🧪 Innovative Research and Development Scientist (m/f/d) – Chemical Engineering, Process Scale-Up & Battery Design at Matena innovate! Center, Freie Hansestadt Bremen in Bremen

About Matena innovate! Center

The Matena innovate! Center is a joint initiative and affiliated institute of the University of Bremen designed to accelerate the transition of advanced materials science into societal and commercial applications. Backed by up to 30 million euros from the Joachim Herz Foundation over a ten-year timeframe, Matena blends scientific innovation with entrepreneurial spirit. Our goal is to establish a premier destination for technology transfer, turning groundbreaking laboratory findings into tangible impact for industry and future generations.

Our mission focuses on closing the gap between foundational laboratory research and market-ready products. Through our Research-to-Business (R2B) framework, we align Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) with Business Readiness Levels (BRL), helping teams understand market demands, customer requirements, and commercialization strategies.

Position Overview & Strategic Intent

This R&D role focuses on advancing aqueous zinc-ion batteries for stationary energy storage. The technology serves as a safer, highly sustainable, and cost-efficient alternative to traditional lithium-ion batteries in renewable energy buffering, grid stability, and industrial backup systems. Having achieved TRL 4 with validated electrode processing and cathode development, the initiative now moves toward pilot-scale production and practical cell assembly.

Unlike standard academic research roles, this position merges scientific progress with real-world technology commercialization. Working alongside researchers, innovation managers, and industry partners, you will actively evaluate technical feasibility, refine scale-up processes, and explore commercial avenues including intellectual property generation and venture creation.

Key Responsibilities

• Engineer scalable synthesis routes for battery materials and optimize process throughput.
• Design and refine electrode architectures, cell configurations, and component integration.
• Translate material-level discoveries into robust, practical cell and demonstrator designs.
• Develop and model reactors and workflow processes tailored for pilot-scale manufacturing.
• Support IP protection strategies, patent drafting, and industrial technology transfer.
• Participate in customer discovery, business model design, and techno-economic assessments to pave the way for startup creation.

Candidate Qualifications & Profile

• Master's degree in chemical engineering, process engineering, battery engineering, materials science, or a related discipline.
• Strong interest or proven experience in scale-up, process optimization, reactor design, or battery chemistry.
• Ability to operate seamlessly across materials science, electrochemistry, and engineering domains.
• High motivation to advance safe, sustainable energy storage technologies.
• Entrepreneurial mindset with strong interest in startup creation and potentially joining a future spin-off team as a co-founder.
• Enthusiasm for bridging the gap between scientific concepts and market application.

Employment Framework & Startup Ecosystem

• Part-time position (75%, 29.4 hours per week) with competitive compensation.
• Opportunity to pursue a PhD at the University of Bremen.
• Contract duration fixed until February 29, 2028, with a target start date of December 1, 2026.
• Direct integration into an agile, venture-backed ecosystem with dedicated co-founder guidance and access to the Matena R2B track.