From July 8th to 10th, 2023, the Chinese Materials Conference (2022-2023) was held in the Shenzhen International Convention and Exhibition Center. The Chinese Materials Research Society announced the results of the Chinese Materials Research Society Science and Technology Award for 2023 in the opening of the conference. The project “Fundamental Research on Multi-approach Low-Carbon Design and Application of Cement-based Materials” led by Professor Ga Xiaojian from the Civil Engineering Materials Discipline Group of our university, with the participation of Associate Professor Liu Yushi and Dr. Chen Tiefeng, won the first prize of the Science and Technology Award (Basic Research Category). The project was completed by Harbin Institute of Technology, Qingdao University of Technology, and Heilongjiang Provincial Institute of Water Science.

Cement-based materials are the most widely used and versatile civil engineering materials in the world, and their technological level directly affects the sustainable development of the civil engineering industry. Professor Gao Xiaojian and his team have carried out a large amount of basic research in response to the national strategic needs, focusing on the preparation of green high-performance cement-based materials from industrial solid waste, carbon capture and low-carbon preparation of cement-based materials, and the design of thermal storage energy-saving and structurally integrated cement-based materials. They have overcomed a series of technical problems in traditional cement-based materials, such as large resource and energy consumption, high carbon emissions, and the difficulty of balancing functionality and structural performance. The research achievements provide the theoretical and technical support for the low-carbon design of the entire life cycle of cement-based materials in production, construction, and operation. This project has published more than 70 SCI papers, with a total of over 2400 citations. The highest number of citations for a single paper is nearly 200, and 10 papers have been selected as highly cited papers in the Essential Science Indicators (ESI), including 1 hot paper. In addition, 11 national invention patents have been granted, and 1 monograph has been published. The research achievements have been successfully applied in the fields of energy-saving buildings in cold regions, concrete winter construction, and water conservancy engineering construction, and have achieved significant economic, social, and environmental benefits.