Rate My Professor Yuki Nagao

Yuki Nagao is a Professor in the School of Materials Science at the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST). He earned a B.S. in 2001 and an M.S. in 2003 from the University of Tsukuba, followed by a Ph.D. from Kyushu University in 2006. His early career included positions as Research Associate and Assistant Professor at Tohoku University, Sakigake Researcher at the Japan Science and Technology Agency, and Lecturer at Kyoto University before joining JAIST as Associate Professor in 2012. He was promoted to Full Professor at JAIST in 2022. Nagao has held concurrent roles including Associate Professor in the Research Center for Highly Environmental and Recyclable Polymers (2015–2016) and in the International Excellent Core for Silent Voice Sensing (2020–2022), Professor in the same core (2022–2023), and Professor in the Research Center for Carbon Neutral (2025–). He also serves as Adjunct Professor at Chulalongkorn University since 2025 and has been an adjunct lecturer at multiple institutions including the University of Tokyo, National Cheng Kung University, Kanazawa University, Komatsu University, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, Nagoya Institute of Technology, and others. Additional appointments include Next Generation World-Leading Researcher (2011–2014) and various committee and examiner roles.

Nagao’s research centers on nanoprotonics and polymer materials, with emphases on fuel cells, proton batteries, sensors, hierarchical structures, polyelectrolytes, inorganic active materials, and coordination polymers. His work focuses on proton and hydroxide ion transport in organized polymer thin films, molecular orientation for enhanced conductivity, ion transport at interfaces, and applications in sustainable energy technologies including next-generation fuel cells, batteries, electrolyzers, actuators, and sensors. He has authored numerous publications, including reviews such as “Advancing Sustainable Energy: Structurally Organized Proton and Hydroxide Ion-Conductive Polymers” (2024) and “Proton-Conducting Polymers: Key to Next-Generation Fuel Cells, Electrolyzers, Batteries, Actuators, and Sensors” (2024), as well as papers on porosity-controlled MXene anodes (2025) and molecular dynamics simulations of polymer electrolytes (2025). Nagao has delivered numerous plenary, keynote, and invited lectures at international conferences and institutions. He is recognized as a World’s top 2% scientist by Stanford/Elsevier (2021–2025), has served on program committees and editorial boards including guest editor roles for Small, Batteries and Supercaps, and Advanced Sustainable Systems (2025), and holds memberships in societies such as the Chemical Society of Japan and the Japan Society of Applied Physics.