Claire Andreasen Receives Fulbright to Study Solar Batteries

Claire Andreasen graduated from Duke University in the spring of 2026 with degrees in electrical and computer engineering (ECE) and physics. Now, the Newark, Delaware native has earned a Fulbright grant to conduct solar battery research in Lausanne, Switzerland. Learn more about Claire’s background and future in the Q&A below.

What does it mean to you to receive a Fulbright grant? 

It means a lot to me. It represents a cool and unique opportunity to explore a lot of new things at once—new research in a different place, with a different natural environment, culture and language—while also being part of a cohort of people who are similarly driven to explore these things. I also feel a sense of responsibility, given the flexibility of the grant, to really make the most of the experience and to learn as much as I can.

What interested you in pursuing a Fulbright grant?

I believe it is important for me, both personally and professionally, to spend time living and working abroad. I have worked in both Switzerland and Germany over the past two summers and have also had the opportunity to travel elsewhere through Duke.

On a personal level, seeing how people live their lives in different countries has caused me to continually re-evaluate what it means to lead a happy, fulfilled and meaningful life. Professionally, I believe that energy security is a global challenge that will require international collaboration, and I hope to contribute to building the partnerships needed to address it. My experiences abroad also helped me discover that I really love language learning, so it was important to me to pursue a Fulbright in a non-English-speaking country where I could continue developing my language skills.

Why were you interested in solar battery research in Switzerland and what are you hoping to get out of it?

I am interested in redox-flow batteries because they are one of the most promising options for grid-scale energy storage, and I believe that the lack of such storage is a rate-limiting factor in the deployment of solar, wind and other intermittent renewables. Solar redox-flow batteries (SFRBs), in particular, integrate solar energy capture and storage into a single device using photoelectrodes (semiconductor electrodes that convert light into chemical energy via redox processes)—which is interesting to me both because it is ​pretty novel (there is very limited SFRB research in the U.S.) and because it is pretty relevant to my background in semiconductors/solar.

I was interested in pursuing this work in Switzerland for a number of reasons. I was excited about this lab (the Laboratory of Nanoscience for Energy Technologies), which, in addition to its work on solar redox-flow batteries, also works on other interesting energy technologies such as hydrovoltaics and photothermal energy conversion. I also really enjoy the environment at EPFL, which is highly international and made up of people who are passionate about their work, committed to applying it to real-world issues and engaged in a wide variety of other interests.

Lastly, I love the mountains, the lakes and the French language. Ultimately, I hope to simply develop as a person and as a researcher during my Fulbright year.

How does this fit into your larger career plans? 

I am generally interested in pursuing a career in science and engineering that has the potential to positively impact society, and this grant will allow me to explore an area of research that I believe is particularly important right now. I also hope to gain exposure to other areas of energy and electrical engineering research while I am at EPFL; some of my other interests right now include power electronics, brain-computer interfaces and microgrids.

How have your experiences at Duke Engineering and Duke ECE prepared you for this?

Through Duke ECE, I have built the foundations necessary for this research (via coursework in semiconductor physics and microelectronics), while also benefiting from significant flexibility to explore coursework and research beyond ECE. For instance, I have conducted several independent studies in the lab of David Mitzi, the Simon Family Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, on perovskite semiconductors and have taken courses in​ electrochemistry, physics, renewable energy technology and modern power systems. I also had the opportunity to take two semesters of French, which has helped prepare me linguistically for my Fulbright year.

Outside of coursework and research, I participated in a Nicholas School of the Environment experiential education program, where I learned about energy infrastructure challenges and solutions in Puerto Rico following Hurricane María in 2017. This experience encouraged me to think more deeply about the social and political contexts surrounding energy systems—specifically, how we can engineer solutions that best serve the needs of a community and its surrounding environment, and how other factors such as education, art and community building can support implementation. I hope to continue developing this perspective during my Fulbright year.