Birgit Esser

Prof. Birgit Esser is a Full Professor of Organic Chemistry and Director of the Institute for Organic Chemistry II and Advanced Materials at Ulm University. Her career includes roles as Associate Professor at the University of Freiburg and research leadership at the University of Bonn and MIT. She specializes in organic functional materials and energy storage technologies.

Education:

• Ph.D. (2005–2008), University of Heidelberg, advisor: Prof. Rolf Gleiter
• Diploma (2000–2004), University of Heidelberg
• ERASMUS scholar (2002–2003), University of Bristol

Research Interests: Development of advanced materials for post-lithium batteries, polymer-based energy storage systems, and organic functional materials. Her work integrates organic chemistry with electrochemical applications.

Awards:

• ERC Consolidator Grant (2023)
• Thieme Chemistry Journal Award (2014)
• Emmy Noether Fellowship (2013)

Professional Activities:

• Principal Investigator in Collaborative Research Center TRR234 cataLight
• Member of CELEST (Post Lithium Storage Cluster)
• Associate Editor, Journal of Physical Organic Chemistry

Grants & Leadership: Holds ERC and DFG grants, coordinates research units in energy materials and polymer batteries. Advised the Saltus! group on energy interfaces.

Labs & Teams: Leads the Institute for Organic Chemistry II and collaborates with the Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU) and Center for Electrochemical Energy Storage (CELEST).