Sebastian currently is an assistant professor at Technical Univerisity Munich. He was a post-doctoral researcher on science, innovation, and higher education policy based at the MIT Technology & Policy Program and the MIT Portugal Program. Sebastian was also a fellow at the Harvard Program Science, Technology and Society in 2010. His research interests revolve around strategies for capacity building in innovation and higher education, international university collaborations, the interrelation of innovation and education, the governance of complex socio-technical systems, and the physics of lasers and plasmas. In particular, he is interested in the role of complex international innovation partnerships as instruments for economic and societal development, and the global circulation of innovation models and best practices, for example in the case of MIT’s international collaborations. He also enjoys teaching graduate level classes in science and technology policy at MIT. 

Moreover, Sebastian has been serving as consultant and advisor to various public and private sector organizations, including the OECD, the Skolkovo Foundation in Russia, and the government of Alberta, Canada, on such issues as enhancing university-centered innovation ecosystems or the measurement of innovation. He is also a founding member and co-lead of the Science, Technology, Policy Crossroads network in Cambridge, and tries to strengthen ties between the science/engineering and the STS/science policy communities. Sebastian holds a Master’s degree in Technology & Policy from MIT and a PhD in Physics from the University of Jena, Germany. More information can be found on www.sebastianpfotenhauer.com.