News & Events

The ELectroLytes and Interfaces in PoSt-Li BatteriEs (ELLIPSE Conference) will take place from September 15 to 16, 2025 in Ulm, Germany. As a Satellite Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE), we bring together the world's top speakers in the field of electrolytes and interfaces in post-lithium batteries. The conference will feature contributions on post-Li battery chemistries, electrolytes, interfaces, interphases, advanced characterization, modeling, charge transfer and more.

The 5^th International Symposium on Magnesium Batteries (MagBatt V) will take place from September 18 to 20, 2024 in Ulm, Germany. As always we will welcome some of the world's top battery speakers. The conference will feature contributions on magnesium, calcium, zinc and aluminum batteries. The aim of the conference is to present and discuss the recent state-of-the-art and the progress in the post-lithium field.

15^th Short Course on Coating and Drying of Thin Films and 8^th Thin Film Technology Forum will take place from June 3^rd to June 7^th 2024

The short course Coating and Drying of Thin Films addresses engineers, scientists and technicians working in the areas of coatings, functional films, direct printing, inkjet printing, sensors, adhesives, paints, automotive coatings, patches, optical foils, tapes, diagnostics, membranes, printed electronics, fuel cells and battery coatings, who intend to get insight into more
fundamental aspects with industrial applications or to deepen their expertise. Leading national and international scientists
and experts from academia and industry will report on topics of coating technologies, rheology, preparation of coating fluids
and about fundamentals and industrial aspects of drying technology. Coating and printing processes and drying technology
are explained interactively by easily accessible examples and in a practical workshop in the TFT Coating and Printing Lab instructed by TFT staff members. The 8th Thin Film Technology Forum will take place on the last
two days virtual, where renowned scientists will present and discuss new trends in industry and academia with a focus on advances in processing of functional films, electrodes for battery, fuel cell and electrolyzer applications.
The Short Course and the TFT Forum provide a platform for scientific and technical exchange with advanced learning.

25 - 27 September 2023

Where: KIT Campus South 

Scientific organizers: Fabian Jeschull, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Patrick Théato, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Dominik Voll, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Christian Schmitt, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Daniel Brandell, Uppsala University

Polymer electrolytes have a long history in battery research and both material development and our fundamental understanding of ion transport mechanisms in polymers has evolved with it. Today, we are standing at the crossroads overseeing many possible winding paths down battery lane with a multitude of battery technologies to choose from. Diversification in many different cell chemistries opens new avenues to explore and encourages to revisit some concepts and findings of past days.

The pandemic has made it difficult for our community to meet and exchange, which has become clear during the International Symposium of Polymer Electrolytes (ISPE17) in Canada October 2022. While we remain dedicated to other international communities, not least the ISPE, we, the Organizers, feel that a more limited meeting in terms of scope and geographical target group would be highly appreciated. It is our ambition to assemble primarily the European academic research community in this area, including a large number of PhD students other newcomers, together with relevant researchers from industry this year at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany for the first European Symposium on Polymer Electrolytes for Battery Applications (ESPE23) hosted from September 25^th to 27^th 2023.

We would like to give newcomers to the field the opportunity to meet leading experts, present their latest results, network and find new colleagues and friends to advance the development of polymer electrolytes together. Furthermore, we would like to encourage PhD students of our Center of electrochemical energy storage (CELEST) as well as our research cluster for post-Li storage (POLiS) to join this meeting in the framework of a workshop module of the Graduate school of electrochemical energy storage (GS-EES) to get in touch with the latest trends and advances in this exciting area.

We hope to see many of you this September in Karlsruhe!

The Organizers

Fabian Jeschull, Patrick Théato, Dominik Voll, Daniel Brandell

Further information here.

11 September 2023; 9am to 12pm

Where: online

We invite scientists at all career levels to develop personally and offer the unique opportunity to select coaching offers that fit as closely as possible in speed dating sessions. Especially, when it comes to your own career and personal development, a competent view from the outside is helpful!

