The following is an interview with Dr. Guangyang Liu:

1. What is your latest research project and what is the current progress in this field?

In recent years, I have been engaged in the research of new porous organic frame nanomaterials and their applications in assessing the quality and safety of agro-food products. My recent research projects are the preparation and functional analysis of MOFs and COFs membranes, as well as their applications in the removal of trace pollutants and the separation and extraction of functional active ingredients from vegetable products. The nutrient density in vegetables, especially the dietary fiber, vitamins, and the bioactive substances of thiosinolates, can be enriched by functional nanomaterials under external forces to achieve the separation of target substances and test samples, so as to further develop food technologies related to functional active substances. At present, the research on porous nano-membrane materials mainly focuses on gas separation, while there are few relevant research papers on the separation of vegetable components. This is mainly related to the rich active substances present in vegetable products and their complex mechanisms of action, which limit the selective recognition and enrichment of target substances by membranes to a certain extent.

2. In your opinion, how can scientific experiments in the laboratory really solve the many food problems presently faced by society, such as food shortage, nuclear contamination, and other food safety problems?

Food safety is an eternal subject. At present, there are still many difficulties and challenges pertaining to food safety work, such as microbial and heavy metal pollution, pesticide and veterinary drug residues, food additives, food fraud, and other problems, and even marine nuclear pollution is causing unknown threats to food health. As food researchers, we always go from the laboratory to the market, and from scientific research results to productivity. We need to focus on the demand side, with practical application as the ultimate goal, and perform scientific research based on the actual needs. At the same time, we conduct research to assess the potential food safety risks, such as nuclear technology and radioactive waste. People feel uncertain about the harms caused by them, so we need to be more cautious in interpreting our findings. In addition, our team encourages interdisciplinary research in cutting-edge fields to overcome the limitations of the laboratory.

3.Would you please share your experience about winning the Outstanding Author Award?

First of all, I would like to thank MDPI for their support, and I am very honored to receive the 2023 Outstanding Author Award. Secondly, I would like to express my thanks to the journal office and internal editors of Foods for their help in the process of call for manuscripts for the Special Issue. I am particularly moved by their serious and responsible attitude and efficient work style. Finally, I wish for MDPI to have better results in 2024, with a steady stream of manuscripts and rising impact factors. I look forward to working with the internal editors and Editorial Board Members of Foods in the future to make Foods a top journal in the food field.

4. Do you have any advice or experience that you would like to share with young researchers who want to pursue research in this field?

The research of new porous organic frame nanomaterials is a deep interdisciplinary study of nanoscience, analytical chemistry, coordination chemistry, and food quality and safety. From research ideas, experimental scheme design, and data analysis to article writing, publication, technology application, and product development, researchers are required to have a multidisciplinary background. First of all, the extensive reading of the literature and studies conducted in different fields can broaden personal knowledge and cognitive level and increase innovation ability. Secondly, pursuing an interdisciplinary research field requires continuous research, and it is difficult to see results in a short period of time. Our team has been engaged in this research since 2016, and through 7–8 years of persistence, we have achieved success in this research direction. I suggest that after the young researchers choose their research direction, they should strengthen their scientific research faith, continue to make efforts, and keep investing. After a period of accumulation, they will certainly have a better scientific research output. Finally, they should learn win-win cooperation. A person's energy is limited, and thus, they should cooperate with their team, but also with researchers with different disciplinary backgrounds, and they should do not be afraid of peer competition, as healthy competition will promote the rapid development of the whole discipline.

5. How did you learn about Foods and why did you decide to act as an Editorial Board Member of the journal?

In 2018, I received an email from Foods inviting me to submit a manuscript, and believing that the scope of Foods is very relevant to my research field and the journal has a good international influence, I submitted a paper. This submission created a deeper contact with the internal editors and the journal office, and I deeply understood Foods as a whole.

In 2022, I received an offer from Foods to be the Guest Editor of a Special Issue, and I was honored and said yes without hesitation. With the high degree of cooperation from the internal editors of Foods, I successfully completed the work of the Special Issue. I think that Foods has a very strict review process and high international influence, and thus, I finally entered the Editorial Board. I hope to work with other brilliant Editorial Board Members to promote the high-quality development of Foods.

We wish Dr. Guangyang Liu every success in his current work, and we look forward to his future contributions to the journal.