Profile Yafang Cheng
Employment: Director of the Aerosol Chemistry Department
Max Planck Institute for Chemistry
Work address: Hahn-Meitner-Weg 1
55128, Mainz, Germany
Phone: +49-6131-305-7200
E-mail: yafang.cheng@mpic.de
Research Interests
Aerosols are at the center of my research interests. I am developing and combining experimental methods, multi-scale modeling tools and machine learning techniques to advance mechanistic understanding of aerosol particle formation and transformation, as well as the impact of aerosols on air quality, public health and climate change.
Publications
Over 180 peer-reviewed journal articles, incl. 6 hot papers (top 0.1%) & 15 highly cited papers (top 1%); 21 publications in high impact journals (incl. 5 in Science, 2 in Science Advances, 3 in PNAS, 2 in Chem, 2 in Nature Geoscience, 3 in Nature Communications, 3 in One Earth; 15 as first/corresponding lead authors) with wide international press coverage (e.g., BBC, Bloomberg, Wired, Discovery News Channel, Chemistry World, Chemistry Views, Xinhua News, Science News and Tages-Anzeiger); several book/book chapters.
Our recent publication in Science (2021) was the first to explain quantitatively how “Face masks effectively limit the probability of SARS-CoV-2 transmission” at individual and population levels. It has been elected as “Science Breakthroughs of the Year 2021 in Physical Sciences” by the Falling Walls Foundation, and become a key reference for authorities, media, and the public discourse about COVID-19, which is reflected by an outstanding AltMetric Score (> 9700) that keeps growing and is currently ranked top 10 of over 78 thousand publications in Science and in the top 0.001% of ~24 million research outputs worldwide (Nov 2023).
Highly Cited Researcher (top 0.1%, Web of Science & Clarivate, 2021, 2022)
Citation report Web of Science: h-index = 52 & > 10000 citations ( Web of Science )
Citation report Google scholar: h-index = 65 & > 16000 citations ( Google Scholar )
Professional Career
Since 2024 Director of newly founded department Aerosol Chemistry
Until 2014 Head of Minerva Independent Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
Since 2023 Guest Professor, Peking University, Beijing, China
Since 2021 Distinguished Guest Professor, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Hefei, China
2014-2017 Guest Professor, Institute of Polar Environment, USTC, Hefei, China
2013-2014 Research group leader, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
2012-2013 Visiting Scientist, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
2011-2013 Assistant Professor, Peking University, Beijing, China
2009-2011 Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA
2007-2009 Postdoctoral Scholar, Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, Leipzig, Germany
Education
2001-2007 Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
2004-2007 Ph.D. exchange studies, Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, Leipzig, Germany
1997-2001 B.Sc. in Environmental Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
Awards and Honors
2022 Fellow of American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2022 Member of Academia Europaea
2022 Joanne Simpson Medal, American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2022 Highly Cited Researcher (top 0.1%), Web of Science & Clarivate
2021 Highly Cited Researcher (top 0.1%), Web of Science & Clarivate
2021 Science Breakthroughs of the Year 2021 in Physical Sciences, Falling Walls Foundation
2020 Atmospheric Science Ascent Award, American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2020 Schmauss Award, German Association for Aerosol Research (GAef)
2020-2023 World's Top Scientists, Stanford University Analysis & Mendeley
2014 Minerva Outstanding Female Scientist Award, Max Planck Society (MPG)
2014 Top 10 publications, Integrated Land Ecosystem - Atmosphere Processes Study,
Global Research Project of Future Earth (iLEAPS)
2012 Highest Impact Research Work of Chinese Scientists in 2011,
Chinese Academy of Science (CAS), in total 19 works from all disciplinary
2011 "100 Talent" Award, Peking University
2004-2007 Daimler-Chrysler-Benz Fellowship, Peking University & Daimler-Chrysler-Benz Foundation
1998-2001 Bao-Gang Award (top 0.1%), Outstanding Student Awards (top 1%), Wuhan University
Research leadership and expeditions
2024-2027 PI, HORIZON-RIA Research and Innovation Actions, EU-China Climate Change and
