Jie Xu is an assistant professor of molecular engineering in the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering.
Jie Xu’s research integrates polymer science with AI-guided autonomous experimentation to accelerate the discovery of advanced functional polymers. Her group focuses on both polymer innovation, studying and developing materials for electronics and devices, and methodology development, advancing laboratory automation and decision intelligence through Polybot, a self-driving laboratory that links synthesis, processing, and characterization with AI/ML-guided decision-making. A unifying theme is sustainability, embedding circular materials and environmentally responsible design into new polymer technologies.
Prior to joining the University of Chicago, she was a scientist at Argonne National Laboratory, where she led the development of Polybot, an autonomous laboratory for materials discovery at the Center for Nanoscale Materials. She earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry from Nanjing University, studying molecular packing and dynamics in nanoconfined soft matter. As a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University, she applied her polymer physics expertise to skin-like electronics, pioneering stretchable polymer materials and demonstrating integrated, intrinsically stretchable transistors and circuits.
Fellow at Scialog: Automating Chemical Laboratories, 2025
NAE Frontiers of Engineering, 2024, 2025
Materials Horizons Emerging Investigator, 2024
ACS Polymeric Material Science and Engineering (PMSE) Young Investigator Award, 2023
Academy for Women in Science and Engineering (LAWISE) Leadership Program, 2022
America’s Greatest Disruptors: Budding Disruptors (Newsweek), 2021
MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 (Global), 2021
Physical Science & Engineering Early Investigator Named Award, 2021
MIT Rising Star Program, 2019
Materials Research Society (MRS) Postdoctoral Award, 2018