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Nobel Chemist Omar Yaghi Joins Tsinghua Amid US Funding Cuts

7/10/2026

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Nobel chemist Omar Yaghi accepted a full-time researcher role at Tsinghua University in Beijing on July 3.
He left his UC Berkeley position, held since 2012, after serving as an honorary Tsinghua professor since 2022.
Yaghi said reduced U.S. grant funding and limited AI integration under President Donald Trump’s administration made the research environment discouraging.
Tsinghua will have him head an AI-assisted materials discovery institute linking Eastern and Western scientific traditions.

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Story summary

Nobel chemist Omar Yaghi accepted a full-time researcher role at Tsinghua University in Beijing on July 3.
He left his UC Berkeley position, held since 2012, after serving as an honorary Tsinghua professor since 2022.
Yaghi said reduced U.S. grant funding and limited AI integration under President Donald Trump’s administration made the research environment discouraging.
Tsinghua will have him head an AI-assisted materials discovery institute linking Eastern and Western scientific traditions.