Building on fundraising, partnership development and strategic communications experience in the think tank and foundation sectors, Carsten moved into higher education development in 2015 working at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Queen Mary University London and currently the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. 

At LSE, Carsten worked with HNWIs, foundations and corporates. Their funding enabled research, scholarships, infrastructure investment and public engagement, including the Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa created with a ten-million-pound endowment. In its first 18 months, Carsten helped to establish the new institute as a multidisciplinary hub for research and policy engagement. He helped to raise almost twenty million pounds in philanthropic support and over six million in research council funding. 

At Queen Mary, in time for the launch of the university’s Strategy 2030, Carsten oversaw the rebuilding of a fundraising team for this Russell Group member and lobbied for a stronger alumni relations and fundraising function across the organisation. At Frankfurt School, as development director, he is overseeing the launch of a fundraising strategy in line with the ambition of this top-ranked, fast-growing business school. Previously, Carsten worked at the Robert Bosch Foundation, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. 

Having studied political science, law and political economy at the Free University Berlin and in Würzburg, Carsten also holds a M.A. in International Studies (Asia-Pacific) from the University of Birmingham (2006) and a M.Sc. in International Development (Africa) from LSE (2018). He continues his research in cross-border giving and the role of philanthropy in higher education, research and think tanks.