Curriculum Vitae
Jiaxin (Dawn) Duan
Beamline Scientist · Center for Photon Science, MX Group · Paul Scherrer Institut
j.dawnduan@gmail.com · ORCID 0000-0003-3252-7870 · jdawnduan.com
Education & Professional Appointments
2025–Present
Paul Scherrer Institut · Villigen, Switzerland
Beamline Scientist, Center for Photon Science, MX Group
Group Leader: Meitian Wang
Research area: Develop, maintain and support software for automated and reliable MX beamline operation at SLS with the MX Applications, Instrumentations, and Samples groups. Explore AI/ML-based instrument monitoring and data analysis methods.
2023–2025
Paul Scherrer Institut · Villigen, Switzerland
Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Photon Science, MX Group
Group Leader: Meitian Wang · Supervisor: Filip Leonarski
Research area: Detector and data processing workflow commissioning in macromolecular crystallography at 4th generation synchrotron (MAX IV) and SwissFEL.
2018–2023
Northwestern University · Illinois, United States
Ph.D. in Chemistry (Master included)
Advisor: Joseph T. Hupp
Thesis: Metal–Organic Frameworks in Electrochemistry and Electrocatalysis
2014–2018
University of Minnesota–Twin Cities · Minnesota, United States
B.S. in Chemistry | Minor in Mathematics
Advisor: Andreas Stein
Research topic: Enhancing thermal stability of Metal–Organic Frameworks via Nanocasting
Honors & Awards
2022
GLCACS Outstanding Student Research Award
2022
NUBonD Travel Grant, Northwestern University
2014–2018
Dean's List, University of Minnesota (all terms)
2018
Travel grant for American Chemical Society 255th National Meeting
2017
Dr. Paul F. and Patricia Guehler Chemistry Scholarship
2017
J. Lewis Maynard Memorial Prize in Advanced Inorganic Chemistry
2016
Thomas DuBruil Undergraduate Research Award
2016
Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program
2015
McGraw Hill's Book Prize for Student Achievement in Introductory Chemistry
Leadership & Service
2026–2027
feM-LEAD (female Mentoring – Leadership for Equity And Diversity), ETH Domain
2025–Present
Swiss Young Academy
5-year term member promoting interdisciplinary and crossdisciplinary research
2025–2026
FLP (Foster. Lead. Promote.) Peer Mentoring Program, PSI
Co-lead of "Discover Diverse Career Paths and Resources at PSI" with Zarina Turtayeva, connecting 8 female peers and 4 female mentors within PSI
2023–2024
Swiss Women in Chemistry Mentor–Mentee Program
Mentee. Mentor: Prof. Natalie Banerji
2022–2024
Electrochemical Society
Student Committee Member, Individual Membership Committee
2022–2023
Great Lakes Chinese American Chemical Society
Student Committee Member
2020–2023
Phi Lambda Upsilon – The National Chemistry Honor Society (Northwestern chapter)
Vice President (2022–2023), President (2021–2022), Secretary (2020–2021)
- Organized career development workshops
- Led organization meetings year round and organized the annual Marple-Schweitzer lecture
- Handled logistics, meeting notes, and website updates
2022–2023
Northwestern University Building on Diversity (NUBonD)
- Built Google Scripts and a system to manage the department internal library initiated by NUBonD
- Invited speakers and facilitated workshops promoting inclusion, equality and diversity across the NU Chemistry department
2022
Graduate out in STEM (GoSTEM)
Founding board member
- Built the GoSTEM website and helped bring GoSTEM into existence
2021–2022
The Tinker Program, The Garage (Northwestern's home for student entrepreneurs)
Brewed non-profit idea TediFlow: a smart interactive assistant to automate tedious steps in research life (data processing, migrating, plotting, backing up)
2021–2022
Graduate International Student Association (G-ISA)
- Revamped the website to increase public exposure among international graduate students
2019–2023
Climate Tech Club (formerly Northwestern Energy and Technology Group)
Secretary (2022–2023), External Vice President (2021–2022), Webmaster (2020–2021), General Board Member (2019–2021)
- Planned and hosted climate, sustainability and energy talks (avg. attendance 15–20): 50 years of battery innovation (Prof. Jeff Lopez); Advanced battery technology and current market (Dr. Venkat Srinivasan); Thermal batteries and HVAC via Black Ice technology (Prof. Said Al-Hallaj); Deep Sustainability Solutions for Northwestern (Prof. Patricia A. Beddows); Climate change, air quality and EVs (Prof. Daniel Ethan Horton)
- Revamped official website and migrated it from Weebly to WordPress (https://sites.northwestern.edu/netg0/)
- Built the alumni page and alumni network with consent outreach
Skills
Programming
