POLiS - Cluster of Excellence

What POLiS - Cluster of Excellence does

POLiS (Post Lithium Storage) is a publicly funded German Cluster of Excellence conducting fundamental and applied research on battery technologies that move beyond lithium-ion chemistries. Established in 2019 under the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) Excellence Strategy (EXC 2154) with €47 million over seven years, POLiS operates as a research consortium across three partner universities: the University of Ulm, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT, the legal host entity), and Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU). Its research scope covers sodium-ion, magnesium, calcium, potassium, zinc, and aluminum battery systems, with particular emphasis on electrolytes, interfaces, materials characterization, and sustainability. The cluster coordinates roughly 130 scientists from the three universities across distinct research areas and runs joint kick-off meetings that bring together 30-70+ researchers per area.

The cluster's core technology infrastructure centers on three platforms: the Kadi4Mat research data management system (with Kadi API for programmatic access, KadiFS for file system integration, KadiStudio for workflow automation, and KadiAI for AI-enabled data analysis, reaching 300+ users); the POLiS Materials Acceleration Platform (POLiS MAP) for high-throughput materials discovery integrated with AI and simulation; and the Shared Facility Ulm, which combines physics and chemistry laboratories housing XRD, XRF, XPS, SEM, and AFM instrumentation alongside gloveboxes for battery cell assembly. KIT additionally hosts AgiloBat, described as the world's first agile battery cell production facility, supporting flexible manufacturing of cells for research applications. POLiS also develops public-facing science communication, including the GELADEN podcast (Germany's No. 1 chemistry podcast, 8.3M+ downloads), the Battery Generation podcast, and YouTube content.

POLiS does not operate a commercial business model. Its revenue is grant-based, primarily from the DFG Excellence Strategy, with additional funding through EU research projects (notably BIG-MAP and Battery 2030+), Board Reserve Project calls, the POLiS Award of Excellence (up to €70,000 per recipient), and industry partnership activity routed through the CELEST platform and direct relationships with companies such as BASF, ZSW, InnovationLab, and Leclanché. Its customer base in a conventional sense consists of academic researchers and PhD/postdoctoral trainees on the supply side, and industry partners and the broader battery R&D community on the engagement side. The cluster's value proposition rests on being the only German excellence cluster dedicated to battery research, aggregating top-tier talent, and bridging fundamental electrochemistry with technology transfer toward industry.

Name

POLiS - Cluster of Excellence

Legal name

Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)

Website

https://postlithiumstorage.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

POLiS is Germany's publicly funded Cluster of Excellence researching post-lithium battery chemistries, including sodium-ion, magnesium, and aluminum systems. It is a consortium of three universities (Ulm, KIT, Giessen) developing sustainable battery technologies and operating research data platforms.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Battery Research and Electrochemical Energy Storage

NAICS

Research and Development in Nanotechnology (541713), Instrument Manufacturing for Measuring and Testing Electricity and Electrical Signals (334515), Battery Manufacturing (335910)

SIC

Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826), Instruments For Meas & Testing Of Electricity & Elec Signals (3825), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Battery Cells (Li-ion, LFP, Sodium-ion, Lead-acid, NiMH) (IMAGAHAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Formation, Testing & Quality/Metrology Equipment for Batteries (EUAFABAK), Solid-State Battery Materials & Cell Manufacturing (EUAFABAH), Battery Modules & Packs (Industrial/Commercial pack assembly) (IMAGAHAB)

Keywords

• Post-lithium battery research
• Sodium-ion battery development
• Electrochemical energy storage
• Battery materials characterization
• Research data management

Headquarters

HQ city

Karlsruhe

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. DFG Excellence Strategy Funding: Funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) as part of the Excellence Strategy of the federal and state governments. Receives 47 million euros over a period of seven years. POLiS is the only German cluster of excellence for battery research.
2. EU Research Projects: Participates in EU-funded projects such as BIG-MAP (Battery Interface Genome - Materials Acceleration Platform) and Battery 2030+ initiative.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

POLiS conducts collaborative fundamental and applied research on post-lithium battery technologies (sodium-ion, magnesium, calcium, potassium, zinc, and aluminum) through a consortium of three German universities. The cluster provides shared research infrastructure, advanced materials characterization facilities, research data management platforms (Kadi4Mat), graduate training (GS-EES/EES Academy), and technology transfer services to industry partners, while producing public science communication content via podcasts and conferences.

