Dr. Zhenglu Li

Assistant Professor

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Biography

Zhenglu Li received his Bachelor's degree in Physics from Fudan University in Shanghai, China, in 2012 and completed his Ph.D. in Physics at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2019. After his doctoral studies, he became a postdoctoral fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley from 2019 to 2022. In 2023, he joined the Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Southern California as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Li's research focuses on the development and application of massively-parallelized computational methods based on many-body quantum theories to study excited-state properties of materials, including bulk solids and two-dimensional systems. His group emphasizes the development of first-principles approaches such as GW perturbation theory and the time-dependent GW method, and they explore broad applications in quantum materials while providing accurate many-electron-level descriptions of important phenomena such as electron-phonon coupling, superconductivity, nonequilibrium exciton dynamics, and light-matter interactions. Dr. Li is particularly interested in the role of electron-phonon coupling in materials with strong electron correlations and the nonequilibrium dynamics of excitons and phonons in low-dimensional materials.

Research Interests

Experience

Assistant Professor

2023-01-01 — Present

Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science • Los Angeles, CA

Assistant Professor at the Mork Family Department focusing on computational methods in physics.

Awards

#1

NSF CAREER Award

2025-01-01
#1

American Physical Society Nicholas Metropolis Award

2021-01-01

Requirements for University of Southern California

Master Program
Requirements
GPA Requirement
Required:3
TOEFL
Listening
Required:20
Reading
Required:20
Writing
Required:20
Speaking
Required:20
Total
Required:90
IELTS
Listening
Required:6
Reading
Required:6
Writing
Required:6
Speaking
Required:6
Overall
Required:6.5
GRE General
Prerequisites
Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Math, or Hard Science
Application Checklist
  • Online application
  • Official transcripts
  • Personal Statement
  • Resume/CV
  • Letters of Recommendation (not required for MS CS, but allowed)
Specialization Notes

GRE is NOT required for Master's applicants for 2025-2026.