Linux, Python, Git, VM, Ansible, Puppet, some DevOps-related things, and many things assisted by Claude and other AI, Zig (learning), AI/ML tools, prompting human intelligence
Characterization
Crystallography, Microscopy, Macro and Nanofabrication, Physical and Chemical Characterization Methods, Electrochemistry Methods, Scattering Methods
Languages
Fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese, English. B1 level in French and German (actively learning and improving both)
Teaching & Working Experience
2019–2023
Northwestern University
Laboratory Assistant, Micro/Nano Fabrication Facility (Cleanroom)
2023 Winter
Northwestern University
Teaching Assistant – Crystallography (CHEM 432), ~30 students
2021–2022 Winter
Northwestern University
Teaching Assistant – Advanced Physical and Analytical Chemistry (CHEM 435/445), ~30–40 students/term
2021 Spring
Northwestern University
Teaching Assistant – Organic Chemistry (SPS) (CHEM 230), 5 students
2019–2020 Winter
Northwestern University
Teaching Assistant – Advanced Laboratory 2 (CHEM 350), ~15–20 students/term
2018 Fall – 2020 Fall
Northwestern University
Teaching Assistant – General Chemistry Labs (CHEM 142, 151, 181, 182), ~40–50 students/term
2017 Summer
University of Minnesota–Twin Cities
Teaching Assistant – Advanced Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory (CHEM 4711W), ~30–40 students
2016 Fall – 2018 Spring
University of Minnesota–Twin Cities
Teaching Assistant – General Chemistry Laboratory (CHEM 1065, 1066, 1075H), ~40–50 students/term
2015 Fall – 2016 Spring
University of Minnesota–Twin Cities
Teaching Assistant – General Chemistry Discussion (CHEM 1061, 1062), ~20 students/term
Feedback from students
- “Dawn was a great TA and thoroughly explained each experiment and characterization technique effectively which helped us have a very firm grasp on our data and its interpretation.”
- “Dawn was very helpful and nice. She was well prepared and responsive via email.”
- “Dawn was an amazing TA. The class was difficult, but Dawn was always there to help.”
- “Dawn made the chemistry lab course much more enjoyable and clear than I would have expected. If possible, I would have Dawn for every lab section I am in because she made it really clear on what is important in lab and matched the way I learn from instructors.”
- “Dawn is the sweetest girl in the world, the fact that she has an amazing gift for chemistry on top of that is a wonder. She is always kind, and patient with everyone no matter how obvious some questions may be. She is genuine and understanding, yet confident in her abilities. She gets my highest praise, and she deserves a raise regardless of her position. Give her a prize, a gold star, and ice cream cone. Whatever it is, know that Dawn is the real super TA.”
Only short-answer feedback addressed to me is shown; scored feedback is omitted.
Supervised & Supported Students
2022 Summer
Dereck Lefcort – Northwestern University IIN REU Summer Intern
Project: qualitative and quantitative compositional analysis of Metal–Organic Frameworks (MOFs). Accepted to Northwestern as a graduate student in 2023.
2021–2023
Hupp group
Supported and mentored 2 junior students on instrumentation, experimentation, and data analysis
2019
Undergraduate mentee
Wrote letters of recommendation for summer research and internship applications
Community Service & Outreach
2026
36th Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony, Zurich
Volunteer
2022
STEM outreach at the Bloc (a boxing gym)
Taught middle schoolers how to build a remote-control car and potentially develop future modules
2022 Summer
Expand Your Horizons Chicago
Technical support on Zoom, ensuring people are in the correct room and resolving technical issues
2022 Spring
Splash teaching
Hydrogen fuel cell
2021–2022
Letters to a Pre-Scientist program
Letters with 7th grade
2021–2022
Science in the Classroom (SITC)
In-classroom science experiments/demos with 3rd or 4th grade, and the IMSERC tour video
2021
Electrochemistry demo video
2020–2021
District 65 Books & Breakfast
Weekly tutoring sessions with middle-school kids
2020–2021
Expand Your Horizons Chicago
Workshop assistant and social media assistant
2019 Spring
ACS Great Lakes Regional Meeting
Session presider
2014–2016
Minnesota Science Museum
Activity leader facilitating demo experiments, helping young children explore biology, chemistry, engineering and physics
Publications (24)
- Duan, J.; Stadler, H. C.; Nan, J.; Matěj, Z.; Gotthard, G.; Dworkowski, F.; Bjelcic, M.; Aurelius, O.; Mozzanica, A.; Grimm, S.; Burian, M.; Ursby, T.; Wang, M.; Leonarski, F. Jungfraujoch: 38 GB s⁻¹ real-time serial crystallography – data acquisition and live indexing feedback. J. Appl. Cryst., 2026, 59, 1668–1677.