Product overview

POLiS (Post Lithium Storage) is a Cluster of Excellence for battery research, not a commercial product company. It operates as a research consortium comprising Universität Ulm, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), and Justus Liebig University Giessen. The research infrastructure includes Kadi4Mat for research data management with API access, KadiFS, KadiStudio, and KadiAI components; the POLiS Materials Acceleration Platform (POLiS MAP) within the Shared Facility Ulm for materials synthesis and characterization; and public-facing science communication through the GELADEN podcast (Germany's No. 1 chemistry podcast with 8.3M+ downloads) and Battery Generation podcast. The cluster also offers the POLiS Award of Excellence for female researchers and organizes conferences including MagBatt and ELLIPSE.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Kadi4Mat Research Data Management Platform An electronic laboratory notebook and research data management platform designed for POLiS researchers and partners to manage research data, collections, and records, with API access for programmatic use, file system integration, workflow automation, and AI capabilities.
• POLiS Materials Acceleration Platform (POLiS MAP) A high-throughput characterization and accelerated battery materials discovery platform within the Shared Facility Ulm that combines physics and chemistry laboratories for energy storage and battery research, supporting materials synthesis, characterization, and electrochemical processes.
• Shared Facility Ulm A combined physics and chemistry laboratory facility at Ulm University specialized for energy storage and battery research, offering high-end characterization instruments including XRD, XRF, XPS, SEM, and AFM along with gloveboxes for advanced battery research.
• GELADEN Podcast A German-language chemistry podcast co-produced by CELEST, Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU), and POLiS, covering electromobility, energy transition, and battery research topics, reaching over 8.3 million downloads and serving as Germany's No. 1 chemistry podcast.
• Battery Generation Podcast An English/European-language battery research podcast produced by Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU) and CELEST, focused on European battery research and emobility, covering topics including electric vehicle batteries, sodium-ion batteries, and solid-state batteries.

Quantifiable outcome

• 8.3M+ podcast downloads for GELADEN - Germany's No. 1 chemistry podcast
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• CELEST (Center for Electrochemical Energy Storage Ulm & Karlsruhe)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 January 2026POLiS is closely linked to CELEST, which is a larger research platform for electrochemical energy storage. CELEST co-produces the GELADEN and Battery Generation podcasts with POLiS and HIU, facilitating broader research dissemination and industry engagement.
• Battery 2030+ InitiativecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 September 2020European research initiative with the ambition to make Europe a world-leader in the development and production of future batteries. POLiS participates in the Battery 2030+ research projects focusing on accelerating battery development through the BIG-MAP project.
• ZSW (Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerZSW is a key player in applied battery research and technology transfer in Germany. POLiS researchers visit ZSW to understand industrial cell production processes and the Powder-Up! pilot plant for scaling up active material synthesis.
• InnovationLab GmbH HeidelbergmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInnovationLab brings together scientists, start-ups, and industry partners to transform research results into products and marketable solutions. POLiS scientists visit to understand technology transfer from lab to market.
• Leclanché Energy Storage SolutionsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwiss battery manufacturer specializing in industrial production of pouch cells. POLiS technology transfer team organized industry visit to observe industrial cell production processes.
• BASF SEmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProf. Jürgen Janek heads the joint BELLA laboratory of KIT and BASF SE at KIT. This collaboration focuses on next-generation battery research bridging fundamental science and industrial application.
• Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHIU is a key research partner collaborating on battery research. Together with POLiS, HIU produces the GELADEN podcast and participates in joint research activities including exhibitions like 'Akku Alle?!'

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Fraunhofer ISI: Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research, a German applied research organization covering battery technology assessment and innovation. Comparable to POLiS as a publicly funded German research institution but with a broader technology assessment mandate rather than focused post-lithium chemistry research.

Direct peers

• Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU): HIU is a co-producer of the GELADEN podcast with POLiS and a core research partner on electrochemical energy storage. Both operate out of Ulm and collaborate on joint exhibitions like 'Akku Alle?!', making HIU the closest direct peer in the German battery research landscape.
• Faraday Institution: The UK's national battery research institute, funded by UK government for £78M+ over multiple phases, brings together multiple universities for battery research. It serves as the UK's direct analogue to POLiS in mission, structure, and consortium-of-universities model.
• CEA-Liten: CEA-Liten is France's applied research lab for energy transition with major battery programs including post-lithium chemistries, solid-state, and cell prototyping. Comparable in mission to POLiS as a publicly funded European battery research consortium with industrial partnerships.
• CIC energiGUNE: Spain's leading battery research center focused on energy storage, with strong programs in lithium-ion, solid-state, and post-lithium chemistries. María Arnaiz, a previous POLiS Award of Excellence recipient, is an Associate Researcher there, establishing direct research linkages.
• ALISTORE-European Research Institute (ALISTORE-ERI): France-based European network for battery research and supercapacitors, similar in structure to POLiS as a multi-university European consortium focused on electrochemical energy storage research. Comparable in scale and mission of advancing next-generation battery chemistries.
• ZSW (Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg): ZSW is a leading German applied battery research center that POLiS researchers visit to understand industrial cell production at the Powder-Up! pilot plant. ZSW operates its own pilot-scale battery production lines and is a key technology transfer node for German battery research.

Broad incumbents

• Argonne National Laboratory: US Department of Energy national laboratory with the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR) focused on next-generation batteries. Operates at significantly greater scale than POLiS but pursues overlapping research in post-lithium chemistries and serves as a global benchmark for publicly funded battery research consortia.
• National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL): US national laboratory with significant energy storage research programs including battery materials and characterization. Operates at much greater scale than POLiS and serves as a broader energy research incumbent rather than a focused post-lithium battery cluster.

Emerging players

• Battery Innovation Center: US-based public-private battery innovation center focused on battery technology development, prototyping, and testing. Similar emerging player status to POLiS in bridging research and commercialization but focused more on US Department of Defense and commercial applications.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks2 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@POLiS-HIU/videos
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/polis-cluster-of-excellence

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about POLiS - Cluster of Excellence