Prof Chuan Zhao is currently an Australian Laureate Fellow, and a Fellow of Australian Academy of Technological Science and Engineering (FTSE). He is the Flagship Program Director, UNSW Node Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence on Green Electrochemical Transformation of Carbon Dioxide, and the Deputy Director of the ARC Training Centre for the Global Hydrogen Economy. 

Prof Zhao received his PhD with an excellence award from Northwest University, then completed postdoctoral research at University of Oldenburg and Monash University, before starting his independent career as a lecturer in UNSW in 2010. He was promoted to full professor in 2018 and in 2025 awarded an Australian Laureate Fellowship, the highest recognition for research excellence given by Australian Research Council. Prof Zhao is elected Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), Fellow of Royal Australian Chemical Institute (FRACI) and Fellow of Royal Society of New South Wales (FRSN). He has received numerous awards including the most distinguished Australian Awards in Chemistry and Electrochemistry, RACI HG Smith Memorial Award and R.H. Stokes Medal, respectively, RACI Applied Research & Innovation Award, as well as the Liversidge Awards and Lectureship from the Royal Society of New South Wales.

Prof Zhao leads a team of ~30 researchers focusing on discovering novel electrochemical methods and materials for applications in clean energy storage and conversion including hydrogen production from water splitting, hydrogen fuel cells, CO₂ reduction, ammonia synthesis, and aqueous batteries. He has published 1 book, 9 book chapters, and over 400 research papers with over 30,000 citations. Zhao is also the lead inventor of sixteen patent families, of which ten have been commercialised, leading to two spin-off companies. Prof Zhao is a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher since 2023.