
Michaela Bauer
Foundation and Project Manager
Michaela Bauer has been working for the Max Planck Foundation 2009-2014 and again since 2018.
Michaela studied music education at the Franz Liszt School of Music in Weimar.

Thomas van Bremen
Chief Investment Officer
Thomas van Bremen has been working in the asset management of the Max Planck Foundation since 2018.
Thomas completed his bachelor’s degree in business administration at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster and his master’s degree in finance & management at the University of St. Andrews.

Susan Ebeling
Real Estate Manager
Susan Ebeling has been working at the Max Planck Foundation since 2020.
Previously, Susan has been a freelance consultant in transaction and data room management for 8 years. Before that she worked for a financial service provider in the real estate sector for 16 years.
Susan completed vocational training at a bank and studied business administration at the VWA Munich.

Shelley Elliott
Team Assistant
Shelley Elliott joined the Max Planck Foundation in 2021.
She completed her training in life assurance and worked in South Africa as an account administrator and broker consultant in various areas of the insurance industry until her move to Germany in 1999.
Most recently, she worked as a customer advisor and saleswoman in the retail sector.

Franz Gaul
Senior Advisor
Franz Gaul has been working at the Max Planck Foundation since 2008. Previously, he worked as a managing director at a software company and for a family office in the late 1990s building an alternative investment portfolio. He started his career in a bank and as a business consultant.
Franz holds a degree in Business Administration from the University of Passau.

Athina Grigoriadou
Office Manager / Team Assistant
Athina Grigoriadou has been working at the Max Planck Foundation since 2020.
Prior to this time, she worked as a personal and management assistant in internationally operating companies in various industries and divisions.
After completing her bank apprenticeship, Athina studied philosophy, education and psychology at the LMU Munich. Following her first degree, she obtained a bachelor’s degree in human resources and an additional qualification in intercultural communication.

Julia Hof
Philanthropy & Commitment
Julia Hof has been working for the Max-Planck-Foundation since 2020.
From 2016 to 2018 she already had been contact person for the concerns of new and existing major donors.
After studying business administration at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg and working as Marketing Director in an international consumer goods company she advised private donors and companies in starting and developing their own foundations at Haus des Stiftens. Last she was head of partners and donors for a foundation supporting a new concert hall in Munich.

Vincent Höhn
Investment Manager
Vincent Höhn joined the Max Planck Foundation’s investment team in 2021.
Previously, he worked for a management consultancy firm and as an investment manager in a German single-family office.
Vincent completed his Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and his Master’s degree in Finance & Information Management at the Technical University of Munich and the University of Toronto.

Mark Möbius
Technology Scout
Mark Möbius has been working for the Max-Planck-Foundation since 2020.
He has been in leading positions at startup incubators for 20 years, working with technology-based startups from universities. Additionally, he has created his own successful ventures and worked as a coach, trainer and consultant for startups as well as for large corporations.
He holds an MBA in Innovation and Business Creation from TU-Munich and holds a Master in Media Science from Bauhaus-University Weimar.

Friederike Nohl
Manager Finance & Controlling
Friederike Nohl has been working for the Max Planck Foundation since 2010. Before that she was employed in the tax department of a medium-sized auditing firm; since 2010, she is a certified tax consultant.
Friederike holds a degree in Economics from the University of Heidelberg.

Johanna Pöllath
Managing Director / Foundation Manager
Johanna Pöllath has been working for the Max Planck Foundation since 2012. Previously, she worked in cultural marketing and public relations.
Johanna studied cultural economy at the University of Passau and holds a certificate in foundation management.

Jan Schnorr
Technology Scouting Advisor
Jan Schnorr has been working as a startup scouting advisor for the Max Planck Foundation since 2020.
He is co-founder of a deep technology startup based on research during his PhD at MIT. He built the startup as CTO and as CEO for over 5 years. Since early 2019, he has been advising other startups and founders with a focus on strategy, financing, team building and talent acquisition, as well as technology development.
He holds a PhD in chemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Diplom in Chemistry from Goethe University, Frankfurt. Additionally, he worked at Max-Planck-Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz, between his Diplom and PhD.

