Prof Andreas Gerdes was born in 1962, studied Chemistry at the TU Clausthal from 1983-1990. He was the Head of the Laboratory for Construction Chemistry in the Institute for Building Materials of the ETH Zürich from 1990 to 2001. In November 2001, He started a position as Head of the Division “Chemistry of Mineral Surfaces” in the Institute for Functional Surfaces (IFG) at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Since October 2002 also Professor for Construction Chemistry (W3) at the University of Applied Science Karlsruhe. Head of the Institute for Prevention in Construction at the University of Applied Science Karlsruhe since August 2009. Co-founder and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of IONYS AG (2008), a spin-off company of KIT and the University of Applied Sciences Karlsruhe. Since 2016 Scientific Director of the KIT Innovation Hub “Prevention in Construction”, an Innovation Lab of the Helmholtz Association.

His Research Activities include: Prevention in Construction, Polymer-based and mineral-based Surface Protection Systems, Durability of cement-based materials and Computer-based development of construction chemicals.