Li Yang is a research associate professor with the University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute’s Clean Manufacturing and Advanced Materials Convergent Research Initiative. 

Yang is working on developing materials for extreme applications with a focus on fusion environments. Her research program covers the design and modeling of nuclear related materials using quantum mechanics-based computational calculations, molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations. Her current interests are in superconducting magnet materials used to confine plasma in nuclear fusion reactors and structural materials in fission and fusion reactors. The goal of Yang’s research is to develop materials from atomic levels and predict their performance in nuclear reactors.

Prior to joining UT-ORII, Yang worked as a research scientist in the University of Tennessee’s Department of Nuclear Engineering. She collaborates extensively with researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, University of Michigan, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and other institutions. She mentored many undergraduate and graduate students, and post-doctoral researchers. As of 2024, Dr. Yang has published over 80 articles in peer-reviewed journals including Nature Communications, Nuclear Fusion, Acta Materialia, Applied Physics Letters, Physical Review B, Nanoscale, Journal of Nuclear Materials, and others.

Education