 《Forces in Mechanics》; Young Editorial Board Member of《Chinese Journal of Solid Mechanics》
Areas of Research Interests/ Research Projects
Interdisciplinary research at the intersection of mechanics, biology, materials science, chemistry, and medicine, with a particular emphasis on multi-scale modeling and simulation and machine learning for health-related technologies. Interests include:
1. Nanomechanics and mechanomaterials;
2. Mechanics of biological and bio-inspired soft materials;
3. Mechanics of Membrane-targeting nanomedicine;
4. Mechanics of cell-nanomaterial interactions.
Research Status
Our research group is dedicated to advancing mechanics-based approaches to address major challenges in life and health sciences. We develop multiscale computational and intelligent modeling methods, focusing on key scientific problems in biomaterials and biointerfaces. In recent years, the group has made progress at the intersection of mechanics, materials science, and biomedicine, with research outcomes published in leading international journals such as Nature, Nature Communications, PNAS, and JACS.
Our group continuously recruits undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers with backgrounds in mechanics, biomedical engineering, materials science, or related fields. We warmly welcome interested students and researchers to contact our group.
Honors And Awards
National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars (Overseas)
Academic Achievement
Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=oZJ_pogAAAAJ&hl=en)
† equal contribution, * corresponding author
1. Zhang C†; Zou G†; Fang Y et al. (2026) Interacting filaments drive vesicle morphogenesis. Nat Commun 2026, 17, 78.
2. Zou G; Kim W; Gao H, Mechanics of membrane targeting antimicrobials-pore nucleation in bacterial membranes. Mech Mater 2024, 193, 104991.
3. Chen S†; Zou G†; Guo Q; Qian X; Li H; Gao H; Yu J, Extreme pH Tolerance in Peptide Coacervates Mediated by Multivalent Hydrogen Bonds for Enzyme-Triggered Oral Drug Delivery. J Am Chem Soc 2025, 147, 9704−9715.
4. Guo X; Dong X; Zou G; Zhang H; Zeng K; Gao H; Zhai W, Multiscale Toughening Mechanisms in Biomimetic Tendon-like Hydrogels. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2025 122(9), e2424124122.
5. Zou G; Sow CH; Wang Z; Chen X; Gao H Mechanomaterials and Nanomechanics: Toward Proactive Design of Material Properties and Functionalities. ACS Nano 2024, 18 (18), 11492–11502.
6. Bai H; Zou G*; Bao H; Li S; Ma F*; Gao H* Dual-Scale Friction Dynamics Associated with Moiré Superlattices in Layered Materials, Adv Funct Mater 2025, 2420760.
7. Zou G; Kim W.; Gao H. Mechanics of Membrane Targeting Antimicrobials - Pore Nucleation in Bacterial Membranes. Mech Mater 2024, 193, 104991.
8. Yi J; Zou G; Huang J; et al. Water-Responsive Supercontractile Polymer Films for Bioelectronic Interfaces. Nature 2023, 624 (7991), 295–302.
9. Bai H; Zou G*; Bao H; Li S; Ma F*; Gao H*, Deformation Coupled Moiré Mapping of Superlubricity in Graphene. ACS Nano 2023 17 (13), 12594-12602.
10. Shi C; Zou G†; Wu Z; Wang M; Zhang X; Gao H; Yi X Morphological Transformations of Vesicles with Confined Flexible Filaments. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023, 120 (18) e2300380120.
11. Guo Q†; Zou G†; Qian X; Chen S; Gao H; Yu J Hydrogen-Bonds Mediate Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation of Mussel Derived Adhesive Peptides. Nat Commun 2022, 13 (1), 5771.
12. Zou G; Liu Y; Gao H EML Webinar Overview: Simulation-Assisted Discovery of Membrane Targeting Nanomedicine. Extreme Mech Lett 2020, 39, 100817.
13. Kim W; Zou G; et al. A Selective Membrane-Targeting Repurposed Antibiotic with Activity against Persistent Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019, 116 (33), 16529–16534.
14. Zou G; Yi X; Zhu W; Gao H, Packing of Flexible Nanofibers in Vesicles. Extreme Mech Lett 2018, 19, 20–26.
15. Zou G; Yi X; Zhu W; Gao H, Packing of Flexible 2D Materials in Vesicles. J Phys D Appl Phys 2018, 51 (22) 224001.
