Matthias Weiling- intern / MSc student from MEET,Germany

March 31st, 2020

Matthias is MSC student from MEET, Germany who spent 6 months in our battery research laboratory in Clayton between September 2019 and March 2020.

Matthias is MSC student from MEET, Germany who spent 6 months in our battery research laboratory in Clayton between September 2019 and March 2020. He shared his life and research experiences during these 6 months with us.

  • What degree are you studying and where?

Currently, I’m in the third semester of my M.Sc. studies in Chemistry in Münster.

  • What made you want to come and study in Australia?

Of course, Australia is always a place nearly everyone wants to travel once in a lifetime. Also, I’ve heard from lots of people who made a gap year after school in Australia and they could never stop talking about, so I thought about coming here as well one time. For my B.Sc. I joined the “Lithium Metal/beyond lithium” group in the MEET in Münster and heard of the collaboration between CSIRO and MEET from another student who made her M.Sc. thesis here last year and was very happy that she could take this opportunity. I decided to try to take this opportunity as well, since I also wanted to improve my English skills and to see how science is being made somewhere else.

  • Can you talk a little bit about the work you have done while you are at CSIRO?

I developed LiF-rich artificial solid-electrolyte-interphase layers for lithium metal anodes ex-situ, tested them electrochemically and characterised them with different techniques.

  • What have you learned – professionally and personally –  while you have been working with CSIRO?

It was interesting to see how it is to work in a big organisation compared to university. I leaned to always put safety first, plan the working days and experiments well and then add extra time to your plan, it is mostly needed. And if you need help, there is always someone to ask for assistance. I also learned a lot of new things about producing and evaluating data and could deepen my knowledge in lithium batteries.

  • Life isn’t all just about work – tell us about some of things you have seen and done while you have been in Australia?

I was lucky to be based in Melbourne, so I was happy to enjoy the big city life.  As major events I went to the A-League, Australian Open, skydiving over St. Kilda (Formula 1 and AFL got cancelled, thanks COVID-19), hiking in the Dandenong Ranges, Healesville Sanctuary and drove the Great Ocean Road. In the Christmas and New Year’s Eve period I made a road trip from Sydney to Cairns where I enjoyed snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef, visited the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, surfing and kayaking in Byron Bay, beaching and hiking in lots of stunning National Parks.

  • When you return to Germany, what do you plan to do next?

When I’m back home, I plan to start my master thesis as soon as I can and then continue with PhD studies.

  • Can you recommend an internship or MSc study with us?

Definitively

  • Any last thoughts?

I want to say thank you and all the best for the future to everyone I got to know here for supervising and helping me and making it to a great 6 months stay.