Prof. Dr. Max Baumgart

Associate Professor of Energy and Blockchain
T +41 41 229 53 18
max.baumgart@unilu.ch
Zug Institute for Blockchain Research ZIBR
Dammstrasse 16
6300 Zug
CV
Professor Max Baumgart has been Associate Professor at the University of Lucerne since 1 July 2025, holding the Energy Law and Blockchain chair at the Zug Institute for Blockchain Research (ZIBR). He is co-editor of the online news service ‘EnergieKlima-Aktuell’ (Verlag C.H. Beck) as well as the founder and host of the English-language podcast ‘The Energy Law Podcast’ (TELP). In the podcast, he discusses the latest developments in energy law with renowned guests from academia and professional practice. Professor Baumgart is also a lecturer in the LL.M. program ‘Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law’ at the University of Göttingen and is admitted to practice as an attorney in Germany (Düsseldorf Bar Association).
Prior to his appointment at the University of Lucerne, Professor Baumgart served as Assistant Professor of European and National Regulation of the Energy Transition at the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society (TILT) at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. During this time, he was also a senior member of the Tilburg Law and Economics Center (TILEC) and a member of the Climate & Energy Transition Community. Professor Max Baumgart studied law in Berlin, Geneva, and Cologne, completing a dual doctorate at the universities of Basel and Cologne. His doctoral studies were supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation, and he received the 2019 EEX Group Excellence Award for Outstanding Research Papers. His academic career has included research stays and teaching appointments at, among others, the Technical University of Berlin, the University of Göttingen, the University of Cologne, the University of Trento, the University of Akureyri, UC Berkeley, the China–EU School of Law in Beijing, Nanjing University, and Tongji University in Shanghai. As part of his German legal training, he completed placements at the European Commission in Brussels and the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg.
Expertise
Professor Baumgart specialises in competition law, regulatory law and European economic law, particularly in relation to energy and digital markets. His research focuses on transformation processes in European and national economic law (especially in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland), with a particular emphasis on the ‘twin transition’ – the parallel digitalisation and sustainability transformations that are prompting profound changes to business, industry and society. His recent research projects have focused on competition law within the heating energy transition and experimental regulation in hydrogen markets.
Collaborations
In 2022, Prof. Dr. Baumgart launched the international Forum on Comparative and European Energy Law (FCEEL), a platform for discussion and inspiration in the field of energy and climate law. He regularly collaborates with social scientists and humanists, as well as legal researchers in Europe and beyond.
Research
Research focus and interest:
- Regulatory strategies, especially experimental regulation, in particular in 'positive energy districts' and as part of the ramp-up of the hydrogen market
- Regulation of clean technologies (especially district heating, hydrogen and wind power) and digital technologies (especially blockchain and smart meters) in energy markets; network regulation
- Transformative law
- Regulation in digital and telecommunications markets
- Abuse of market power and private law enforcement in antitrust and regulatory law
- Law of the European Union and the Switzerland-EU electricity agreement
- Competition and regulation in China
Current research projects:
- Hydrogen value chain deployment – Agenda for the emerging hydrogen economy supporting energy system integration – HyChain-ESI (PhD co-supervisor, TU Delft)
- Hydrogen technology development and assessment for accelerated use – HyUSE (PhD co-supervisor, Tilburg University)
- Social, User aCCeptable, Economically Sustainable Systems for hydrogen – HySUCCESS (PhD co-supervisor, Tilburg University)