Post on 07-Jun-2020
MSCA Individual Fellowships meeting at RCN 2019
I made it! A testimony from a
successful MSCA-fellow
06.05.2019
Knut B. Gandrud
Outline
• Overview of me and my research
• MSCA-IF project: SUPER-Lion
• My take on writing a successful MSCA-IF
application
• Some experiences from the fellowship
My background
• University of Oslo (UiO), Norway
2004: Bachelor
2007: Master
2009: Ph.D.
2014: Postdoc
Complex oxides with Atomic
Layer Deposition (ALD)
Thin film materials for Li-ion
batteries by ALD
Thin film solid-state
electrolytes with ALD/MLD
(MLD: Molecular Layer Deposition)
My background
• imec, Leuven, Belgium
2016: Postdoc
2017-2018: MSCA-IF
SUPER-Lion
Thin film
batteries
Bulk batteries
- Still batteries,
but very different..
Li-ion batteries
5
POWERING OUR MODERN (MOBILE) WORLD
1E-04 1E-03 1E-02 1E-01 1E+00 1E+01 1E+02 1E+03 1E+04
< mWh < < Wh < < kWh <
Wearable and Flexible
Smart carts, patches, wearables
and flexible electronics...
distributed wireless sensors
and communicators...
Wireless sensor networksMobile-IT
Smart watch, phones, tablets,
PC’s
Back-up power chip or PCB
Power on board
Hobby and power tools
Portable electronics
Home storage, micro-grid storage, grid
storage
Renewable
Energy
Bikes, automotive, aviation, rail,...
Vehicles
1E+05 1E+06
< MWh
Button
cell Pouch-cellsPrismatic
Cylindrical
Thin film batteries (solid-state)
Bulk batteries
(liquid
electrolyte):
Why solid-state batteries?
• Increased safety
– Liquid electrolytes are flammable
• Increased battery life-time
– Unwanted side reactions between
liquid electrolyte and electrodes
• Higher energy density
– Enables more compact cells
Tesla Model S
Galaxy Note 7
Solid state electrolytes – A challenging task
7
HIGH CONDUCTIVITIES AT THE COST OF STABILITY
Richards et al., Chem. Mater., 2016
Kamaya et al., Nat. Mat., 2011
Good stability and high conductivity?
Lithium
compound
Li2CO3
Li3PO4
...
+
Oxide particles
(non-porous and
mesoporous)
SiO2
Al2O3
...
Solid composite electrolyteEnhanced conductivity while
maintaining large electrochemical window
Typical synthesis procedure:
Melt the lithium
compoundInterface region
Li-compound
Oxide
Heterogenous
doping
Apply heat
SOLID COMPOSITE ELECTROLYTES (SCE)
The idea of SUPER-Lion
• Enhanced Li-ion conduction occurs at the interface
– Particle-based systems can be hindered by lower particle-particle conductivity
– Exploit the full effect of the interface enhancement by using a continuous
mesoporous thin-film structure with high internal surface area.
• Current particle-based SCE’s difficult to integrate in a battery
– Gas-phase deposition technique enables easy integration in battery stacks
Oxide
(by MLD)
Li-compound
(by ALD)
Filled mesoporous oxide layer
Li+
Interface region
Coated oxide particles
si,i
si,b
Interface regionLi+
Li-compound
Oxide
Particle-based: SUPER-Lion:
Surface Promoted Enhanced Transport of Li-ions
Enabling 3D-thin film batteries
• Increase the energy density of thin film batteries
• Requires conformal deposition of all “battery layers”
– ALD and MLD one of the few capable techniques
SUPER-Lion: Secondment
• University of Oslo, Norway
– Collaboration with Prof. Ola Nilsen
• One of the leading experts in the field of ALD/MLD
– 6 months secondment for development of MLD
processes for porous oxides
– Transfer skills acquired at imec to the battery
group in Oslo
Before writing the proposal
• Start with your goal – career and research
• Analyse your CV
– What are your strengths
– What do you need to improve
• Read one (or more) successful applications
• Work on getting a good and convincing
abstract
• Try to find an acronym that sticks
The proposal - Tips
• Keep in mind
– The project should boost the growth of you
• Professional
• Personal
– Transfer of knowledge
• For both you and host (and potential secondment)
• Start with the research objectives
– Define work packages
– Make a meaningful, realistic, work plan
• Important things to not overlook
– Public outreach, training of others, social media
How to increase the success rate
• At imec: Dedicated personnel dealing with MSCA
– Experienced team
– Discussion of the initial ideas (novelty etc.)
– Information meetings
– Input on writing and proposal structure
→ 2x higher success rate
What did the reviewers say?
Excellence (Weight: 50%)
“The level of novelty of the project is convincingly demonstrated with a good description of the state of the art for current lithium ion batteries”
“The training-through-research approach of the researcher is precisely specified and of high quality”
“The proposed research action is fully in line with the energy sustainable objectives of European policy”
“The benefit of the host beneficiary in terms of knowledge on ALD & MLD thin film technologies by hosting the researcher is convincingly demonstrated”
Impact (Weight: 30%)
“The project, performed in a highly stimulating and international environment will boost the professional growth of the researcher”
“The future academic career prospects of the applicant are specified and boosted by enhancing his scientific skills in the very goodenvironment of the host beneficiary, as well as his teaching skills at the secondment host institution”
“The proposed measures to communicate the action activities to different target audiences are not very original”
“The future intellectual properties linked to the action are well addressed”
Implementation (Weight: 20%)
“The majority of risks are suitably predicted, and the contingency plan is appropriate”
“The work packages and work plan are coherent with the scientific objectives”
“The work plan is simple enough to be effective”
“The proposal clearly shows that the infrastructure of the host is perfectly adequate for the requirements to reach the project objectives”
MSCA-IF – My experience
• Enables you to take your career in your hands
– Independence for your research
– Organise and run your own project
• Networking event
– Organized by Research Executive Agency (REA)
– Topic: Batteries and fuel cells
– Presentation from 10 MSCA fellows
– Talks from Commission personnel and experts in the field
• Dissemination – EU magazine “Results in Brief”
MSCA-IF – What could have been better?
• Final report
– Documents released once the project ends
– 60 days to write the final report
– Hopefully, you have a new job at the end..
• Difficult to find time to write the report
• For my secondment
– Registered as moving back and living in Norway
– Bad idea! Don’t do this, if you can avoid it!
MCAA - Norway
• If you receive a MSCA-fellowship, join us!
https://www.mariecuriealumni.eu/groups/norway-chapter
Good luck!