Picture of Dr. Yansun Yao

Dr. Yansun Yao BSc, MSc, PhD Professor Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, Condensed Matter Physics (Theory)

Address
Physics 66

Research Interest

  • Computational materials discovery
  • Development of theoretical methods for infrared and X-ray spectroscopies for synchrotron-based studies at the Canadian Light Source
  • Application of state-of-the-art theoretical methods for structural and properties predictions of solids
  • Development of a theoretical understanding of reconstructive phase transitions by using advanced molecular dynamics techniques
  • Electronic structure methods, frontier orbital concepts, and band theories applied to molecular and crystalline systems
  • Hydrogen and boron chemistry, and its applications to energy storage

Education History

Employment History

November 2012 - Present

Assistant-Associate-Full Professor, Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada

November 2008 - October 2012

Research Associate-Assistant Research Officer, Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Canada

Honours & Awards

  • Teacher of the Year, Physics and Engineering Physics Students's Society, University of Saskatchewan, 2019
  • New Scientist Research Award, College of Arts and Science, University of Saskatchewan, 2017
  • Research Excellence Award, Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, University of Saskatchewan, 2016
  • Teaching Excellence Award, Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, University of Saskatchewan, 2015
  • Alvin Van Valkenburg Award, awarded by Gordon Research Conference on Research at High Pressures (USA), 2012

Professional Practice

  • Editorial Board Member, Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, 2019-
  • Expert Review Comittee Member, Compute Canada Resource Allocation, 2019-
  • Guest Editor, Special issue ‘Materials by Design Under Pressure: experiments and theory’, Applied Physics A, 2020
  • Peer Reviewer, for 54 scientific journals and NSERC discovery grant