Mohammad Reza Farzanegan received his BA degree in theoretical economics in 1999 from Allameh Tabatabaei University in Tehran. He successfully defended his Master thesis entitled "The Role of Iran in the Caspian Energy Resources" with distinction at the University of Tehran in 2002. The results of his Master thesis were published in the Oil & Gas Journal (2003). During his Master studies, Mohammad Farzanegan was also employed by the Ports & Shipping Organization (PSO) of Iran and implemented several projects at the Transit & Special Economic Zones General Directorate. Thereupon he worked as a researcher at the Capital Market Research Department of the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE).

From 2006-2009 his PhD study at Technische Universität Dresden was mainly focused on the examination of political economy of Iran. His PhD dissertation entitled " Political Economy of Natural Resources and Governance in Iran: An Empirical Investigation" was graded with "summa cum laude" and awarded the Dr. Feldbausch Preis "Best Dissertation" in 2009. The PhD project financed by the DAAD doctoral scholarship.

Since November 2009, Mohammad Farzanegan has been working as a researcher in the Research Department "Environmental and Resource Economics, Environmental Management" at ZEW Mannheim.In 2010, Mohammad Farzanegan was awarded the Georg Forster Research Fellowship for Postdoctoral Researchers of Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for 24 months. His Post-Doc project carried out from May 2010 as a cooperation between the Dresden University of Technology and ZEW.

Since April 2012, he is Assistant Professor of the Middle East Economics and chair of the Middle East Economics Unit at the Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies (CNMS), Philipps-University of Marburg. Since 2012, he is also Research Fellow of the Economic Research Forum (ERF) in Cairo, ZEW Mannheim and members of different associations and centers such as Center of Public Economics of TU Dresden, International Institute of Public Finance (IIPF), International Iranian Economic Association (IIEA), Vereins für Socialpolitik, and European Public Choice Society.

His main fields of research is the political economy of natural resources, quality of governance, effects of oil shocks on the macroeconomy, public finance and public choice. His regional focus is primarily Iran and other MENA countries. He has several publications in internationally refereed journals such as Defence and Peace Economics, World Development, Energy Economics, European Journal of Political Economy, Applied Economics, Review of Middle East Economics and Finance, SAIS Review of International Affairs and Ecological Economics.

Curriculum Vitae - JProf. Dr. Mohammad Reza Farzanegan