On August 24, the winners of the eighth Xplorer Prize were officially announced. Five faculty members from Zhejiang University received the award, placing the University joint second among Chinese universities in terms of the number of awardees. Among them, Professor Di Dawei of the Zhejiang University–University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Institute (ZJUI) received the Xplorer Prize in Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies.

Professor Di’s research focuses on novel semiconductor optoelectronic devices and device physics. In recent years, his team has achieved a series of major advances, including the world’s first electrically driven perovskite laser, the development of micro- and nano-perovskite LEDs (micro/nano-PeLEDs), including the world’s smallest LEDs, controllable p- and n-type doping of perovskite semiconductors, enabling ultrahigh-brightness electroluminescence, ultralong-lifetime lead-based and lead-free perovskite LEDs, continuous-wave perovskite polariton lasers, and the discovery of the universal mechanism underlying ultralow-voltage LED operation.

Professor Di’s research has been published in leading journals including Nature. His work has received numerous national and international honors, including China’s Top 10 Optical Breakthroughs (2022, 2025) and recognition on MIT Technology Review’s global “Innovators Under 35” list (2019). His research has also been widely covered by major media outlets, including People’s Daily, China Central Television (CCTV), Xinhua News Agency, and China Science Daily.