- Beavers, C.; Bernstein, H. J.; Brewster, A. S.; Burian, M.; Devenish, N.; Duan, J. D.; Eriksson, D.; Gämperle, D.; Ha, Y.; Hall, D. R.; Holton, J.; Keller, P.; Kroon-Batenburg, L.; Mittan-Moreau, D. W.; Nakaye, Y.; Paley, D. W.; Peisach, E.; Sauter, N. K.; Trampari, S.; Vonrhein, C.; Waterman, D. G.; White, T. A.; Winter, G. Report of high data rate macromolecular crystallography (HDRMX) meeting, 23 July 2025. Struct. Dyn., 2026, 13, 034301.
- Chen, Z.; Rabbani, S. M. G., A.; Liu, Q.; Bi, W.; Duan, J.; Lu, Z.; Schweitzer, N. M.; Getman, R. B.; Hupp, J. T.; Chapman, K. W. Atomically Precise Single-Site Catalysts via Exsolution in a Polyoxometalate–Metal–Organic-Framework Architecture. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2024, 146, 7950–7955.
- Campitelli, P.; Tombesi, A.; Nicola, C. D.; Pettinari, C.; Mauri, A.; Galli, S.; Yan, T.; Liu, D.; Duan, J.; Goswami, S.; Tuci, G.; Giambastiani, G.; Hupp, J. T.; Rossin, A. CO2 Capture and Conversion to C1 Chemicals with Mixed-Metal Copper/Nickel Bis(amino)bipyrazolate Metal–Organic Frameworks. ACS Appl. Energy Mater., 2023, 6, 9231–9242.
- Wang, R.; Bukowski, B. C.; Duan, J.; Zhang, K.; Snurr, R. Q.; Hupp, J. T. Geometry and Chemistry: Influence of Pore Functionalization on Molecular Transport and Diffusion in Solvent-Filled Zirconium Metal–Organic Frameworks. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2023, 15, 51854–51862.
- Wang, Q.; Duan, J.; Goetjen, T.; Hupp, J. T.; Notestein, J. B. Bimetallic NiCu catalysts supported on a Metal-Organic framework for Non-oxidative ethanol dehydrogenation. J. Catal., 2023, 422, 86–98.
- Lu, Z.; Duan, J.; Tan, H.; Du, L.; Zhao, X.; Wang, R.; Kato, S.; Yang, S.; Hupp, J. T. Isomer of NU-1000 with a Blocking c-pore Exhibits High Water–Vapor Uptake Capacity and Greatly Enhanced Cycle Stability. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2023, 145, 4150–4157.
- Duan, J.; Shabbir, H.; Chen, Z.; Bi, W.; Liu, Q.; Sui, J.; Đorđević, L.; Stupp, S. I.; Chapman, K. W.; Martinson, A. B.; Li, A.; Schaller, R. D.; Goswami, S.; Getman, R. B.; Hupp, J. T. Synthetic Access to a Framework-Stabilized and Fully Sulfided Analogue of an Anderson Polyoxometalate that is Catalytically Competent for Reduction Reactions. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2023, 145, 7268–7277.
- Liu, Q.; Chen, Z.; Shabbir, H.; Duan, J.; Bi, W.; Lu, Z.; Schweitzer, N.; Alayoglu, S.; Goswami, S.; Chapman, K. W.; Getman, R. B.; Wang, Q.; Notestein, J. M.; Hupp, J. T. Presentation of gas-phase-reactant-accessible single-rhodium-atom catalysts for CO oxidation, via MOF confinement of an Anderson polyoxometalate. J. Mater. Chem. A, 2022, 10, 18226–18234.
