[Edaily Reporter JAEMIN SONG ] LG Energy Solution is launching a global research call for proposals to jointly develop future battery technologies with domestic and international universities and research institutions. Marking its 10th anniversary this year, the company is expanding the scope of research topics to the largest scale ever and focusing on securing technologies that can be applied to actual business operations.

LG Energy Solution announced on the 29th that it will host the “Battery Innovation Contest (BIC) 2026.”

BIC is LG Energy Solution’s global industry-academia collaboration program that selects research projects from universities and research institutions and provides research funding. The company’s research team participates in the research process to provide ongoing feedback and support the commercialization of academic ideas.

All universities and research institutions, both domestic and international, are eligible to participate, and the application period runs from today through December 6. Applications can be submitted through “BRIDGE,” the BIC communication program. LG Energy Solution will select recipients by comprehensively evaluating the proposed research’s technological maturity and commercialization potential.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year since its launch in 2017, the BIC has expanded its research topics to the largest scale in its history. The designated research topics span the fields of materials, cells, battery management systems (BMS), and artificial intelligence (AI), including analytical technologies for cell condition diagnosis and the identification of mechanisms to enhance safety.

The research topics were directly selected by the R&D organizations of LG Energy Solution’s major business divisions, taking into account the need for collaborative research. The aim is to develop technologies required in the field in partnership with external researchers to enhance their potential for commercial application.

Since 2017, LG Energy Solution has supported approximately 50 research projects through the BIC. Among these, projects confirmed to have technical feasibility and growth potential are expanded into the “FRL (Frontier Research Laboratory),” a joint research center operated with domestic and international universities and research institutions. Once a project is transitioned to the FRL, the company allocates additional research funds and personnel to support in-depth research.

Last year, the BIC filed a patent application related to a physical model designed to improve the computational speed of the Battery Management System (BMS). Additionally, the results of research on long-life all-solid-state batteries capable of operating at room temperature—conducted through the FRL in 2019—were published in the international academic journal *Science*.

The company plans to continue using Bridge this year to share project progress with researchers and manage research records. The company explains that this approach enhances research efficiency by reducing offline tasks and unnecessary communication while protecting the technology involved in collaborative projects.

Kim Je-young, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Executive Vice President of LG Energy Solution, stated, “If industry and academia join forces, we can drive innovation in the battery industry,” adding, “We will accelerate our growth based on our differentiated technological competitiveness.”