I am excited to launch a new theoretical chemistry and quantum materials group at UC Irvine in Summer 2026. Please visit the Cui Group website to learn more. We are actively recruiting students and postdoctoral researchers. If you are interested in joining the group, please email me your CV.

I'm Zhihao Cui (last name pronounced as "tsway"), a theoretical scientist interested in quantum chemistry and its application to novel quantum materials, such as superconductors, strongly correlated materials, light-matter interaction, and electron-phonon coupled systems.

Currently, I'm a Postdoctoral Research Scientist working with Prof. David Reichman and Prof. Andrew Millis at Columbia University, where I'm developing theoretical methods for electron-boson coupled systems, including canonical transformed-based perturbation theory for polariton chemistry and fully self-consistent Eliashberg theory for superconductors.

In 2023, I obtained my Ph.D. in Theoretical Chemistry at Caltech, working with Prof. Garnet Chan. My Ph.D. research focused on establishing a theoretical framework for simulations of high-temperature superconductors and other strongly correlated materials. In particular, I am the leading author of several high-impact research works, including ab initio quantum embedding theories and the first fully ab initio simulation of the magnetic and superconducting properties of high-temperature superconductors. In 2017, I received my bachelor’s degree with the highest honors from Peking University, with research supervised by Prof. Hong Jiang. I also attended the CSST program, working with Prof. Anastassia Alexandrova at UCLA.

I have received many awards and distinctions, including the Herbert Newby McCoy Award, the Chemical Computing Group Excellence Award for Graduate Students from ACS, the Eddleman Research Fellowship, etc. I have also served as a reviewer for over 20 journals, including Sci. Rep., J. Chem. Theory Comput., J. Phys. Chem. Lett., Phys. Rev. X, J. Mater. Chem. A etc.