Dr. Wei Cui is an associate professor in the College of Polymer Science and Engineering at Sichuan University. He received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Sichuan University in 2013 and 2016, respectively, under the supervision of Professor Rong Ran. In 2020, he obtained his PhD degree from the Graduate School of Life Science at Hokkaido University, Japan, under the mentorship of Professor Jian Ping Gong. Following his PhD, he continued his postdoctoral research at the Global Institution for Collaborative Research and Education (GI-CoRE) and the Faculty of Advanced Life Science at Hokkaido University from 2020 to 2021, also under the guidance of Professor Jian Ping Gong. In December 2021, Dr. Cui joined the research group of Professor Rong Ran at the College of Polymer Science and Engineering, Sichuan University.

Dr. Cui's research focuses on fundamental scientific issues related to multiscale structural fracture, interfacial adhesion, and energy dissipation (toughening) in polymeric soft materials (elastomers, hydrogels, etc.). Inspired by basic mechanical problems observed in practical usage scenarios of soft materials, he explores their frontier applications in emerging fields. As the first or corresponding author, he has published over 20 papers in journals such as Advanced Materials, Matter, Advanced Functional Materials, and Advanced Science, etc. He has also filed and been granted three Japanese invention patents. His work has been featured by media outlets including China Science News and Cell Press. Dr. Cui has received funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Sichuan Provincial Natural Science Foundation, and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities. He serves as a guest editor for journals including Gels, Polymers, and Frontiers in Materials, and reviews for top-tier journals such as Science, Advanced Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, and National Science Reviews.

· Polymeric Soft Materials

· Fracture Mechanics

· Adhesion

· Energy Dissipation (Toughening)

· Structure-Property Relationship

• Wei Cui, Daniel R. King, Yiwan Huang, Liang Chen, Tao Lin Sun, Yunzhou Guo, Yoshiyuki Saruwatari, Chung-Yuen Hui, Takayuki Kurokawa, and Jian Ping Gong, "Fiber-Reinforced Viscoelastomers Show Extraordinary Crack Resistance That Exceeds Metals," Advanced Materials, 2020, 32, 1907180.

• Wei Cui, Yiwan Huang, Liang Chen, Yong Zheng, Yoshiyuki Saruwatari, Chung-Yuen Hui, Takayuki Kurokawa, Daniel R. King, and Jian Ping Gong, "Tiny yet Tough: Maximizing the Toughness of Fiber-Reinforced Soft Composites in the Absence of a Fiber-Fracture Mechanism," Matter, 2021, 3, 3646-3661.

• Wei Cui, Yong Zheng, Ruijie Zhu, Qifeng Mu, Xiaoyu Wang, Zhisen Wang, Shengqu Liu, Min Li, and Rong Ran, "Strong Tough Conductive Hydrogels via the Synergy of Ion-induced Cross-Linking and Salting-Out," Advanced Functional Materials, 2022, 2204823.

• Jia Yang, Ke Li, Chen Tang, Zhuangzhuang Liu, Jianghuan Fan, Gang Qin, Wei Cui,* Lin Zhu,* and Qiang Chen,* "Recent Progress in Double Network Elastomers: One Plus One is Greater Than Two," Advanced Functional Materials, 2022, 32, 2110244.

• Menghan Pi, Shanhe Qin, Sihan Wen, Zhisen Wang, Xiaoyu Wang, Min Li, Honglang Lu, Qingdang Meng, Wei Cui,* and Rong Ran, "Rapid Gelation of Tough and Anti-Swelling Hydrogels under Mild Conditions for Underwater Communication," Advanced Functional Materials, 2023, 33, 2210188.

1. Sichuan Provincial High-Level Young Talent Program (2023)

2. Sichuan University Double Hundred Talent Program (2023)

3. Silver Award, Fourth National College Student Polymer Material Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, Advisor (2024)

4. Bronze Award, Third National College Student Polymer Material Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, Advisor (2023)

5. Outstanding Demonstration Class Student, 30th Higher Education Teacher Professional Skills Training in Sichuan Province (2022)

6. Hokkaido University IGP Publications Award (2020)