Max Gierkink has been working at EWI since 2017, first as a Research Consultant and since 2018 as a Manager. His responsibilities include the acquisition, management and execution of projects for clients from the public and industry sector. Further tasks include the presentation of project results at events as well as the management of a cross-project team of 6 employees and the EWI research program on heat transition. Max Gierkink focuses on the topics of integrated energy system analysis (sector coupling), the heat transition in the building sector and the effects of the coal phase-out and the expansion of renewable energies on the electricity market. He advised, among others, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Action and Energy (MWIKE) of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the German Energy Agency (dena), the European Investment Bank (EIB) as well as several energy suppliers, energy-intensive companies and industrial associations. Before joining EWI, Max Gierkink worked at Pöyry Management Consulting (now: AFRY Management Consulting). Prior to this, he gained professional experience in the strategy department of the energy utility RheinEnergie. He studied economics and corporate development at the Universities of Tübingen (Germany), Cologne (Germany) and Buenos Aires (Argentina).