- Wang, X.; Ma, K.; Goh, T.; Mian, M. R.; Xie, H.; Mao, H.; Duan, J.; Kirlikovali, K. O.; Stone, A. E. B. S.; Ray, D.; Wasielewski, M. R.; Gagliardi, L.; Farha, O. K. Photocatalytic Biocidal Coatings Featuring Zr6Ti4-Based Metal–Organic Frameworks. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2022, 144, 12192–12201. internal collaboration at Northwestern, published without Ph.D. advisor
- Lu, Z.; Duan, J.; Du, L.; Liu, Q.; Schweitzer, N.; Hupp, J. T. Incorporation of Free Halide Ions Stabilizes Metal–Organic Frameworks (MOFs) Against Pore Collapse and Renders Large-pore Zr-MOFs Functional for Water Harvesting. J. Mater. Chem. A, 2022, 10, 6442–6447. co-first author
- Duan, J.; Goswami, S.; Patwardhan, S.; Hupp, J. T. Does the Mode of MOF/Electrode Adhesion Determine Rates for Redox-hopping-based Charge-Transport within Thin-film Metal–Organic Frameworks?. J. Phys. Chem. C, 2022, 126, 4601–4611.
- Duan, J.; Goswami, S.; Hupp, J. T. Redox-hopping Based Charge Transport Mediated by Ru(II)-Polypyridyl Species Immobilized in a Mesoporous Metal-organic Framework. Front. Chem. Eng., 2022, 3, 828266.
- Wang, R.; Bukowski, B.; Duan, J.; Sui, J.; Snurr, R.; Hupp, J. T. Art of Architecture: Efficient Transport through Solvent-Filled Metal–Organic Frameworks Regulated by Topology. Chem. Mater., 2021, 33, 6832–6840.
- Li, X.; Yu, J.; Lu, Z.; Duan, J.; Fry, H.; Gosztola, D.; Maindan, K.; Rajasree, S.; Deria, P. Photoinduced Charge Transfer with a Small Driving Force Facilitated by Exciplex-like Complex Formation in Metal–Organic Frameworks. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2021, 143, 15286–15297. external collaboration with Southern Illinois University, published without Ph.D. advisor
- Lu, Z.; Wang, R.; Liao, Y.; Farha, O. K.; Bi, W.; Sheridan, T. R.; Zhang, K.; Duan, J.; Liu, J.; Hupp, J. T. Isomer of linker for NU-1000 yields a new she-type, catalytic, and hierarchically porous, Zr-based metal–organic framework. Chem. Commun., 2021, 57, 3571–3574.
- Ray, D.; Goswami, S.; Duan, J.; Hupp, J. T.; Cramer, C.; Gagliardi, L. Tuning the Conductivity of Hexa-Zirconium(IV) Metal–Organic Frameworks by Encapsulating Heterofullerenes. Chem. Mater., 2021, 33, 1182–1189.
- Nagatomi, H.; Gallington, L.; Goswami, S.; Duan, J.; Chapman, K.; Yanai, N.; Kimizuka, N.; Farha, O. K.; Hupp, J. T. Regioselective Functionalization of the Mesoporous Metal–Organic Framework, NU-1000, with Photo-Active Tris-(2,2′-bipyridine)ruthenium(II). ACS Omega, 2020, 5, 30299–30305.
- Wang, R.; Bukowski, B. C.; Duan, J.; Sheridan, T. R.; Atilgan, A.; Zhang, K.; Snurr, R. Q.; Hupp, J. T. Investigating the Process and Mechanism of Molecular Transport within a Representative Solvent-Filled Metal–Organic Framework. Langmuir, 2020, 36, 10853–10859.
- Kung, C.-W.; Goswami, S.; Hod, I.; Wang, T. C.; Duan, J.; Farha, O. K.; Hupp, J. T. Charge Transport in Zirconium-Based Metal–Organic Frameworks. Acc. Chem. Res., 2020, 53, 1187–1195.
- Goswami, S.; Hod, I.; Duan, J.; Kung, C.-W.; Rimoldi, M.; Malliakas, C. D.; Palmer, R. H.; Farha, O. K.; Hupp, J. T. Anisotropic Redox Conductivity within a Metal–Organic Framework Material. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2019, 141, 17696–17702.
- Desai, S. P.; Ye, J.; Zheng, J.; Ferrandon, M. S.; Webber, T. E.; Platero-Prats, A. E.; Duan, J.; Garcia-Holley, P.; Camaioni, D. M.; Chapman, K. W.; Delferro, M.; Farha, O. K.; Fulton, J. L.; Gagliardi, L.; Lercher, J. A.; Penn, R. L.; Stein, A.; Lu, C. C. Well-Defined Rhodium–Gallium Catalytic Sites in a Metal–Organic Framework: Promoter-Controlled Selectivity in Alkyne Semihydrogenation to E-Alkenes. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2018, 140, 15309–15318.
