Zhu, 30, left the ETH Zurich in March to take up a role as associate professor and Xianghui Young Scholar at Fudan University, according to the South China Morning Post.
The Xianghui program, named after Fudan’s founding figures Ma Xiangbo and Li Denghui, aims to attract outstanding early-career scientists from overseas.
“Compared to continuing established projects at ETH, I hope to do something nobody’s done in China,” Zhu said at Fudan University on March 25, as quoted by SCMP.
“Regardless of my personal academic aspirations or my feelings towards my country, I hope that cutting-edge and groundbreaking advancements can be made domestically. That is why I have always been determined to return to China for development.”
Quantum physicist Zhu Zijie. Photo courtesy of ETH Zurich
Zhu developed an early interest in physics after reading a book on Newtonian mechanics and Einstein’s theory of relativity at home. In high school, a teacher recognized his potential and encouraged him to compete in physics contests, where he won a provincial first prize.
In 2014, he enrolled at Peking University’s School of Physics, one of the country’s leading institutions in the field. During his second semester, he joined a research group in cold atom physics, a field that studies atoms cooled to near absolute zero to observe quantum effects.
After graduating in 2018, Zhu moved to ETH Zurich for graduate studies and later remained as a postdoctoral researcher for over a year.
His research focuses on quantum simulation and quantum computing using ultracold atomic systems, where controllable atoms are used to model complex quantum behavior beyond the capabilities of classical computers.
In 2024, he published a first-author paper in Science examining how particles move along a quantized “quantum track,” where they travel in fixed directions and speeds, helping advance understanding of high-temperature superconductors and supporting the development of future quantum technologies.
Zhu has authored papers in Science and Nature Physics before the age of 30, and has also published two in Physical Review X, with another study recently accepted by Nature.
Looking ahead, he plans to use cold atom systems to tackle the ground-state problem of the fermionic Hubbard model, a key challenge in understanding high-temperature superconductivity.