Omar Yaghi Leaves UC Berkeley to Lead Tsinghua AI Institute After 2025 Nobel
Updated
Updated · Los Angeles Times · Jul 9
Omar Yaghi Leaves UC Berkeley to Lead Tsinghua AI Institute After 2025 Nobel
3 articles · Updated · Los Angeles Times · Jul 9
Summary
Tsinghua University said 2025 chemistry Nobel winner Omar Yaghi will lead its new AI Chemistry and Materials Research Institute in Beijing, ending his tenure at UC Berkeley.
AIMATRY — short for AI × Materials × Chemistry — will use artificial intelligence to design and synthesize new materials, expanding work tied to Yaghi’s metal-organic frameworks research.
Yaghi has linked his move to shrinking U.S. research support, saying earlier this year that grant cutbacks had made the funding climate far less encouraging for university scientists.
The shift also fits China’s broader push to recruit U.S.-based researchers as the Trump administration cuts science funding, suspends grants and tightens immigration rules.
With Nobel laureates moving East, will the next world-changing materials be discovered in Beijing instead of Berkeley?
Is the global flow of scientific talent a threat to national leadership or key to solving humanity's greatest challenges?
Omar Yaghi Joins Tsinghua: AI, MOFs, and the Global Race for Scientific Talent
Overview
On July 9, 2026, Tsinghua University announced that Nobel Laureate Omar M. Yaghi has joined its faculty full-time, marking a major shift in global scientific leadership. Yaghi, known for his groundbreaking work on Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs), moved from the United States to lead a new AI-driven research center in China. This move highlights China's growing investment and strong performance in chemistry, as well as its commitment to advancing science. At Tsinghua, Yaghi will drive innovation in materials science, showing how top talent and resources are shaping the future of global research.