Volker Markl
Volker Markl is a German computer scientist who chairs the Database Systems and Information Management group at TU Berlin and co-directs BIFOLD. His research spans distributed systems, scalable data processing and machine learning. He heads the Intelligent Analytics for Massive Data department at DFKI, a role he has held since 2014. In 1999 he earned his PhD under Rudolf Bayer at TU Munich, and from 2010 to 2019 he led the Stratosphere project, which led to Apache Flink. The ACM named him a 2020 Fellow for his work on query optimization, and the Leopoldina elected him in March 2026.
Timeline
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1999
A PhD under Rudolf Bayer
At TU Munich, he earns a PhD in computer science under Rudolf Bayer in 1999, and his doctoral research leads to the UB-Tree.
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2001–2008
Project leader at IBM Almaden
From 2001 to 2008, he works as project leader at the IBM Almaden Research Center in Silicon Valley.
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2010–2019
Stratosphere, the root of Flink
He runs the DFG-funded Stratosphere project from 2010 to 2019, and the project leads to Apache Flink.
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Since 2014
Heading DFKI's analytics research department
Since 2014, he heads the Intelligent Analytics for Massive Data Research Department at the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) in Berlin.
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2020
Named an ACM Fellow
The ACM names him a 2020 Fellow for contributions to query optimization, scalable data processing and data programmability.
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2021
Berlin-Brandenburg Academy member
In 2021, the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities names him a member.
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March 2026
Elected to the Leopoldina
In March 2026, the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina elects him as a member.
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As of October 2026
Co-director of BIFOLD
A German computer scientist and full professor at TU Berlin, he chairs the Database Systems and Information Management (DIMA) group and co-directs the Berlin Institute for the Foundations of Learning and Data (BIFOLD). His research spans distributed systems, scalable data processing and machine learning.
Sources and credits
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