About Helm­holtz Insti­tute Ulm

About HIU

The Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU) is engaged in the research and development of future electrochemical battery concepts and materials. Efficient batteries are the most important key to the success of the energy transition and electromobility. The international team of around 130 scientists (2020) researches a further development of the fundamentals of sustainable energy storage systems for stationary and mobile use at the HIU.

The HIU was founded in January 2011 by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT ). As a member of the Helmholtz Association, it launched the new facility in cooperation with Ulm University and the two associated partners German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) .

The HIU efficiently combines the different competencies of the four partners and enables profound progress in research on energy storage in the medium to long term. Today, HIU brings together basic and application-oriented research aiming at new material innovations in major and minor sectors of the battery industry.

Numbers and Facts

Name Helmholtz Institute Ulm Electrochemical Energy Storage (HIU)
Founded 2011
Address Helmholtzstraße 11, 89081 Ulm
Executive Director Prof. Dr. Maximilian Fichtner
Board of Directors Prof. Dr. Maximilian Fichtner (Executive Director), Prof. Dr. Andrea Robitzki,, Prof. Dr. Joachim Ankerhold, Prof. Dr. Arnulf Latz, Dr. Margret Wohlfahrt-Mehrens
Managing Director Dr. Heribert Wilhelm
Background Image
18 Principal Investigators (PIs)
46 Scien­tific Staff
84 PhD Students
19 Administration
2 Professorships
18 Employees at Karlsruhe
176 Employees at Ulm

Goals & Strategies

Energy from renewable sources - such as wind and sun - has to be temporarily stored as it is not available at all times. At the same time, electric cars need a storage device in order to have the electrical energy necessary for locomotion available. Efficient solutions for this are offered by batteries that can temporarily store and release electricity and that show hardly any energy losses.

The HIU takes up the fundamental issues of electrochemical storage and, based on this, develops fundamentally new materials and cell concepts. The aim of the HIU is to develop future-proof electrochemical energy storage systems of the next generation and the next but one, i.e. storage systems that store more energy and are more powerful, lighter, more durable, safer and cheaper than conventional systems. Batteries of this type are an answer to the pressing question of better storage for portable electrical devices and for electric vehicles. They also help to solve the problem of the fluctuating availability of renewable energy sources.

In order to achieve the stated goals, the HIU concentrates the specialist knowledge of four leading research organizations under one roof. With the expertise of its partners, it covers almost all fields of battery research like no other institute in Germany. The HIU combines excellent basic research with the application level.

In addition, HIU is expanding teaching and promoting young talent in order to train highly qualified young scientists in this strategically important field for research and industry.