Franz is a scientist, author, keynote speaker, consultant and coach, focusing on translational science and humanities for changing organizations, leadership and learning & development.
As a scientist, he does basic research on psychological and psychiatric genetics and teaches scientific methodology at the University Hospital in Essen, Germany. He also teaches Applied Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Applied Management near Munich, acquainting young managers with the neuropsychology of learning, motivation, social bonding, stress management, and change.
These topics are also the focus of BRAIN-HR, Franz's science training and consultancy business. It is Franz' mission to empower coaches, consultants and leadership trainers by acquainting them with the world of science and humanities. He firmly believes that cutting-edge research provides the building blocks for future learning and that scientific thinking is a blueprint for developing agility and other meta-competencies needed to survive and thrive in a highly digitalized VUCA world.
Franz holds a Master's degree in Language and Literature from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) in Munich, Germany, where he had specialized in cognitive linguistics and the psychological analysis of narratives and mythology. Later, he earned a Dr. rer. medic. from the Medical Faculty of the University of Duisburg Essen (DE) for his research into genetic determinants of empathy. Furthermore, he is a certified trainer and coach (DVCT) with more than 20 years of hands-on experience in business training and coaching and more than 10 years of scientific consulting.