Recently, Academia Europaea published its 2026 Fellowship list on its official website. Mi Zhifu, an alumnus of Beijing Institute of Technology, has been elected as a Member. Distinguished Chinese‑origin scholars including Academician Hu Haiyan, former President of Beijing Institute of Technology and Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, were also elected in the same cohort.
Known as the European Union’s “national academy of sciences” and its statutory scientific advisory body, Academia Europaea was jointly initiated by the Royal Society of the United Kingdom and top national academies of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and other European nations, with its headquarters in London, UK. As one of the world’s most broadly‑scoped, prestigious and influential scientific organizations, its fellows are internationally renowned scholars across four divisions — Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Humanities, and Life Sciences — covering 23 subject areas. Fellows are mainly selected from scholars throughout Europe, representing the highest scientific calibre and academic standing of European academia. Since its foundation, nearly 5 500 Members of Academia Europaea (MAE) have been elected, among whom close to 90 are Nobel Prize laureates.
Mi Zhifu currently works as Professor and Vice‑Dean for Research at the Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, University College London. He completed his Bachelor’s degree at the School of Mathematics, Shandong University from 2006 to 2010. From 2010 to 2015, he pursued his combined master‑doctoral programme and obtained his PhD at the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, Beijing Institute of Technology, under the supervision of Professor Wei Yiming.
His research focuses on climate‑change mitigation, integrated‑assessment modelling and carbon management. His works have appeared in leading international journals including The Lancet, Science Advances, Nature Energy, Nature Climate Change, Nature Geoscience, Nature Sustainability and Nature Food. He has been featured in Forbes Europe’s 30 Under 30 list and recognized as a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher. His honours include the World Sustainability Award, China Excellent Doctoral Dissertation in Economics, China’s Top 100 Most Influential International Academic Papers Award, Energy Economics Best Paper Award, Environmental Research Letters Best Early‑Career Researcher Paper Award, and Applied Energy Highly‑Cited Original Paper Award. He serves as Editor‑in‑Chief of the SSCI journal Structural Change and Economic Dynamics.
In education, students supervised by him have taken academic positions at world‑class universities home and abroad such as the University of Oxford, University College London, Imperial College London, the University of Hong Kong, Peking University and Renmin University of China. He received the Outstanding Research Supervisor Award from University College London and leads the Sino‑UK Pilot Programme for Co‑development of Digital University Courses.
