In the summer of 2023, the Faraday Undergraduate Summer Experience (FUSE) internship programme is providing 55 internships for undergraduate students to undertake paid-eight week placements with battery researchers from partner organisations.

Goals of the internships are:

• Provide opportunity to gain research experience
• To inspire young people to pursue careers in the fields of battery technology and energy storage
• To diversify the pool of talent
• To increase participants’ knowledge, skills and aspirations
• Give contact with positive role models

Participating institutions construct project research topics that connect to the Faraday Institution research projects and select interns on a competitive basis from a diverse pool of applicants. Working alongside a supervisor, students have access to other research scientists. Interns are invited to join cohort video calls on a range of topics. At the end of the summer, and with the assistance of their supervisor, each intern prepares a poster detailing their scientific research project. 

A number of FUSE interns have successfully gone on to undertake a PhD in battery research or work in the battery sector.  

Eligibility

Applicants must:

• Be registered full-time undergraduate student from a UK university.
• Undertake the internship within the years of their undergraduate study (i.e., not in final year or during a subsequent Masters’ programme).
• Not have been a FUSE intern in a previous year

Application processes vary by university.

 

Topics

	Project title	Supervisor	Organisation	Mode of delivery
	CATMAT
1	Thin film Ni rich cathode material for Li metal battery	Farheen N Sayed	University of Cambridge	In person
2	Developing tools for modelling cathode interfaces	Samuel Coles	University of Bath	In person
	Degradation
3	Theoretical spectroscopy to investigate degradation in NMC cathodes	Hrishit Banerjee	University of Cambridge	In person
4	The effect of interface reactions on lithium plating in “Anode-free” batteries	Svetlana Menkin and Marie Juramy	University of Cambridge	In person
5	Operando X-ray studies of Pouch Cells: Live studies of intercalation reactions in real cells	Louis Piper	University of Warwick	In person
6	Functionalized carbon nanotube electrodes for Li-air batteries	Israel Temprano	University of Cambridge	In person
	FutureCat
7	Development of mathematical models and python/MATLAB simulation codes for thin-film based li-ion batteries	Debasis Nayak	University of Cambridge	Hybrid
8	Full coin cell optimisation	Innes McClelland	University of Sheffield	In person
9	Synthetic design and optimization of novel cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries	Nuria Tapia-Ruiz	Imperial College London	In person
10	Crystallographic & spectroscopic studies of highly delithiated LixNiO2 (x < 0.1) cathode	Ashok S. Menon	University of Warwick	In person
	LiSTAR
11	Towards carbon fibres based Li-S batteries	Samantha Southern and Magda Titirici	Imperial College London	In person
12	Li-ion transport in the solid-electrolyte interphase	Mauro Pasta	Oxford University	In person
13	Investigating component materials for Li-S electrodes	Liam Bird and James Robinson	University College London	In person
14	Zero-Excess Li Li2S cell development	Alex Rettie	University College London	In person
15	In-situ Li2S formation inside 3-D Graphene for Anode-free Lithium-Sulfur Cells	Thomas Miller	University College London	In person
16	Reduced Order Modelling for Lithium-Sulfur Batteries	Monica Marinescu	Imperial College London
17	Metallic 1T phase MoS2 based fibers for energy storage	Manish Chhowalla	University of Cambridge	In person
	Multi-Scale Modelling
18	Identifying the key factors in battery pack balancing through experimentation and simulation	Monica Marinescu	Imperial College London	In person
19	Sustainability assessment of niobium batteries	Jacqueline Edge	Imperial College London	Online, with occasional in person meetings
20	Life cycle asessment method for direct recyling of batteries	Jacqueline Edge	Imperial College London	Online, with occasional in person meetings
	NEXGENNA
21	Conductivity of novel electrolytes forsodium ion batteries using molecular simulations and experiments	Sam Niblett	University of Cambridge	In person preferred, hybrid is possible at student’s request
