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. In applied research and consulting projects he focuses on 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 various companies and industry associations. Before joining EWI, Max Gierkink worked at Pöyry Management Consulting (now: AFRY Management Consulting), focusing on energy economics and operational excellence. 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).