Max was born and raised in a quaint suburb of East Berlin. Motivated by an early fascination with biological systems, he began his academic journey studying Biochemistry at Heidelberg University. During his Bachelor’s thesis in the lab of Nora Kulak at Freie Universität Berlin, he developed a growing interest in the chemistry of inanimate matter. Between his Bachelor’s and Master’s studies, he was first introduced to heterogenous catalysis in the lab of Ning Yan at the National University of Singapore. Abandoning his roots as a biochemist, he then started his Master’s degree in Chemistry during which he intensified his research in biomass conversion and heterogeneous catalysis in the lab of Yuriy Román-Leshkov at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

Seeking the tropical climate in Singapore, Max returned to the lab of Ning Yan for his PhD working on molecularly defined single-atom catalysts. He moved back to Cambridge for his postdoc as a Schmidt Science Fellow in the labs of Yogesh Surendranath and Yuriy Román-Leshkov studying the effects of electrochemical polarization in the catalysis of both Faradaic and non-Faradaic reactions. Max joined the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in 2024 where his group now focuses on investigating the transport of charge carriers in both electrochemical as well as thermochemical catalysis relevant to a sustainable energy transition. In his spare time, Max enjoys playing with his son, hiking in the (pre)Alps, and strolling through art museums.

Office: CH36406

Lichtenbergstr. 4

D-85748 Garching b. München                                                                                                

E-mail: m.huelsey(at)tum.de