Research meets practice: POLiS scientists visit InnovationLab

10/29/2025

Researchers from POLiS were able to experience firsthand how scientific ideas become market-ready technologies during a visit to InnovationLab GmbH Heidelberg. The exchange focused on technology transfer—the bridge between basic research and industrial application.

The guests were welcomed by Michael Kröger, Managing Director of InnovationLab. In his introduction, he highlighted what makes the Heidelberg Lab so special: here, scientists, start-ups, and industry partners work under one roof to 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. The subsequent tour of the modern laboratories – including clean rooms, printing technologies for flexible electronics, and pilot production lines – was particularly impressive. This infrastructure shows how innovative ideas can be turned into concrete applications that later go into series production.

The discussions focused on how materials research and energy storage technologies can interact with industrial innovation. After all, 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘂𝗺 - the central goal of the POLiS Cluster - requires not only new materials, but also ways to produce them efficiently and safely.

Such encounters demonstrate the importance of 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆. POLiS benefits from the experience of its industry partners, while companies benefit from the latest scientific findings – a mutual gain that can significantly accelerate the transfer from laboratory idea to market-ready product. Collaborations such as this bring us a step closer to the goal of sustainable, high-performance energy storage – and make the future of battery technology a little more tangible.