Professor Hamacher conducts research on energy and systems analysis, focusing on urban energy systems, the integration of renewable energy into the power grid, and innovative nuclear systems (including fusion). Other focuses of his work are the methods and fundamentals of energy models.
After studying physics in Bonn, Aachen and Columbia University (New York), Professor Hamacher received a doctorate from the University of Hamburg for his work on baryonic beta decay. Professor Hamacher has been with the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics since 1996, most recently as head of the Energy and System Studies Group. From 2010 to 2013 he served as acting head of the Chair of Energy Management and Application Technology. In 2013, he was appointed Full Professor for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Systems. Furthermore he is Director of the Munich School of Engineering. Prof. Hamacher is a member of the Environmental Science Centre (WZU) of the University of Augsburg and the Energy Working Group of the European Physical Society (EPS).