Silong Xu was born (1982) in the Hengnan county of Hunan province, China. He began undergraduate studies at the Hunan Normal University where he obtained his B.S. degree in chemistry in 2004. After working for two years as a middle school teacher, he joined the research group of Prof. Zhengjie He at Nankai University, Tianjin, China, where he obtained his MSc (2009) and PhD (2012) in Organic Chemistry. In July 2012, Silong moved to Xi’an Jiaotong University employed as a Lecturer. In December 2014, he was promoted to be an associated professor in the Department of Chemistry. During 2015.08-2016.08, he worked as a visiting scientist in the lab of Prof. Maimone at UC Berkeley, doing research in total synthesis of natural products. In January 2020, Silong was promoted as a full professor. He also acts as a vice director in the Department of Chemistry, and an assistant dean of the School of Science.