In order to find a suitable coaching connection, the participants can get to know the individual coaches and their main topics. The topics range from profitable conflict management (in all directions), especially in international research groups, leadership skills, career planning and personality development to highlight own skills and  strengths, as well as questions regarding profitable support and successful networking in science.

After the event, participating scientists will have the opportunity to book group coaching sessions or individual coaching sessions.

Target group: Scientists of the POLiS Cluster of Excellence at all career levels.

Please register below by September 8, 2023.

23 Oct - 27 Oct 2022

Where: Physikzentrum Bad Honnef

Scientific organizers: Prof. Dr. Jürgen Janek, U Gießen, Germany • Prof. Dr. Christof Schulz, U Duisburg‐Essen, Germany

“Energy” and “Materials” have an overarching importance for the future development of our society. They are coupled in multiple ways ranging from fundamental science to real-world applications. Analyzing their intricate relationship as energy–materials nexus, however, is a new approach. On the fundamental physics side, the control of quantum processes in real time under non-equilibrium conditions will have practical implications for bringing the understanding and discovery of materials and the development of process design concepts to the next level. In the field of materials science, novel functional materials for energy conversion and storage and their processing towards usable devices (batteries, water splitting, fuel cells, catalysis) aims at efficient pathways for energy conversion and storage. This field benefits from a combination of fundamental understanding as well as combinatorial materials discovery and informatics to find new materials that combine application-related efficacy with availability on the level of raw materials.
Sustainability aspects require considering the entire chain of synthesis, processing, and application and thus finding optimum solutions through techno-economical multi-criteria analysis. In this context, novel energy- and resource-efficient materials processes are highly relevant for industry such as steel manufacturing, smelting, chemical industries as well as for the targeted production of high-performance materials by reduction of the number of processing steps, e.g., through additive manufacturing, and recycling. Novel high-performance materials, finally, play an enabling role for the engineering of energy-efficient technologies, such as through lightweight high-strength materials for mobility and civil engineering, high-temperature materials for turbine blades, and corrosion-resistant materials for operation under extreme conditions.

This WE-Heraeus Seminar aims at connecting “Energy” and “Materials” in a new way and steering thinking and research in new directions.

The conference language will be English. The Wilhelm and Else Heraeus-Foundation bears the cost of full-board accommodation for all participants.

Workshop October 23-26, 2022

Castle Reisensburg near Ulm

Organizers: Axel Groß (Ulm University), Arnulf Latz (Helmholtz Institute Ulm)

Due to the importance of electrochemical energy storage for our future sustainable supply of energy, there are increased research and development activities worldwide with respect to secondary, i.e. rechargeable batteries. Computational modeling of structures and processes in batteries is becoming inceasingly more important, first, in order to obtain a deeper understanding of the fundamental principles underlying the operation of batteries, and second, as a contribution to the development of batteries with improved properties. From a theoretical and computational point of view, the modeling of batteries is rather challenging due to the complexity of the structures and processes present in the anode, electrolyte, and cathode of batteries and at their interfaces. Typically, properties at different length and time scales contribute to the performance of batteries necessitating a multi-scale approach.

Still, the scientific communities performing atomistic and continuum studies of batteries are rather disjunct. Therefore, this workshop shall bring together experts from both communities, scientists who run first-principles electronic structure calculations addressing atomistic properties of batteries with colleagues who perform continuum studies of batteries at mesoscopic and macroscopic time and length scales. The first goal of this workshop is to contribute to a better understanding of the concepts and the approaches in both field. Based on this understanding, ideally this workshop shall be operative in initiating colloborations from both fields.

The workshop is supported by the Cluster of Excellence POLiS,  the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the European Psi-k Network for electronic structure calculations of complex processes in materials.

September 6 to 8, 2022 in Ulm, Germany

The 4^th International Symposium on Magnesium Batteries (MagBatt IV) will take place from September 6 to 8, 2022 in Ulm, Germany. As always we will welcome some of the world's top battery speakers. This time we extend the program with calcium, zinc and aluminum batteries. The aim of the conference is to present and discuss the recent state-of-the-art and the progress in the post-lithium field. 

