Professor Xi Dai obtained his Bachelor and Master’s degree (1993 &1996) from Zhejiang University and PhD (1999) from Institute of Theoretical Physics, CAS in China. After graduation, he did postdoctoral research in The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Boston college and Rutegrs University. From 2007-2017, he worked in the institute of physics, CAS as a professor in the theory division. In September 2017, he joined HKUST as a professor in the Department of Physics. Professor Dai received several important awards during the past ten years including the OCPA “Achievements in Asia Award” (2011), the KC Chou foundation “Fundamental Physics Prize” (2014), the James C. McGroddy Prize for New Materials of APS (2019) and the first class of national prize for science and technology (2024).     
 

Most of Professor Dai’s academic achievements are concentrated in two fields, developing computational methods and searching for the topological quantum states. He has proposed several very important topological insulators, such as Bi2Se3 family. He also proposed magnetic doped topological insulators to realise quantum anomalous Hall effect, which has been confirmed by experiments in 2013. In 2015, Professor Dai’s research team predicted the first Wely semimetal material, TaAs family, which has soon been confirmed by experiments.