Debate star and physicist Guo Yanliang leaves a top European quantum lab for China

Renmin University recruit aims to probe complex quantum matter using ultracold atomic sandbox with lasers

Guo Yanliang, a champion debater who honed his argumentation skills in international contests and on online variety shows, has left one of Europe’s top quantum laboratories to set up his own research group in Beijing.

Guo, 33, says he sees scientific research as a debate between different opinions, which made him more compatible with China than Europe.

This year, he returned to China to take a position as associate professor at Renmin University of China where he is building an ultracold atom experiment platform.

While he has had papers published in Science and Nature and secured a spot on MIT Technology Review’s “Innovators Under 35 China” list, the physicist says he returned because China offered better support for his long‑term research goals.

“The research environment here is more in line with my research characteristics,” he told DeepTech, the Chinese branch of MIT Technology Review, last month.