This achievement further bolsters HBKU’s sterling reputation as a committed backer of developing and enriching innovative research in the sciences.

Scientific Reports is a publication geared towards a global audience of researchers and professionals with diverse backgrounds. Topics covered by the publication represent the interests of its broad and diverse readership base. It includes the latest research conducted across a multitude of fields, including the environment, energy, medicine, physics, chemistry and many more. Dr. Liu joins reputed academics and scholars from a myriad of scientific disciplines, around the world, publishing high-caliber primary research on the natural and clinical sciences. 

Commenting on his recent accolade, Dr. Liu noted: “As members of a prestigious publication’s editorial board, we are entrusted with the responsibility to ensure that research papers being published are entirely accurate, factual and of the highest quality. I am extremely proud to represent HBKU on the international stage as a steward of knowledge in my role with Scientific Reports. A robust peer review process is the core foundation upon which any scientific community relies to validate research results. This guides future cutting-edge research in the field and creates a positive cycle that leads to further advances in science and technology.” 

Being selected for the editorial board is a direct result of Dr. Liu’s remarkable research profile and high-standing within the global scientific community. He has authored many renowned research papers in the fields of advanced materials, water treatment, and energy storage. For his pioneering work on water treatment, Dr. Liu’s research has featured in top journals such as Nature. Dr. Liu is currently holding four international patents for technology developed in the area of water production, some of which have been successfully licensed to commercial enterprises.

Since joining QEERI in 2014, Dr. Liu, and his team, have been conducting advanced research, to find solutions to address Qatar’s water security grand challenge. He currently leads the pillar of water process development and optimization, as part of the Water Security Research Portfolio. The pillar focuses on addressing the stakeholders' pressing issues in seawater desalination and wastewater treatment. For example, the oil/water separating technology developed by his team is being applied for treating oil/gas produced water, which is the biggest industrial waste stream in Qatar, with the aim to meet quality standards of treated produced water and beneficial reuse for produced water. Additionally, an innovative technology developed by his team is being used for the treatment and reuse of mosque ablution water for landscape irrigation, and a number of international (PCT) patents have been filed to protect these technologies. Given his wide expertise and knowledge in membrane-based technologies, Dr. Liu also is making his contribution by providing consultation on new government projects in seawater desalination with reverse osmosis membranes.

Dr. Liu joins fellow academics and researchers from HBKU, including Dr. Sergey Rashkeev, principal investigator at QEERI; and Dr. Henning Horn, assistant professor at HBKU’s College of Science and Engineering (CSE), on the editorial board of the journal from the publishers of Nature, in the fields of chemical physics and molecular biology, respectively.