Gesine Stephan is head of the research unit "Active Labour Market Policies and Integration" at the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), and Professor of Economics (Volkswirtschaftslehre), in particular Empirical Microeconomics, at the Friedrich-Aexander-Universtität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU). She studied economics at the University of Hannover from 1984 to 1990, where she also received her doctoral degree in political science in 1994 and completed her habilitation in 2000. During the years 1996 and 1997 she was awarded a Hans Lenze Grant to conduct post-graduate studies at the University of California in Berkeley and at the University of Texas at Austin.