Jun Chen, an associate professor of bioengineering at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, has been named the recipient of the 2025 Outstanding Early-Career Investigator Award by the Materials Research Society — the highest distinction for an early-career scientist in materials research, with just one researcher selected each year from an international pool of nominees.
The prestigious award comes with a $5,000 cash prize and an invitation to present at the 2025 MRS spring meeting on April 9 in Seattle. Chen was recognized for his groundbreaking discovery of the giant magnetoelastic effect in soft materials, a breakthrough that paves the way for intrinsically waterproof and biocompatible bioelectronic devices for health care and energy applications.
Traditionally observed only in rigid materials, the magnetoelastic effect describes how a material’s magnetic properties can be altered under stress. Chen’s research has now demonstrated this phenomenon in soft material systems, unlocking new possibilities for flexible, self-powered bioelectronics, with applications in personalized health care and sustainable energy. His lab recently developed a permanent fluidic magnet, an advancement for liquid bioelectronics that could be used in conformal organ monitoring and other biomedical procedures.
