Federal Cross of Merit for Martin Winter
Prof. Dr. Martin Winter from Münster, scientific director of MEET Battery Research Center of the University of Münster and founding director of Helmholtz-Institute Münster (HI MS) of Forschungszentrum Jülich was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit 1st Class for his outstanding achievements in the field of battery research. The chemist makes an essential contribution to the success of the energy and mobility turnaround in Germany, the letter of reasons states. Anja Karliczek, Federal Minister of Education and Research (BMBF), bestowed the medal in a festive ceremony on Tuesday, September 4, in Berlin.
"Professor Martin Winter has had a decisive influence on German battery research in recent years. It is not least thanks to him that this research has regained such a high reputation internationally. Martin Winter is held in high regard around the world in both industry and science," said Federal Minister Karliczek during the ceremony to award him the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany at which she also thanked him for his many years as Spokesperson for the BMBF funding initiative "Battery 2020" and as Chair of the "German Battery Research Advisory Board".
Martin Winter's commitment to battery technology and the creation of a German battery research landscape that is now internationally visible can be seen, among other things, in his position as spokesman for the BMBF's "Battery Research Germany" advisory board. His scientific focus is on the development of new materials, components and cell designs for supercapacitors, lithium-ion and lithium-metal batteries. He has been working and conducting research in this field for more than 25 years and, thus, has particularly helped advance the lithium-ion battery, which has dominated the market since the early 1990s, when the battery technology was still in its infancy. Winter's scientific passion and ambition is evidenced by his more than 150 research projects over the past 10 years, 500 articles in journals, books and conference proceedings and about 70 patents.
His professorship in Materials Science, Energy and Electrochemistry within the Institute of Physical Chemistry at the University of Münster has emerged from an endowed professorship sponsored by Volkswagen AG, Evonik Industries AG and Chemetall (today Albemarle) from 2008 to 2012. He is founder (2009) and scientific director of the MEET Battery Research Center. He is also founding director (2015) of HI MS “Ionics in Energy Storage” of Forschungszentrum Jülich. MEET and HI MS are internationally leading institutions in the research and development of innovative electrochemical energy storage systems.
Martin Winter is spokesperson of the BMBF’s Battery2020 initiative and member of the "Electromobility" expert council of the North Rhine-Westphalian state government. He is also President of the International Meeting on Lithium Batteries, Chairman of the International Battery Materials Association, Board Member of the Battery Division of the Electrochemical Society and an elected member of the German-based National Academy of Science and Engineering.
Winter has already received more than 40 scientific awards, including the Carl Wagner Memorial Award of the Electrochemical Society and the Braunschweig Research Prize. He is Honorary Professor at the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (Taiwan Tech) in Taipei and the National Cheng Kung University in Tainan (Taiwan).
The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Federal Cross of Merit) is a medal for outstanding political, socio-economic and intellectual achievements. It is awarded by the Federal President.