Professor Sean Li
Australian Laureate Fellow,University of New South Wales, Australia
After completing my Bachelor of Engineering, I began my career as an engineer in a shipyard. It was an environment where precision and standardised procedures were essential. Although I enjoyed engineering, I gradually realised that routine work alone could not satisfy my curiosity.
After completing a Master of Engineering, I spent five years in research and teaching as a junior academic. During that period, I also worked briefly as a futures broker. The experience broadened my understanding of markets, risk and quantitative thinking. Looking back, it also influenced the way I think about scientific problems today. I returned to academia and completed my PhD at the University of Auckland in 1998.
I joined Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore as an Assistant Professor before moving to UNSW Sydney in 2004. In 2025, I was awarded the Australian Laureate Fellowship, Australia's most prestigious competitive research fellowship.
My research has taken me through a range of fields, from quantitative modelling and high-temperature superconductivity to advanced manufacturing, electronic materials and energy technologies. Over time, I have found these fields to be far more connected than they first appeared. Today, my research focuses on advanced electronic materials for semiconductor and clean energy technologies, with an emphasis on translating fundamental discoveries into practical manufacturing solutions.
My work has been published in leading journals, including Nature and Science, and has led to numerous patented technologies. Through collaborations with industry, I have sought to translate fundamental discoveries into practical manufacturing solutions.
My career has taken me across engineering, quantitative finance, materials science and energy. Although these fields appear very different, they have all contributed to the way I think about scientific problems. That perspective continues to shape both my research and my approach to developing technologies with practical impact.
