Professor Zhou Jiaxian

Jiaxian Zhou is full Professor of educational neuroscience at the Department of Educational Psychology and visiting professor of the School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University. She founded the Center for Educational Neuroscience in 2010 at East China Normal University, a leading comprehensive research university in China with emphasis on teachers’ education. In 2020, she was elected to Deputy Director of Learning Science Committee of Shanghai Education Society. In 2022, she served as Vice President of the Learning Sciences Division of China Association of Higher Education.

She finished her PhD in education in 2004 at East China Normal University. After that, she completed two postdoctoral fellowships at State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University and Harvard Graduate School of Education. Professor Zhou pioneered educational neuroscience in China and is among the first scholars globally to advance the field since 2001. Using fMRI, fNIRS, and ERPs, she researches teaching methods and applies findings of educational neuroscience to policy and practice.

Internationally, she has worked as a senior research consultant for IBRO-UNESCO in Geneva in 2017 and promoted the development of educational neuroscience as a board member of directors of International Mind, Brain and Education Society since 2011.She is an expert of UNESCO Global Competition on Design for Future Education from 2024. She participated to write the book published by UNESCO-Mahatma Gandhi Institute, and contributed to the Declarations of “Blurring Boundaries: An International Educational Development Conference” organized by United Nations Academic Impact. She has chaired sessions and delivered over 20 English presentations at Harvard and major international conferences, engaging in professional dialogues with scholars worldwide.

Domestically, she established educational neuroscience programs at Beijing Normal University (2008) and ECNU (2010). Her research influenced China’s National Medium and Long-term Development Plan for Educational Neuroscience (2021-2035) and the 14th Five-Year Plan, making academic contributions to the establishment of educational neuroscience funding project by the Science Foundation F0701 in China.

She has led more than 40 research projects and published over 130 papers. She authored, translated, and edited more than 40 books and six book series. Her accolades include China’s National Teaching Achievement Award, the Mingyuan Education Award, and the 2022 Shanghai Basic Education Teaching Achievement First Prize. Nine of her books were listed among the “100 Books that Influence Teachers” and in 2024, she was recognized as a Top 1% Highly Cited Scholar by CNKI.