Portrait of Thomas Hemmelgarn

Deputy Director for Innovation in Science and Policymaking. European Commission; Head of Unit EU Policy Lab: Foresight, Design for Policy and Behavioural Insights, European Commission

Thomas Hemmelgarn

  • 2025
  • Creative Bureaucracy Festival

Thomas Hemmelgarn has been leading the EU Policy Lab at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) since 2021. The EU Policy Lab is a space for cross-disciplinary exploration and innovation in policymaking and applies collaborative, systemic and forward-looking approaches to help bringing scientific knowledge into EU policymaking. It brings together teams with expertise on foresight, design and behavioural insights.
He holds also the position of Deputy Director for Innovation in Science and Policymaking at the JRC.
Thomas started his career in the German Ministry of Finance and later joined the European Commission. In the Commission, he worked on various policies related to taxes and economics. He then became the leader of the Economic Analysis team for Taxation. After that, he joined the team of the Director-General for Taxation and Customs Union and later worked in the office of the Secretary-General of the European Commission.
Thomas is an economist by training and studied at the University of Cologne, the Pennsylvania State University and Bocconi University. He holds a Doctorate in Economics from the University of Cologne and a Master in International Management from the Community of European Management Schools (CEMS).

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