Prof. Maria Forsyth Awarded €3.5 Million ERC Advanced Grant to Develop Next-Generation Sodium Batteries

Congratulations to Prof. Maria Forsyth, Ikerbasque Research Professor at POLYMAT, on being awarded an ERC Advanced Grant from the European Research Council (ERC)!
Her project, POLARIS, will receive close to €3.5 million to develop next-generation sodium-based solid-state batteries: a safer, more sustainable alternative to today’s lithium-ion technology, less dependent on critical minerals like copper, cobalt or nickel.
POLARIS will tackle two of the biggest scientific bottlenecks in sodium batteries: designing new ionic polymer electrolytes from polymeric ionic liquids (PolyILs), and controlling the contact between the electrolyte and the current collector to prevent the dendrite formation that limits battery lifespan.
🔋The goal: safer, longer-lasting, “anode-free” sodium batteries with higher energy density.
This is one of only 319 ERC Advanced Grants awarded in the 2025 call, out of a record 3,329 applications: a success rate of just 9.6%.

Congratulations, Maria, we look forward to seeing POLARIS take shape!
EHU