On March 25, 2025, Elsevier officially released the 2024 "Highly Cited Chinese Researchers" list, recognizing 6,388 scholars from 547 universities, enterprises, and research institutions across 10 major disciplines and 83 first-level fields defined by China’s Ministry of Education. Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School (PKU Shenzhen) achieved a historic milestone this year, with 12 scholars named to the list. Among them, Professor Zhao Pengjun from our institute was honored in the Geography category.

The selection leveraged Elsevier’s optimized and updated disciplinary classification system, which now covers 111 first-level fields (e.g., 36 sub-disciplines in Engineering, 13 in Natural Sciences, and 9 in Medicine and Agriculture). This refined framework better highlights the academic contributions of scholars in fields with distinct Chinese regional characteristics.

This year’s PKU Shenzhen scholars showcase research excellence in Shenzhen’s "20+8" key technology clusters, including network and communications, semiconductors and integrated circuits, artificial intelligence, new energy, safety and environmental technologies, and advanced materials. Their achievements underscore PKU Shenzhen’s pivotal role in driving scientific innovation and supporting the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area’s development as a global tech hub.