"ERC Consolidator Grant" for University of Münster chemist
Prof. Wolfgang Zeier, a chemist at the University of Münster, has been awarded one of the coveted "ERC Consolidator Grants" from the European Research Council (ERC). The funding amounting to two million euros for a period of five years is intended to enable the establishment of a research project in the field of battery research.
Wolfgang Zeier is Professor of Inorganic Solid State Chemistry at the University of Münster and heads the Solid Ion Conductor Design Department at the Helmholtz Institute Münster (HI MS). In its work, his team aims to understand the structural chemistry of functional materials – such as battery materials with specific performances – as well as their effects on their physical properties. In the project now to be funded – "DIONISOS" ("Diffuson-related transport in ionically conducting solids") – Wolfgang Zeier and his team want to analyse the relationships between heat and ion transport in solids. The aim is to understand how local vibrations of ions link heat and mass transport in functional materials.
"Being awarded an ERC grant is an honour and is a recognition of the many years of work undertaken by my group members," says Wolfgang Zeier. "It will enable us to reveal unknown relationships and indicate directions for new material compositions." These materials could be used in solid-state batteries, for example.
Wolfgang Zeier has been a professor in Münster since 2020 and was head of an Emmy Noether Junior Research Group of the German Research Foundation (DFG). Awards he has already received include the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize from the DFG (2020), the Chemistry Lecturer Award from the German Chemical Industry Association (2020) and the Early Career Award from the International Battery Association (2022).
With the "Consolidator Grants", the European Commission supports outstanding researchers who completed their doctorate seven to twelve years ago, helping them to establish or consolidate a research group. Other ERC funding lines are "Starting Grants", "Advanced Grants", "Proof of Concept Grants" and "Synergy Grants".