Cai Peng is a prestigious awardee of both the National Outstanding Youth Fund and the Excellent Youth Fund. His research field is soil biofilm and environmental health. He has been the principal investigator for over 20 scientific research projects, spanning from the National Natural Science Foundation of China to the prestigious Royal Society Newton Senior Scholar Fund and the Key Research and Development Program. He has published over 100 academic papers in leading journals such as Nature Communications, The ISME Journal, Environmental Science & Technology, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Soil Biology and Biochemistry.