studied Biotechnology at the University of Applied Science Weihenstephan with internships at Creatogen AG and Boehringer Ingelheim (Vienna). During his PhD he worked at the Institute of Microbiology and Biotechnology of Ulm University in the group of Prof. Dr. B. J. Eikmanns. Since 2012 he is junior group leader of the ‘Molecular Biotechnology’ group at the Institute of Biochemical Engineering, headed by Prof. Dr. R. Takors, at the University of Stuttgart. The core competence of the group is Molecular Biotechnology, Metabolic Engineering, and development and optimization of bioprocesses. More precisely, the research focuses on systems-level physiological studies of microbes (e.g. Corynebacterium glutamicum) under industrial process conditions as well as the development, characterization and optimization of microbial cell factories for the sustainable manufacture of products of white biotechnology. Until now established industrially relevant processes range from amino acids (L-valine, L-lysine) on organic acids (pyruvate, succinate, 2-ketoisovalerate) to the next generation biofuel isobutanol.