Tang Chao (; born 1958) is a Chair Professor of

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

and

Systems Biology Systems biology is the computational modeling, computational and mathematical analysis and modeling of complex biological systems. It is a biology-based interdisciplinary field of study that focuses on complex interactions within biological syst ...

Peking University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...

Education

He had his undergraduate training at the

University of Science and Technology of China A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

, then went to the United States through the

CUSPEA CUSPEA (China-U.S. Physics Examination and Application,李政道奖学金) was an examination and admission system used by the physics departments of some American and Canadian universities for graduate school admission from People's Republic of Chi ...

program organized by Professor

T. D. Lee Tsung-Dao Lee (; born November 24, 1926) is a Chinese-American physicist, known for his work on parity violation, the Lee–Yang theorem, particle physics, relativistic heavy ion (RHIC) physics, nontopological solitons, and soliton stars ...

. He received a Ph.D. degree in Physics from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

Career

In his early career, he worked on problems in statistical physics,

dynamical system In mathematics, a dynamical system is a system in which a Function (mathematics), function describes the time dependence of a Point (geometry), point in an ambient space. Examples include the mathematical models that describe the swinging of a ...

and

complex systems A complex system is a system composed of many components which may interact with each other. Examples of complex systems are Earth's global climate, organisms, the human brain, infrastructure such as power grid, transportation or communication s ...

. In 1987, along with

Per Bak Per Bak (8 December 1948 – 16 October 2002) was a Danish theoretical physicist who coauthored the 1987 academic paper that coined the term "self-organized criticality." Life and work After receiving his Ph.D. from the Technical University of ...

and

Kurt Wiesenfeld Kurt Wiesenfeld is an American physicist working primarily on non-linear dynamics. His works primarily concern stochastic resonance, spontaneous synchronization of coupled oscillators, and non-linear laser dynamics. Since 1987, he has been profes ...

, he proposed the concept and developed the theory for self-organized criticality, which had and continues to have broad applications in complex systems with scale invariance. The model they used to illustrate the idea is referred to as the Bak-Tang-Wiesenfeld "sandpile" model. His current research interest is at the interface between physics and biology. Specifically, he focuses on

systems biology Systems biology is the computational modeling, computational and mathematical analysis and modeling of complex biological systems. It is a biology-based interdisciplinary field of study that focuses on complex interactions within biological syst ...

and works on problems such as

protein folding Protein folding is the physical process by which a protein chain is translated to its native three-dimensional structure, typically a "folded" conformation by which the protein becomes biologically functional. Via an expeditious and reproduci ...

cell cycle The cell cycle, or cell-division cycle, is the series of events that take place in a cell that cause it to divide into two daughter cells. These events include the duplication of its DNA (DNA replication) and some of its organelles, and subs ...

regulation, function-topology relationship in biological network, cell fate determination and design principles in biological systems. He was a tenured Full Professor at the University of California San Francisco before returning to China in 2011. He is a Fellow of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the founding director of the interdisciplinary Center for Quantitative Biology at

and the founding Co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal Quantitative Biology.

Selected publications

*Self-organized criticality *Protein folding *

Robustness Robustness is the property of being strong and healthy in constitution. When it is transposed into a system, it refers to the ability of tolerating perturbations that might affect the system’s functional body. In the same line ''robustness'' ca ...

control *Network topology, function and dynamics *Cell fate determination

References

External links

Professor Tang's lab

Center for Quantitative Biology

Journal of Quantitative Biology
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tang, Chao 1958 births Living people People from Nanchang Scientists from Jiangxi University of California, San Francisco faculty Peking University faculty University of Science and Technology of China alumni University of Chicago alumni Physicists from Jiangxi Educators from Jiangxi