Study objectives and syllabus
- The programme aims to bring together students, teachers and researchers from different disciplines in natural sciences and engineering science.
- It introduces students to scientific principles of energy conversion and storage and their technological transfer to machines, power plants, batteries and fuel cells.
- Solid background in either chemistry, materials science or electrical engineering is required, fundamental knowledge in the other disciplines is helpful.
- Introductory courses in general chemistry or electrical engineering are offered for students with little background.
- Advanced training in electrical engineering, materials science, physical and materials chemistry, electrochemistry and energy science and technology follows.
- Special emphasis is on practical training in lab courses. The programme comprises a chemistry lab and two labs dealing with energy science and technology.
- During the second year the programme focusses on fuel cells and batteries.
Conventional lithium-ion batteries as they are currently used in smartphones and laptops have more or less reached their maximum storage capacity. This is why specialists in basic research and practical application in the Science City of Ulm are searching for the batteries of the future. CELEST, Germany's largest platform for electrochemical energy research, is a joint venture of Ulm University, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research (Zentrum für Sonnenenergie- und Wasserstoff-Forschung; short: ZSW). With its sections 'lithium ion technology', 'energy storage beyond lithium' and 'alternative technologies for electrochemical energy storage', CELEST covers all current research topics of electrochemical energy storage. The platform has already celebrated its first outstanding success: As part of the Excellence Strategy of the federal and state governments, the researchers have received approval for their Cluster of Excellence 'Post Lithium Storage' (POLiS), which is being funded with around seven million euros annually for an initial seven years. Main focus of POLiS is the development of battery systems that eliminate the need for the finite materials lithium and cobalt.
Alongside of the ongoing research, the graduate school of electrochemical energy storage (GS-EES) will support up to 60 PhD students doing their research within the POLiS.
For further information: Cluster of Excellence - Post Lithium Storage