Isabel Schulze
Technology Scout
Isabel Schulze has been working as a Technology Scout for the Max Planck Foundation since 2021.
Since 2018, she has been advising potential start-ups and SMEs in the areas of technical and business model validation of innovative products, the generation of public funding, team building and management as well as partner acquisition.
In addition to various training courses related to the start-up process, she is a Certified Project Manager of the IAPM and is qualified in the field of agile project management.
In addition to her work for the foundation, she heads FOUNDress, a project for the promotion of start-ups by women in Saxony, and is doing her doctorate in the field of business model innovations for trend technologies.

Iryna Shafranovych
Manager Finance & Controlling
Iryna Shafranovych has been working for the Max Planck Foundation since 2016. Before, she was employed in the accounting department of an international automobile and motorcycle manufacturer.
Iryna graduated in business administration at the TU Dresden and at the National University of Economics at Ternopil, Ukraine.

Elin Szymanowski
Investment Director
Elin has been working at the Max Planck Foundation since 2022.
Prior, she was a Private Equity Investment Officer at the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association (“LACERA”), based in Pasadena, California. Prior to joining LACERA in 2014, Elin was a Senior Analyst on the Private Markets team at Strategic Investment Solutions where she advised several large institutional investors.
Her previous experience includes working as a private equity professional at the North Carolina Retirement Systems and at the Credit Suisse Customized Fund Investment Group.
Elin earned a BA in History from Boston University and an MBA from UNC Kenan-Flagler.

Karin Theede
Managing Director / Philanthropy & Commitment
Since the establishment of the Max Planck Foundation in 2006, Karin Theede has been a main contact for all sponsors and Managing Director. Previously, she worked at the non-profit – also scientifically oriented – Carl Friedrich von Siemens Foundation.
Karin studied economic geography in conjunction with business administration and intercultural communication at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich.

Verena Walterspiel
Philanthropy & Commitment
Verena Walterspiel has been working for the Max Planck Foundation since 2019.
After studying philosophy, linguistics and literature, Verena has been in the non-profit sector since 1988: first in the foundation of a visionary entrepreneur, then as the board member of a foundation established according to the last will of an artist.

Felicitas Weller
Communications Manager
Felicitas Weller has been working for the Max Planck Foundation since 2022.
Online application
Max Planck Foundation closely cooperates with the Max Planck Society through their Development Unit. Head and a member of the MPF management is Beatrice Melot.
Board of Directors

Dr. Andrea von Drygalski
Speaker

Dr. Horst Goß

Dr. Paul Lerbinger

Dr. Dietmar Scheiter

Dr. Simone Schwanitz
Secretary-General of the Max Planck Society
Supervisory Board

Dr. Stefan von Holtzbrinck
Speaker

Heidemarie Baumann

Dr. Klaus Berner

Prof. Dr. Ulman Lindenberger
Vice-President of the Max Planck Society

Dr. Gitta Neufang

Prof. Dr. Reinhard Pöllath

Prof. Dr. Wulf von Schimmelmann

Prof. Dr. Martin Stratmann
President der of the Max Planck Society
The members of the Board of Directors and of the Supervisory Board are unpaid volunteers.
The Advisory Board supports the Max Planck Foundation; its members are honorary ambassadors.
Advisory Board

Dr. Barbara Bludau
Munich
member since 2014

Dr. Tobias Hueck
Munich
member since 2021

Joachim Münch
Saarbrücken
member since 2020

Dr. Jasper zu Putlitz
Berlin
member since 2017

Dr. Marie-Nicolette Schottelius
Munich
member since 2017

Prof. Dr. Sebastian Turner
Berlin
member since 2014

Prof. Dr. Jan Bron, LL.M.oec
Frankfurt am Main
member since 2021

Prof. Dr. Hermut Kormann
Ulm
member since 2019

Dr. Christoph Philipp
Munich
member since 2020

Dr. Hans-Jürgen Schinzler
Munich
member since 2014

Heike Schumacher
Munich
member since 2020

Dr. Margot Gräfin von Westerholt
Munich
member since 2014

Prof. Dr. Benno Heussen
Munich
member since 2014

Dr. Gregor M. Mayer
Munich
member since 2014

Prof. Dr. Reinhard Pöllath
Speaker
Munich
member since 2020

Dr. Albrecht Schmidt
Munich
member since 2014

Ulrike v. Sobbe
Hamburg
member since 2014

Rüdiger Willems
Munich
member since 2022