- Malonzo, C. D.; Wang, Z.; Duan, J.; Zhao, W.; Webber, T. E.; Li, Z.; Kim, I. S.; Kumar, A.; Bhan, A.; Platero-Prats, A. E.; Chapman, K. W.; Farha, O. K.; Hupp, J. T.; Martinson, A. B. F.; Penn, R. L.; Stein, A.; Lu, C. C. Application and Limitations of Nanocasting in Metal–Organic Frameworks. Inorg. Chem., 2018, 57, 2782–2790.
- Desai, S. P.; Malonzo, C. D.; Webber, T. E.; Duan, J.; Thompson, A. B.; Tereniak, S. J.; DeStefano, M. R.; Buru, C. T.; Li, Z.; Penn, R. L.; Farha, O. K.; Hupp, J. T.; Stein, A.; Lu, C. C. Assembly of dicobalt and cobalt–aluminum oxide clusters on metal–organic framework and nanocast silica supports. Farad. Discuss., 2017, 201, 287–302.
Presentations
2026 Fall
Rhine-Knee Regiomeeting 2026 (Oral)
Automation at the SLS 2.0 Macromolecular Crystallography (MX) Beamlines
2026 Summer
NOBUGS 2026 (New Opportunities for Better User Group Software) (Poster + flash presentation)
Automation at the SLS 2.0 Macromolecular Crystallography (MX) Beamlines ·
poster 2025 Summer
American Crystallographic Association Annual Meeting (Oral)
Navigating the Data Deluge at the SLS 2.0 Macromolecular Crystallography (MX) Beamlines
2024 Summer
15th International Conference on Synchrotron Radiation Instrumentation (SRI 2024) (Oral)
Jungfraujoch: A System for 2 kHz Framerate Data Acquisition with Large Format Detector and Data Processing at 4th-Generation Synchrotrons and X-ray Free Electron Laser Facilities
2022 Fall
242nd Electrochemical Society Meeting (Oral, virtual recording)
Suppressing the Dark Current through Interfacial Modification Using Metal–Organic Framework Thin Film Grown with Layer-By-Layer Method
2022 Fall
American Chemical Society Fall National Meeting (Oral)
Does the Mode of Metal–Organic Framework/Electrode Adhesion Determine Rates for Redox-Hopping Based Charge Transport within Thin-Film Metal–Organic Frameworks?
2022 Spring
Great Lakes Chinese American Chemical Society Annual Meeting (Oral)Outstanding Student Research Award
Does the Mode of Metal–Organic Framework/Electrode Adhesion Determine Rates for Redox-Hopping Based Charge Transport within Thin-Film Metal–Organic Frameworks?
2022 Spring
Gender Equity in Academic Research Symposium (Oral)
Electrical Conductivity and Electrocatalytic Activity of Metal–Organic Frameworks
2021 Winter
239th Electrochemical Society Meeting with the 18th International Meeting on Chemical Sensors (Poster, virtual recording)
The Balance between Conductivity and Electro-/Photo-Catalytic Performance of Guest-Incorporated Metal–Organic Frameworks ·
poster 2019 Fall
Nanoporous Materials Genome Center (NMGC) All-Hands Meeting (Poster)
Engendering and Engineering Electrical Conductivity in Metal–Organic Frameworks
2018 Spring
American Chemical Society 255th National Meeting (Poster)
Nanocasting—Introducing Secondary Supports into Metal–Organic Frameworks to Increase Their Stability
Professional Development
2025 Summer
PDB Deposition
2023 Fall
Advanced C++ (CSCS)
2022 Fall
Field-programmable Gate Array Training (NU-LED)
2022 Spring
NSF-sponsored Workshop to envision a National Facility for Automated Chemical Synthesis and Democratized Molecular Innovation
2022 Winter
M3S (Midwest Microscopy and Microanalysis Spring Meeting)
2022 Winter
2nd Annual Women in Microscopy Conference
2022 Winter
The US National Committee for Crystallography Workshop Series
2022 Summer
LabView Training (NU-LED) – equivalent to CLAD certification
2022 Summer
Kellogg certification – Management for Scientists and Engineers
2021 Fall
Laboratory Automation and Accelerated Synthesis: Empowering Tomorrow's Chemist
2021 Fall
4th US School on Total Scattering Analysis (PDFGui, RMCProfile, DISCUS)
2021 Summer
23rd National School on Neutron and X-Ray Scattering (NXS2021)
2021 Spring
Telluride School on Fundamentals for Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage
2020 Fall
Rigaku School for Advanced Topics in Practical Crystallography (passed with honors)
2019 Fall
236th Electrochemical Society Meeting – Short Course on Advanced Impedance Spectroscopy