Tuller honored for world-leading work in solid-state ionics

MIT Professor Harry L. Tuller has received the Senior Scientist Award of the International Society of Solid State Ionics (ISSI), the most prestigious award of the ISSI.

The professor of materials science and engineering won the award for his outstanding contributions to the science and engineering of solid state ionics, or the movement of charged particles through solids. The field is key to technologies ranging from batteries to sensors.

“Your life-long contributions to our field are recognized as seminal and world leading. Congratulations for this much well deserved honor!” wrote Bilge Yildiz on behalf of the selection committee. Yildiz is the Breene M. Kerr (1951) Professor in the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering. She also has a joint appointment in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE).

Tuller’s work ranges from discovering a new way to detect radiation to showing how light could boost the performance of fuel cells, lithium batteries, and other devices. 

In a note acknowledging the award, he wrote, “I credit the support that I have received from DMSE, the Materials Research Laboratory, my MIT colleagues and the wonderful PhD students, postdocs and visiting scientists that have been instrumental in assuring the high quality of our R&D achievements.”

Tuller will receive the award next July in Singapore at the 2026 meeting of the ISSI, where he will give a special Plenary Talk.