Pei-Yuan Qian is currently David von Hansemann Professor of Science and a Chair Professor in Division of Life Science and in Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He is one of the world leaders in larval biology and biofouling/antifouling research; serves as editor or the editorial board member of many national and international journals; holds adjunct professorship in many top Chinese marine institutions; served as the founding President of the Pacific Institutes of Marine Sciences and the founding director of Marine laboratory of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the founding director of Environmental Science Programs.

He was trained as marine biology and marine ecology, received his BSc degree from Ocean University of China, MSc degree from Xiamen University and PhD degree from University of Alberta. We was the Killam Postdoctoral Fellow at University of British Column when he was appointed as assistant professor in 1993 by Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Since he joined his current university, he has been working on larval biology of marine invertebrates with specific emphasis on molecular mechanisms and chemicals for larval attachment and metamorphosis. He published over 400 SCI papers and delivered over 60 plenary/keynote talks and over 280 oral presentations in international conferences. His group has also discovered many non-toxic antifouling compounds and holds many USA and China Patents. He planned and chaired the first Gordon Research Conference on Marine Molecular Ecology in 2013. He received the prestigious Natural Science Award of China in 2016.