13^th Short Course on Coating and Drying of Thin Films and 6^th Thin Film Technology Forum will take place from May 9^th to May 13^th 2022 as a virtual event

The short course Coating and Drying of Thin Films addresses engineers, scientists and technicians working in the areas of coatings, functional films, direct printing, inkjet printing, sensors, adhesives, paints, automotive coatings, patches, optical foils, tapes, diagnostics, membranes, printed electronics, fuel cells and battery coatings, who intend to get insight into more
fundamental aspects with industrial applications or to deepen their expertise. Leading national and international scientists
and experts from academia and industry will report on topics of coating technologies, rheology, preparation of coating fluids
and about fundamentals and industrial aspects of drying technology. Coating and printing processes and drying technology
are explained interactively by easily accessible examples and in a practical workshop in the TFT Coating and Printing Lab instructed (virtually) by TFT staff members (see photos below). The 6th Thin Film Technology Forum will take place on the last
two days, where renowned scientists will present and discuss new trends in industry and academia with a focus on advances in processing of functional films, electrodes for battery, fuel cell and electrolyzer applications.
The Short Course and the TFT Forum provide a platform for scientific and technical exchange with advanced learning.

Hybrid Lectures

Date: Sept. 20, '21 to Sept. 24, '21

Lectures by our members:

Jürgen Janek

6 lectures on: Overview on experimental approaches assessing cell behavior on different levels (atomistic, component, cell level). Electrochemical techniques, diffraction, spectroscopy, microscopy (in situ/operando). Transport of ions/electrons in active materials and electrolytes, interface kinetics, thermal and mechanical properties. Evaluation of energy, power density, capacity fading, aging, etc.

Arnulf Latz

6 lectures on: Non equilibrium thermodynamics and statistical physics for ionic materials in electric fields. Free energy based derivation of transport theories and complex double layer formation in highly concentrated electrolytes. Models for electrochemical reactions. Microstructure resolved models of batteries. Upscaling from microstructure to extended porous electrode theory.

March 14-16, 2022, Schloss Hohenkammer, GERMANY

ModVal18 is the 18th event of an international symposium on Modeling and Experimental Validation on fuel cells and batteries. Initiated in 2004, the symposium aims to connect researchers in academia and industry as well as theorists and experimentalists. Taking place every year in March, the venue alternates between Germany and Switzerland and is always hosted by an academic institution. This time it is organized by the DLR-Institute of Engineering Thermodynamics situated in Stuttgart.

GOAL & FOCUS

Focus of the symposium is to present and discuss the latest research, the advances made in modeling, as well as in experimental work for model validation for fuel cells, batteries and electrolysis.

Over 100 attendees will be expected and will have the opportunity to extend their networking promoting new research collaborations.

Technology - Update and Networking

Online Workshop

April 4^th, 2022 at 9 am

Deadline Registration: March 13^th

The Cluster of Excellence POLiS offers its researchers a platform to transfer their developments into the industry. At the same time, POLiS benefits from the expertise of their industry partners to perform application-oriented research. The workshop „Emerging Technologies - From Research to Manufacturing“ features presentations from lead industry in the field of batteries fabrication and matching presentations from POLiS research on the latest results. The event offers mutual and intimate exchange of hot topics and fresh ideas in the field of next generation batteries, with plenty of space for meetings and open discussions.

12^th Short Course on Coating and Drying of Thin Films and 5^th Thin Film Technology Forum will take place from June 21^th to June 25^th 2021 in Karlsruhe

The Short Course Coating and Drying of Thin Films addresses engineers, scientists and technicians working in the areas of coatings, functional films, direct printing, sensors, adhesives & tapes, battery coating, paints & automotive coatings, medical patches & diagnostics, optical foils, membrane processing, printed electronics, fuel cells and smart coatings, who intend to get insight into more fundamental aspects with industrial applications or to deepen their expertise. Leading national and international scientists and experts from academia and industry will report on topics of coating technologies, rheology, preparation of coating fluids and about fundamentals and industrial aspects of drying technology.
Within the scope of the short course, coating processes and drying technology are explained interactively by easily accessible examples, both in lectures as well as in a practical Workshop instructed by TFT staff members.

