In November 2024, TWAS announced the list of a new batch of Young Affiliates. Prof. Chenglai Wu from ICCES, the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, was selected as a Young Affiliate of TWAS from East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific region. His term will be from 2024 to 2029.

Since 2007, TWAS has been selecting Young Affiliates. Each year, no more than five Young Affiliates are selected from each of the five global regions. These individuals are considered as outstanding representatives of young scientific scholars in developing countries and are encouraged and supported to continuously strengthen scientific research and cooperation. This is to promote the development and progress of science and technology in developing countries.

Prof. Chenglai Wu has been engaged in the development and application of Earth system models. He cuhhently serves as the joint leader of a subsystem of the national major scientific and technological infrastructure "Earth System Numerical Simulator Facility" (known as EarthLab) and as the project leader of  the National Key Research and Development Program. In recent years, he has made significant progress in the development and coupling of dust emission models, regional and global dust cycles, aerosol-climate interactions, and climate prediction and projection. He has published more than 50 peer-reviewed papers, including one first-authored paper in "Nature Communications." He has received the 10th Tsinghua University - Inspur Group Young Talent Award in Computing Geosciences, the 2023 Institute of Atmospheric Physics Scientific and Technological Innovation Award, and the 2020 Editor’s Citation for Excellence in Referencing of the American Geophysical Union. His work also contributed to one of the Ten Major Achievements in Meteorology Science and Technology in China in 2023.

Relying on the network of ICCES, Prof. Chenglai Wu has established close cooperative relationships with scientific researchers from Mongolia, Iran, Thailand, Brazil, India, Egypt, Nigeria, and other countries. He serves as a key participant in National Key Research and Development program for inter-government cooperation, National Natural Science Foundation international cooperation projects, and CAS international cooperation projects. He has given various invited lectures at international training courses and seminars organized by developing countries. He has also assisted in training four international students from developing countries and two postdoctoral researchers. His work has promoted the cultivation of talent and capacity building for coping with climate and environment change as well as mitigating disaster risks in developing countries.

Prof. Chenglai Wu's selection as a Young Affiliate of TWAS will further promote in-depth cooperation between ICCES and research institutions in developing countries, enhancing their scientific and technological capabilities to address global climate and environmental change challenges.