M. Groll studied Geography, Meteorology, Biology and Informatics at the University of Leipzig (Germany) and the ELTE in Budapest (Hungary). He conducted his Ph.D. research in the area of freshwater ecology and the morphological and faunistic evaluation of river restoration measures at the University of Marburg (Germany). Parallel to this he worked on several international research projects dealing with desertification and transboundary water resource management in arid regions, which has become his main research focus after his Ph.D.