Juli 22nd, 2024
With his highly acclaimed research into sustainable battery storage, Professor Maximilian Fichtner, Director of the HIU, has achieved several groundbreaking breakthroughs – and he has contributed a lot to the expansion and visibility of the strategic research field of energy conversion and storage at the University of Ulm. The chemist also succeeds in making these topics and activities visible to the public and communicating them in an understandable way. For his work, Fichtner received the Ulm City Science Prize from Mayor Martin Ansbacher on “Schwörmontag”.
He has dedicated himself entirely to researching new and more powerful batteries and has set international standards in the process: For this, Professor Maximilian Fichtner has now received the City of Ulm’s Science Prize, worth 7,500 euros. It was presented by Mayor Martin Ansbacher on Monday, July 22, as part of the swearing-in ceremony at the Weinhof. “Professor Fichtner has achieved several groundbreaking breakthroughs and advances with his research into electrochemical energy storage (batteries),” Ansbacher quoted from the certificate text.
Fichtner is a professor of solid-state chemistry at the University of Ulm. He is also the director of the Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU) for Electrochemical Energy Storage at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the University of Ulm. His breakthroughs in this field include a new class of high-performance storage materials for lithium-ion batteries based on disordered sodium chloride structures. Above all, however, he has also established new research fields in the area of lithium-free storage and, together with his team, has achieved important breakthroughs in the development of modern, high-performance batteries based on sustainable raw materials, for example developing the first rechargeable magnesium-sulfur battery. “Working on new energy storage systems based on compatible raw materials is a particular motivation for my team and for me. In addition, it is important, especially in today’s times, to take people along and keep them informed and up to date,” says Fichtner. “This also applies in particular to electromobility, which is surrounded by a particularly large number of myths.” The chemist has also made a name for himself in the field of science communication: as an expert who is in demand throughout the German-speaking world, who skilfully classifies the latest news about alleged miracle batteries from China and explains complex topics of energy storage in a way that even laypeople can understand.
Maximilian Fichtner also has the gift of communicating science vividly
In addition to his internationally acclaimed research activities, Fichtner has contributed a great deal to the expansion and visibility of energy conversion and storage, one of the strategic research fields of the University of Ulm. This includes in particular the establishment and expansion of activities at the Helmholtz Institute Ulm, the CELEST research platform and the POLiS Cluster of Excellence. The HIU has developed into the leading battery research institute in Germany and is one of the top addresses worldwide in the field of electrochemical energy storage. As its director, Fichtner recognized early on the advantages and opportunities that arise from close cooperation and further expanded this cooperation between KIT and the University of Ulm. “We are fortunate to have one of the largest ecosystems in international battery research here at the site – and one of the most respected scientists in this field,” says University President Professor Michael Weber. “Maximilian Fichtner also has the gift of communicating science clearly. We are very pleased that he is receiving the 2024 Science Prize.”
The science prize for Ulm University of Applied Sciences, also endowed with 7,500 euros, went to Professor Marianne von Schwerin. Her current research focuses on the use and further development of artificial intelligence methods in embedded systems, such as photovoltaic systems. She has initiated numerous cooperation projects with regional universities and developed new formats for the transfer of ideas, knowledge and technology.
Further information about Prof. Dr. Maximilian Fichtner
The chemist Maximilian Fichtner, born in Heidelberg in 1961, came to the University of Ulm in 2013 as a professor of solid-state chemistry. Since 2015 he has been director of the Helmholtz Institute Ulm for Electrochemical Energy Storage. He also heads the Energy Storage Systems Department at the Institute of Nanotechnology at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Fichtner is the spokesperson for Germany’s only battery excellence cluster, POLiS (Post Lithium Energy Storage), and scientific director of the Center for Electrochemical Energy Storage Ulm-Karlsruhe (CELEST). He studied and received his doctorate at KIT.
About the Science Prize of the City of Ulm
Every two years, the city of Ulm awards the Science Prize, worth a total of 15,000 euros, for outstanding scientific achievements by individuals, research groups or working groups. Traditionally, half of the prize goes to researchers at the University of Ulm and half to Ulm Technical University. The Science Prize is awarded by the Ulm City Council following a preliminary decision by a jury in which the University, Ulm Technical University and members of the City Council are represented.
Photo: Christine Liebhardt / Uni Ulm
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