Biodiversity Research Flagship project “Pathways towards Carbon Neutrality for
Climate, Environment, Health and Socio-Economic Co-Benefits” (PANTHEON),
funded by Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON)
2024-2028 PI & Management Board Member, the Potentialbereich EXPOHEALTH, Univ. Mainz
2024-2026 Host PI, HORIZON TMA Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowships
- European Fellowships, funded by Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON)
2023-2024 Host PI, Humboldt Research Fellowship, funded by Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung
Since 2019 PI, S/Y Eugen Seibold-SP2 marine black carbon observations
2018-2020 Coordinator, three international field measurement campaigns for “The Multiphase chemistry
experiment in Fogs and Aerosols in the North China Plain (McFAN)”
2017-2019 PI, National Key R&D Program of China, No. 2017YFC0210104,
funded by MOST of China (analogous to ERC Synergy Grant)
2017-2018 PI, project AEROCARB, No. ESA 4000120532, funded by European Space Agency (ESA)
2016-2019 Unit head, MPIC-JNU Anthropocene Research Program funded by Jinan University (JNU)
2014-2021 PI, Minerva Research Group, funded by Max Planck Society
2014-2018 PI, Thermodynamics and kinetics of single aerosol particle chemistry (AOT-100),
funded by Max Planck Society (Großgeräteantrag)
Since 2014 PI, CARIBIC-SP2 global black carbon observations with passenger aircraft
2013-2016 PI/international partner, Key program No. 41330635, funded by NSFC
2013 PI, black carbon and related aerosol volatility observations in the Campaigns of Air Quality Research in
Beijing and Surrounding Regions (CAREBEIJING-2013)
2011-2012 WP leader, WP3 of the MIX-ASIA initiative of multiple model inter-comparison in Asia
Positions of trust and consulting
• Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Geophyscial Research - Atmospheres (since 2023)
• Committee member of CNAA (The Committee on Nucleation & Atmospheric Aerosols, 2023-2025)
• Honor committee member for Atmospheric Sciences Ascent Award of AGU (since 2022)
• Senior editor of Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP) overseeing the subject area of aerosols (2020-2022)
• Co-editor of Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP, since 2013)
• Liaison for Atmospheric Sciences Division of European Geosciences Union (EGU, since 2013)
• Steering Committee member of the Exploratory Round Table Conference (ERTC)
between the Max Planck Society (MPG) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) (2019)
• ETH-Medal reviewer for the ETH Zurich
• Jury/panelist and/or reviewer for ANR (French National Research Agency), Swiss National Science Foundation
(SNSF), FWF-Der Wissenschaftsfonds (Austrian Science Fund), Swedish Research Council (VR),
and US Department of Energy (DOE).
• Invited commentator on air pollution control by Ministry of Environment Protection of China
• Opponent/examiner and/or reviewer for PhD and master thesis at JGU (Mainz, Germany), MPGC,
University of Helsinki, CEREA (Paris, France), Peking University and Nanjing University,
Tianjin University (Tianjin, China) etc.
• Reviewer for Science, PNAS, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Chemistry, Nature Geosciences,
Nature Communications, Science Advances, AGU Advances, Angewandte Chemie, ACP, JGR, GRL, ES&T etc.
Scientific Teaching & Mentoring
• Principal advisor/co-advisor and mentor for 21 postdocs & 17 PhD students in my research group
at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Germany (>50% supported by external funding). My students
and postdocs have
- published first author papers in high-impact journals (>10, in Science, Science Advances, PNAS,
Nature Geoscience, Nature Communications, Chem, One Earth etc.)
- become professors, faculty members and tenured senior scientists at leading universities, research
institutes and government agencies (12, incl. Tsinghua, Zhejiang & Birmingham Univ.,
Norwegian Met. Institute and Environmental Protection Agency (UBA), Germany etc.)
- received international awards and fellowships, incl. HORIZON TMA Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
(MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships, Humboldt Research Fellowship,
EGU Union Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award, ACS James J. Morgan Award (mentioning)
& CSC Award for Outstanding Self-Financed Students Abroad etc.
