Since January 2019, Franz-Josef works as a self-employed Technology Advisor for Life Sciences and he is currently also Chair of the Advisory Board for Rottendorf Pharma. Franz-Josef is retired from Bayer AG where he held senior management positions with global responsibility in R&D as well as in production for more than 15 years. He was responsible for product development, product safety and regulatory affairs in Bayer CropScience and for product supply and product quality in Bayer Animal Health and the Pharma division. He is passionate about sustainable agriculture and believes in new technologies to improve and secure agricultural productivity and farmer’s income while minimizing the environmental impact. Equally important is for him the societal acceptance of technologies and the trust in science. Franz-Josef received his PhD in natural science from University of Würzburg (Institute for Pharmacy). He is a pharmacist by training and studied at University of Marburg.