Stefan Fränzle was born in Bonn (FRG) in 1961. Stefan studied chemistry and astronomy, and completed his PhD thesis in inorganic chemistry from 1980 to 1992 at Kiel (Baltic Sea, FRG). From 1994 to 2000, he was a senior researcher at UFZ Environmental Research Center, Leipzig. He joined IHI (International School) Zittau (which became part of TU Dresden) in 2001. He became a lecturer and researcher in Habilitation at Vechta (FRG) in 2008 and was appointed as an associate professor in October 2017 (TU Dresden). He is the head of the Lab of Environmental Analytics at Zittau. His specific research interests include animal protection and thermodynamically sound methods of environmental monitoring, catalysis and photocatalysis using chitin supports, photochemistry, and chemical evolution.