Dr. Gerbrand Ceder is a distinguished leader in materials science and engineering whose innovative approaches have reshaped the field of computational materials design and energy storage research. He currently serves as the Samsung Distinguished Professor of Engineering in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and holds a Senior Faculty Scientist position at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Following his 1991 PhD in Materials Science from the University of California, Berkeley, after completing his undergraduate studies in Engineering, Metallurgy and Applied Materials Science at the University of Leuven, he built a distinguished career at MIT before transitioning to his current position at Berkeley. His academic journey has been marked by visionary leadership, having previously served on MIT's Presidential Council on Energy and as Group Leader for the Research Programme on High Performance Power Sources at MIT. Throughout his career, he has consistently demonstrated a commitment to accelerating materials discovery through interdisciplinary collaboration and computational innovation.
Professor Ceder pioneered the integration of computational methods, quantum mechanics, and machine learning with experimental approaches to accelerate materials discovery, fundamentally transforming how scientists develop new energy storage solutions. His groundbreaking work has resulted in over 550 scientific publications with more than 130,000 citations and an impressive H-index of 180, reflecting his substantial influence across materials science and energy research. He co-founded The Materials Project, an open-source materials database which inspired the United States Materials Genome Initiative, and which has become an essential tool for researchers worldwide seeking to design novel materials more efficiently. His recent breakthroughs in understanding ionic conductivity in oxide conductors and solid-state electrolytes, including significant discoveries in 2022-2024, have opened new pathways for safer, more efficient battery technologies with transformative potential for the clean energy transition. His research on high-entropy compositions in NASICON materials has particularly advanced our understanding of how local structural distortions can enhance alkali ion mobility in solid-state batteries.
As a scientific leader, Ceder has significantly shaped the global research agenda through his leadership of the Department of Energy program on Earth-Abundant cathode materials and his instrumental role in formulating the US Materials Genome Initiative. He has established an AI-driven autonomous laboratory that dramatically accelerates materials synthesis, reportedly developing new energy storage materials two orders of magnitude faster than traditional methods, representing what he describes as potentially the biggest innovation in materials research in 70 years. His extensive industry connections through multiple successful startups, including Pellion for novel battery technology, and his portfolio of more than 50 patents demonstrate his commitment to translating fundamental research into practical applications. Currently directing the CEDER research group, he continues to push the boundaries of materials science, focusing on the computational design of next-generation energy storage systems that will power the sustainable technologies of tomorrow. His ongoing work to enhance lithium-ion conductivity in oxide frameworks promises to overcome longstanding limitations in solid-state battery technology, potentially enabling safer and higher-energy-density storage solutions for electric vehicles and grid applications.
