Inspire Female School Students for Battery Research

Battery researcher, electrochemist, technician: What exactly do these professions offer? How is their daily work organised? And what requirements must be fulfilled to qualify for these professions? Three scientists from MEET Battery Research Center and Helmholtz Institute Münster (HI MS) answered these and other questions for 15 participants at the digital Girls' Day on 22 April 2021.

Discovering New Career Opportunities

Dr Peter Bieker, manager of the focus group "Next Generation" at MEET, introduced the world of batteries: from nickel-cadmium to lithium-ion batteries up to sustainable batteries of the future. In particular, research on batteries for electromobility arose the interest of the participants. Many of them have already gained experience with electric cars as passengers and therefore wanted to understand in detail how the battery is constructed and how it can be further developed.

MEET technician Yvonne Höppener took the 15 girls on a virtual journey through the state-of-the-art laboratories of MEET Battery Research Center. From within the labs, she showed which steps have to be done in battery cell production and are thus part of her everyday work. Insights into her very personal research adventure were then given by Dr Nella Vargas-Barbosa, leader of a young investigator group at HI MS. She not only explained her research on interfacial phenomena in energy storage systems, but also outlined her very personal career: from her first research internship during school to her doctoral thesis at Penn State University in Pennsylvania, USA to her current position as leader of a young investigator group at HI MS.

The next Girls' Day is planned for 28 April 2022. Further information about the offers of MEET Battery Research Center for school students can be found here.