September 22nd 2026
Laurence Hardwick, new Professor (W3) for Electrochemistry at KIT, with research undertaken at HIU
We are delighted to welcome Laurence Hardwick as Professor (W3) for Electrochemistry at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), with research undertaken at the Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU), where he will be working on integrating automation platforms into electrochemical methods for accelerating cell optimisation through interface design and characterisation, particularly focusing on beyond-lithium battery technologies.
At the Helmholtz Institute Ulm, we are especially eager to learn about his research plans for his new position, which he took up only a few weeks ago: “My vision is to utilise automation methods to unpick the complex chemical nature of electrode surface films, which play such an important role in battery lifetime and safety,” he states.
Laurence Hardwick is coming to Ulm from Liverpool, where he led the Stephenson Institute for Renewable Energy as Director and worked as Professor of Electrochemistry at the University of Liverpool (UoL). Together with the researchers in his group, he was responsible for developing cutting-edge technologies such as advanced operando Raman and infrared spectroscopic techniques that can probe the functionality of electrode interfaces at the nanoscale. By understanding real-time interface processes in batteries, electrolysers and electrochemical capacitors, his work led to crucial steps in improving energy storage solutions to meet net zero targets, as documented in more than 120 publications (including Science, Nature group, J. Amer. Chem. Soc., and Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.).
We are looking forward to working with Prof. Hardwick and asked him why he decided that the Helmholtz Institute Ulm was the right place for him. “I am very excited, because the Helmholtz Institute Ulm is well renowned for its world-leading battery research,” he states. What drove him to the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) was its exceptional expertise in materials and automation.
Having supervised over 20 PhD students and being intensely involved in international training networks, such as a dual PhD partnership scheme between UoL and National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), Taiwan, Hardwick is an exceptionally experienced scientist in his field.
In addition to his cutting-edge research and teaching experience, Laurence Hardwick was an editor of the International Society of Electrochemistry journal Electrochimica Acta (Elsevier) (2016–2024) and served as Conference Chair of the 2023 Royal Society of Chemistry Faraday Discussion conference on Non-Aqueous Metal-Air Batteries. Since September 1st, 2026, we are happy to have Laurence Hardwick as Professor of Electrochemistry (W3) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), with research undertaken at the Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU). He will be situated at the CELEST Green Energy Lab Ulm.