Christoph Gürtler

Birthplace: Casablanca, Morocco
Chemist, Covestro Deutschland AG 

“There is a huge need to have the right technologies and partners to achieve the goal of a circular economy – and there is a big need for chemistry related innovation.” 

Christoph Gürtler studied chemistry at the University of Bonn and obtained his PhD degree at the Technical University of Berlin in 1996. After a postdoc at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology he joined Bayer AG. After several positions in coatings research and business development, he worked for the chief marketing and innovation officer, developing and implementing a strategy for fundamental research and new chemical processes based on the open innovation approach. Christoph currently heads a department for academia and industry collaborations, holds over 175 patents and is a member of several scientific boards. In 2019, he was nominated for the German Future Prize, and he was a finalist for the European Inventor Award in 2021. He is a member of the supervisory board of Covestro.