5^th Thin Film Technology Forum, renowned scientists will present and discuss recent research results and new trends in industry and academia with a focus on Advances in Printing, Batteries, Smart Processes & Coatings

Exhibition Akku Alle?!

4 June - 14 July 2021

Münsterplatzes 25

The exhibition "Akku Alle?! - Electromobility and Energy Storage" shows the complete spectrum of battery research in Ulm. In addition to a "blackout" simulation for Ulm in 2028, which simulates a six-day power outage in the Danube-Illertal, the exhibition will feature outstanding exhibits from all the scientific institutes involved. This includes DLR's hydrogen aircraft Hy4.

Virtual Workshop

Date: 27th - 28th of July 2021

The aim of this international virtual workshop is to highlight the role of women in state-of-the-art Post-Li energy storage research. The workshop will cover various topics from fundamental material and electrolyte research to advanced characterization and applications. Although significant progress in „bridging the gap” can be observed in recent years, female students and researchers in STEM subjects are still underrepresented. This workshop will bring together leading female scientists in Post-Li energy storage.

Dr.-Ing. Jürgen Kölch, EVA Fahrzeugtechnik

25.02.2021, 15:30 - 17:00

Virtual Event

CV Dr.-Ing.Kölch:

Dr.-Ing. Jürgen Kölch did his doctorate at the Technical University of Munich on exhaust gas scrubbing of diesel engines powered by plant oil. As a post doctorate he studied the durability of PEM fuel cells at the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research (ZSW) in Ulm. He has worked at EVA Fahrzeugtechnik GmbH for more than 16 years in various fields such as powertrain pre-development of alternative fuels, hydrogen/electric mobility infrastructure issues, upstream chain considerations, charging issues and the second life of used electric vehicle batteries.

Along with his work at EVA Fahrzeugtechnik GmbH, Dr. Kölch is also an associate lecturer at the Ingolstadt Technical University for the subjects “Electric mobility and alternative drive concepts in the automotive industry” and “Political and social trends in the field of mobility.”

3^rd International Symposium on Magnesium Batteries

8 and 9 September 2020

Web Conference

The 3rd International Symposium on Magnesium Batteries will take place on September 8 and 9, 2020 as a web conference. It is the aim of the symposium to present and discuss the recent state-of-the art and the progress in the field. On the second day the largest European project on Mg batteries, the 'E-MAGIC' project (see also http://www.e-magic.eu/ ), will present its results.

Stanford Energy’s StorageX Initiative brings together Stanford faculty from materials science to computer science to economics to tackle the dominant challenges in energy storage. By addressing gaps between academic and industrial R&D, StorageX aims to accelerate the development and implementation of revolutionary energy storage technologies and concepts.

StorageX International Symposium

This week's StorageX International Symposium will feature Prof. Jürgen Janek of the Justus Liebig University in Giessen, and BELLA, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, speaking on "Solid State Batteries and their Challenges;"
and Prof. Linda Nazar, University of Waterloo, presenting "Design 'Rules' for Solid State Electrolytes in Solid State Batteries."

 
Friday, June 5, at 4 pm German time.
Registration is free and open to the public.

The Center for Electrochemical Energy Storage Ulm-Karlsruhe (CELEST) hosted a web-based scientific conference on May 25-26,  2020 to discuss perspectives for future batteries in Europe. The conference was a display of research performed in Europe in relation to the newly launched BATTERY 2030+ roadmap. Its purpose was to start the scientific discussions within the BATTERY 2030+ community as a foundation for our next phase as a large-scale research initiative.