Ning Wei

Postdoctoral researcher
Utrecht University

Department

Materials Chemistry and Catalysis

Contact information

Room
DDW 4.62

Email address
n.wei@uu.nl

About me

I was born in China. After finishing my bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, I moved to the Netherlands to pursue my master’s and PhD in chemistry. In January 2026, I started a PD position focused on large language development for Cu catalyzed CO₂ hydrogenation. In my free time, I enjoy traveling and learning new things.

About my research

My project focuses on developing language models for catalysis, specifically for Cu-catalyzed CO₂ hydrogenation. The work relies heavily on a reliable, coding-based data-mining pipeline. Importantly, model training will be carried out in a closed-loop fashion, in collaboration with experimental partners from CBBC/groups, to continuously improve the augmented dataset. The goal is to build a robust AI-assisted discovery workflow that shortens iteration cycles and accelerates evidence-guided identification of next-generation catalyst formulations and operating conditions. This project will help me understand the potential of LLMs and machine learning for catalyst discovery, and even beyond that field.

Academic career

2026-Present
Postdoc in the Materials Chemistry and Catalysis group, Utrecht University, the Netherlands, under supervision of dr. Nong Artrith.

2021 - 2025
PhD in Stratingh institute for chemistry, Groningen University, the Netherlands, under supervision of prof. dr. Ben Feringa and dr. Sebastian Beil

2018 – 2021
Msc chemistry in Stratingh institute for chemistry, Groningen University, the Netherlands

ARC CBBC publications

Nickel-Photocatalytic Decarboxylative Oxidation

Ning Wei, Sebastian B. Beil