22	Studying the dissolution properties of the solid electrolyte interphase in sodium-ion batteries using scanning electrochemical microscopy.	Nuria Tapia-Ruiz	Imperial College London	In person
23	Prussian Blue cathodes for sodium-ion and potassium-ion batteries	Rob Armstrong	University of St Andrews	In person
24	Investigation of sodiation mechanisms of organic anode materials by pair distribution function analysis	John Griffin	University of Lancaster	In person
25	Battery Scale Up Facility for Capability Demonstration and Prototyping	John Irvine	University of St Andrews	In person
	Nextrode
26	Battery Electrode slurries under flow	Emma Kendrick	University of Birmingham	In person
27	Mechanofusion for lithium-ion battery cathode manufacturing	Denis Cumming	University of Sheffield	In person
28	Towards Solvent Free Battery Manufacturing	Rachel Smith	University of Sheffield	In person
	ReLiB
29	Characterising the reduction and oxidation of battery electrodes in reactive atmospheres	Daniel Reed	University of Birmingham	In person
30	Banking on Better Black Mass	Emma Kendrick	University of Birmingham	In person
31	Creating a data-driven framework for detecting various battery components using Artificial Intelligence	Rustam Stolkin	University of Birmingham	In person or hybrid
32	Developing a podcast series on batteries	Andy Abbott	University of Leicester	Any
33	Ion-exchange properties of recycled titanate anodes.	Phoebe Allan	University of Birmingham	In person (with options of hybrid or online)
	SafeBatt
34	Identifying the unique risks posed by thermal runaway of Li-ion batteries in rail and marine applications -  a qualitative risk assessment	Professor Solomon Brown	University of Sheffield	ideally in person but alternatively hybrid or online
35	Exploring the Application of Acoustic Techniques to Improve Battery Safety and Performance	James Robinson and Arthur Fordham	University College London	In person
36	Forensic Analysis of Batteries for early Failure Modes – (FAB-FM)	Mel Loveridge	University of Warwick	In person
37	Safe(Batt) info database	Wojciech Mrozik	Newcastle University	In-person and hybrid
38	Surface electrochemistry methods for a safer lithium-ion battery: understanding and preventing short circuits	Svetlana Menkin	University of Cambridge	In person
39	Applying Automated Reaction Network Generation to Li-ion Battery Thermal Runaway	Solomon Brown	University of Sheffield	ideally in person but alternatively hybrid or online
40	ThermoPod	Mel Loveridge	University of Warwick	In person
	SOLBAT
41	Quantification of lithium losses in anodeless solid-state batteries	Peter Bruce and Dominic Spencer Jolly	Oxford University	In person
42	Role of grain boundaries on solid electrolyte conductivity	Ben Jagger and Mauro Pasta	Oxford University	In person
43	Fabrication and testing of new glassy electrolytes	Dr Stephen Turrell and Mauro Pasta	Oxford University	In person
44	Mapping Lithium Conductivity in Solid State Electrolytes	Gregory Rees	Oxford University	In person
	Other projects
45	Better battery model quality by estimating experimental error	Edmund Dickinson	About:Energy	In person
46	Design and validation of a modular battery thermal management system	Max Naylor Marlow and Teng Zhang	Breathe Battery Technologies Limited	In person
47	Battery Fast Charging: 18650s	Tom Heenan	Gaussion Ltd	In person at their London HQ (Angel)
48	Battery Fast Charging: 21700s	Tom Heenan	Gaussion Ltd	In person at their London HQ (Angel)
49	Battery Fast Charging: Pouch Cells	Tom Heenan	Gaussion Ltd	In person at their London HQ (Angel)
50	Battery R&D Support	. Martin Rogall	Qdot Technology Ltd	Hybrid
51	Soluble Lead Flow Battery Operational Characterisation and Control (FCDO: RELCo-Bat: Recalimed Electrolyte, Low Cost Flow Battery project)	Richard Wills	University of Southampton	In person
52	Application of a miniaturized fluxgate magnetometer array to investigate battery charge/discharge cycles	Terry Dyer	University of Strathclyde	In person
53	Chemical Imaging of Batteries	Steve Price	University of Sheffield	Online
54	Degradation Characterisation of Lithium-ion Batteries using Non-Destructive Ultrasonic Inspection	Alastair Hales	University of Bristol	In person
55	Development of Positive Electrode Structures in Solid State Batteries	John Irvine	University of St Andrews	In person