08 Oct 2025
Recently, Dr Jianli Hao, Senior Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University's Design School, was listed in the 2025 World’s Top 2% Scientists List, jointly released by Stanford University and Elsevier. Recognised under the Single-year Impact Ranking, this achievement represents one of the highest acknowledgments of a researcher’s sustained scientific influence and contribution worldwide.
Dr Hao’s inclusion not only highlights her outstanding research in sustainable construction and environmental management, but also underscores XJTLU’s continuous advancement in international research excellence and global academic visibility.
The list, compiled by Professor John Ioannidis and his team at Stanford University in collaboration with Elsevier, is based on comprehensive citation data from the Scopus database. It evaluates around seven million scientists worldwide using a composite citation indicator (c-score), integrating total citations, h-index, co-author-adjusted hm-index, and citation counts of first or sole-authored papers, while excluding self-citations to ensure fairness and accuracy.
The list consists of two categories: the Career-long Impact Ranking and the Single-year Impact Ranking, the latter reflecting researchers’ most recent-year achievements and influence. In the 2025 edition, 12,374 Chinese scholars were included in the career-long ranking and 31,685 in the single-year list. Dr Hao’s inclusion demonstrates her remarkable global recognition and continuously rising impact in the past year.
As a leading scholar in sustainable construction and project management, Dr Hao has dedicated her research to construction waste management, circular economy, zero-carbon buildings, lean construction, and ESG-driven sustainability frameworks. Her interdisciplinary approach bridges engineering, management, and policy dimensions, aiming to transform the construction industry from a resource-intensive to a regenerative and low-carbon model. Her representative paper, “A Dissipative Structure Theory-based Investigation of Construction and Demolition Waste Minimization System in China,” was awarded the Suzhou Excellent Academic Paper in Natural Science, highlighting both the theoretical depth and practical impact of her work.
Methodologically, Dr Hao has developed and applied integrated frameworks such as the AHP–FCE evaluation system, life-cycle carbon modelling, and system dynamics-based decision models, translating complex environmental and construction challenges into measurable and optimisable structures. Her work provides scientific support for policymaking and corporate ESG performance systems, laying a robust theoretical foundation for sustainable industry transformation. At the same time, she actively promotes interdisciplinary collaboration, fostering a research paradigm that bridges theory and practice.
Beyond research, Dr Hao is deeply committed to education and academic development. She supervises postgraduate research on green construction, zero-carbon communities, and intelligent project management, and contributes to the Institute of Sustainable Cities and Environments (ISCE). Her teaching philosophy integrates the latest research into pedagogy, fostering international perspectives and research-oriented thinking among students. She frequently delivers invited lectures at universities and research institutions, sharing insights on green transition and scientific innovation.
Dr Hao’s academic and educational efforts align closely with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production). As she often notes, “The green transformation of the construction industry is not merely a technological shift, but a societal responsibility.” Under her leadership, XJTLU has become a key academic hub for green construction and circular economy research in the Yangtze River Delta region.
Dr Jianli Hao’s recognition among the World’s Top 2% Scientists is not only a milestone in her academic career but also a testament to XJTLU’s commitment to excellence in sustainability, interdisciplinary innovation, and global research collaboration. Through her vision and dedication, she continues to advance knowledge that safeguards our shared future—fulfilling the mission of academia to serve society through science and innovation.
Story provided by Dr Jianli Hao
Edited by Yi Qian
08 Oct 2025