Rate My Professor Hongjian Sun

Professor Hongjian Sun serves as Professor (Chair) in Smart Grid and Director of Research within the Department of Engineering at the University of Durham. He earned his BSc in 2005 and MSc in 2007 from Harbin Institute of Technology, China, where he received the Distinguished Graduate Award in 2007. Sun obtained his PhD degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Edinburgh, UK, in 2011, with a thesis on collaborative spectrum sensing in cognitive radio networks. He was awarded the China National Scholarship for Overseas Students, Wolfson Microelectronics Scholarship (2007-2010), and School of Engineering Scholarship during his doctoral studies. Post-PhD, he undertook postdoctoral research positions at King’s College London from 2010 to 2013 and at Princeton University. Joining Durham University in April 2013, he has progressed to his current roles, including Head of the Durham Smart Grid Laboratory, leading a team of over 30 postdocs and doctoral researchers. Additionally, he holds positions as a University Senator, Chartered Engineer, Fellow of the Durham Energy Institute, and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Sun’s academic interests center on smart grids and virtual power plants, 6G and beyond communications for sustainability, resilience of power systems against extreme weather events, and intelligent transportation systems. His scholarly output includes three books—Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence Technologies for Smart Energy Systems (2023), Demand Side Management in Microgrid Control Systems (2016), and Relaying Technologies for Smart Grid (2016)—and over 200 papers in refereed journals and conferences. As co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of IET Smart Grid alongside Professor Vincent Poor of Princeton University, he has shaped editorial standards in the field. Professor Sun has supervised the completion of more than 20 PhD and MScR projects and secured over £30 million in research funding, serving as Principal Investigator for more than £7 million, including the £2 million EPSRC VPP-WARD project on physics-informed AI for virtual power plants and the £1 million UKRI SAT-Guard project for sustainable energy communities. His impact is evidenced by awards such as World’s Top 2% Scientists from Stanford University (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025), EPSRC Commendation for the top 4% of Peer Review College members (2023), Durham University Celebrating Excellence Nomination (2018), and Exemplary Reviewer recognitions from IEEE Communications Letters (2011, 2012).