The University of Washington (UW) College of Arts & Sciences has recognized Clean Energy Institute (CEI) Graduate Fellow Jiaqi Cai with its 2025 Graduate Medal in the Natural Sciences.
Cai’s doctoral research has led to a landmark discovery in condensed matter physics: the experimental realization of the fractional quantum anomalous Hall effect (FQAH) — a phenomenon long theorized but never before observed. His FQAH research contributed to the project’s principal investigator and his advisor, CEI Member Faculty Xiaodong Xu, receiving the 2025 National Academy of Sciences Award for Scientific Discovery.
“This discovery is not only of fundamental interest but also offers a paradigm shift in the development of fault tolerant quantum computation — a grand challenge for the quantum computing community,” notes Subhadeep Gupta, professor and chair of the Department of Physics.
Cai had an astonishing 24 research papers published in high-impact journals during his doctoral study at the UW, including first author or co-first author papers in Nature, Science, Nature Physics, Nature Materials, Nature Communications, and Nano Letters. But what sets him apart is not just the groundbreaking nature of his research but also the breadth and depth of his skills.
“Jiaqi possesses a rare combination of exceptionally strong theoretical capability and outstanding experimental skill,” writes Xu, Boeing Distinguished Professor in the Department of Physics and the Department of Materials Science & Engineering.
Xu also notes Cai’s strength as a collaborator and mentor. “He has the personality of working extremely well with anyone and has been a terrific mentor for several graduate and undergraduate students,” Xu explains. “He has been the heart and soul in the FQAH projects, not only doing great research by himself but also leading the team efforts.”
Cai is now a Pappalardo Fellow in Physics, a prestigious postdoctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
