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05 October 2026 - Stuttgart, Germany
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At the 5th International Workshop on Carnot Batteries (IWCB 2026) in Stuttgart, Germany, the EERA Joint Programme on Energy Storage (JP ES) celebrated breakthrough contributions from early-career scientists by hosting the Young Scientist Best Poster Presentation Awards.
Co-hosted by JP ES Sub-programme 3 (SP3 Thermal Energy Storage) and the University of Stuttgart, IWCB 2026 brought together energy researchers and system engineers to explore long-duration thermal storage solutions.
To spotlight the next generation of energy storage innovators, the workshop evaluation panel selected outstanding PhD researchers for their outstanding poster delivery and technical rigor:
First Place Award German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Matias Francisco Pezo Pérez
“Geometric Optimization of Latent Heat Energy Storage for Carnot Batteries based on Multiscale Simulation”
Research Focus: Applied multiscale modeling techniques to optimize the internal geometry of phase-change materials, addressing core heat-transfer bottlenecks in utility-scale thermal storage systems.
Second Place Award Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER)
Youngbok Lee
“Development of High-Temperature Sensible-Latent Heat Combined Thermal Energy Storage System for Carnot Battery”
Research Focus: Designed a novel hybrid thermal storage configuration combining sensible and latent media to maximize thermal efficiency and cycling capacity during high-temperature operations.
Third Place Award Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER)
Jungchul Kim
“Investigation of high temperature packed bed TES system”
Research Focus: Investigated high-temperature packed bed thermal energy storage systems to advance performance and reliability in advanced storage applications.
Empowering Early-Career Researchers
Recognizing young scientists is a core priority across the EERA JP ES network. By partnering with international symposiums like IWCB 2026, JP ES SP3 continues to support emerging talent, foster cross-institutional collaboration, and accelerate scalable energy storage research across Europe and partner institutes worldwide.
