Career
In 1996–1997, together with Derek Fray and Tom Farthing, he co-invented the FFC Cambridge process of electrochemical reduction of oxides to metals, where FFC abbreviates the last names of the inventors. Chen graduated from Jiujiang Teacher Training College in 1981 and obtained his Master of Science degree in physical chemistry from Fujian Normal University in 1984. After spending four years as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford, Leeds University and University of Cambridge he became Senior Research Associate (1998), Assistant Director of Research (2001) and Official Fellow (2003) of Darwin College, Cambridge.
In 2003 he assumed a position of reader at the University of Nottingham and in 2009 was promoted to Professor.
