Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISIAlexander began his professional career with a traineeship in foreign affairs administration at the Federal Foreign Office in 2007. He completed internships at the ministry's management level, at the German Embassy to France and at the German Permanent missions to the OECD and to the UNESCO. In parallel, he studied Foreign Affairs Administration at the Federal University of Applied Administrative Sciences. In 2010, he successfully completed his traineeship.
Next, he started studying agricultural sciences at the University of Hohenheim, focusing on innovations as well as on agricultural, environmental and resource economics. During his studies, he gathered work experience on farms, at the Thünen Institute for Market Analysis and at the Chair of Production Theory and Resource Economics of his university. Investigating the value of honeybee pollination and pollination markets in the Lake of Constance region, he obtained his MSc in Agriculture in early 2016.
Upon graduation, he went back to the Foreign Office to manage transitional policy projects at the division for Crisis Prevention, Stabilization and Peacebuilding. Eventually he decided to return to academia and took a position as research associate at the Bioeconomy and Life Sciences business unit of the Fraunhofer ISI in early 2018.