• Lectures in atmospheric chemistry, advances in atmospheric sciences, synthetic research approach
combining observation and modeling, as well as scientific writing for graduate students at Peking
University (Beijing), Nanjing University (NJU) & Univeristy of Helsinki (UHEL) joint school,
University of Science and Technology of China (Hefei), and Jinan University (Guangzhou)
Institutional responsibilities
Since 2014 Initiator and co-coordinator of student and postdoc exchange programs, such as the
Anthropocene Research Program among Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (MPIC),
Peking University and Jinan University, as well as excellency cluster programs of China
Scholarship Council between MPIC and Peking University, and between MPIC, University of
Glasgow, Forschungszentrum Jülich (IBG-3), University of Birmingham, Tianjin University.
Since 2014 Host for MPG/CAS Exploratory Round Table Conference steering committee meeting, as
well as presidential delegations and other representatives of Peking University, Jinan
University, Tsinghua University, USTC, CAS, Hongkong Poly Univ., the Korea
Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), the US National Atmospheric and Oceanic
Administration (NOAA), and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) etc.
Since 2013 Lab manager and graduate student advisor, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and Max
Planck Graduate Center with the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany
2011-2013 Class advisor of undergraduate students and graduate student advisor, College of
Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, China
2001-2002 Vice President of Graduate Student Union of Peking University, Peking University, China
1998-2001 President of Student Union of College of Chemistry and Environmental sciences,
Wuhan University, China
Organization of scientific meetings
2019-2021, 2024 Session convener/chair, Annual Meeting of European Geoscience Union (EGU)
2023 Organizer, WE-Heraeus Seminar on “Aerosols, Health and Climate: Gigacity and Future”
2019-2022 Session convener/chair, Annual Fall Meeting of American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2017 Co-organizer, International Symposium on Regional Air Quality Management in Rapidly
Developing Economic Regions (Guangzhou, China)
Selected plenary talks, keynote lectures & invited presentations
International conferences and symposiums:
• Annual Meetings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
(AAAS, Panelist & invited speaker, 2024);
• Annual Meetings of the American Geophysical Union (AGU, 2020; 2023);
• Computational statistical physics in the 21st century: The legacy of Kurt Binder (2023);
• The 21st International Conference on Nucleation & Atmospheric Aerosols
(ICNAA, Brisbane, Australia, plenary talk, 2023);
• Leopoldina Symposium (COVID-19: Infection-Immunity-Vaccination, 2022);
• ERC funded Workshop on Atmospheric Transport and Economic Valuation of Air Pollution (Mannheim, 2022);
• Falling Walls Science Summit (Berlin, 2021);
• Annual Meetings of the European Geosciences Union (EGU, 2017);
• MPG/CAS Exploratory Round Table Conference (Shanghai, 2019);
• CTWF International Symposium on Aerosol and Climate Change (Beijing, 2019);
• Conference on Air Benefit and Cost and Attainment Assessment (Hangzhou, 2019);
• Air Pollution Extremes Workshop (New York City, 2018);
• CLOUD-TRAIN Marie Curie Initial Training Network Conference (Königstein, 2016);
• Symposium of the Sino-German Center for Research Promotion (Beijing, 2016);
• Aerosol Health Effects Workshop of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and Germany
Research Foundation (JSPS-DFG, Mainz, 2015);
• European Nitrogen Cycle Meeting (ENC, Darmstadt, 2013).
Scientific institutions and agencies:
• Centre for Atmospheric Science (CAS), University of Cambridge (London, 2024);
• Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry (LAC), Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) & ETH Zürich (2023);
• Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-organizations (Göttingen, 2023);
• ACS Pubs Webinar: Grand Challenges in Environmental Chemistry (2023);
• Institute of Physics, Heidelberg University (Heidelberg, 2022);
• ESSIC Seminar, Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland (2022);
• Institute of Atmospheric Physics, German Aerospace Center (DLR, 2020);
• Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (Leipzig, 2020);
• Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (Hamburg, 2019);
• Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Beijing, 2017);
• Institute of Polar Environment, University of Science and Technology of China (Hefei, 2017);
• School of Atmospheric Sciences, Nanjing University (2014);
• Atmospheric Modeling and Analysis Division, United States Environmental Protection Agency
(USEPA, Research Triangle Park, NC, 2013).