Princeton nuclear physicist Liu Chang leaves US for China in fusion energy quest
Plasma specialist heads to Peking University to pursue magnetic confinement on mission to make nuclear fusion a reality

Last month, Liu joined the Institute of Heavy Ion Physics at Peking University’s School of Physics as an assistant professor, according to a post on his new department’s social media account.
Liu’s research has centred mainly on plasma physics and nuclear fusion. In particular, he has focused on solving problems related to the physics of runaway electrons – a kind of energy leakage – and other energetic particles in magnetic confinement fusion devices.
Research by Liu has been published in top academic journals in his field, such as Physical Review Letters and Nuclear Fusion.
For example, in 2023, a team of researchers led by Liu unveiled a promising approach to mitigating damaging runaway electrons caused by disturbances in tokamak fusion devices, by harnessing a unique type of plasma wave. The study was published in Physical Review Letters.