Michael Renz earned his Ph.D. in Chemical Sciences from the University of Würzburg (1997) and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the CNRS (Toulouse). Since 1999, he has been working at the Institute of Chemical Technology, where he holds research status and is accredited as a tenured professor (2011). His research focuses on the hydrothermal carbonization of residual lignocellulosic biomass, the catalytic transformation of furfural derivatives, and the recovery of phosphorus from secondary sources.

He has collaborated with Unilever, Shell, Cargill, and Cepsa. He participates in the BioReSteel and HarWASTing projects to derive added value from hydrochar.