Tao Zhang was the director of DICP in the period of 2007-2017. And he was officially selected as Academician by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2013. In 2017, he is promoted as a vice president of Chinese academy of sciences.

Over the past decades, Prof. Zhang has successfully designed a great number of nano and subnano metallic catalysts for applications in energy conversion (such as biomass catalytic conversion and propellant decomposition) and environmental control (such as NOx-SCR and CO removal). 

Prof. Zhang has also received several research awards, including Science China Materials Innovation Award (2018), The Science and Technology Progress Award of HLHLFoundation (2016), Distinguished Award of Chinese Academy of Sciences (2010), Zhou Guang Zhao Foundation Award for Applied Science (2009), Excellent Young Scientist Award of Chinese Catalysis Society (2008), and National Award of Technology Invention (Second Grade, 2008, 2006, 2005).