Christian Stark studied chemistry at the University of Hannover (Germany). A final year research project was carried out under guidance of Professor S. V. Ley FRS at the University of Cambridge (Cambridge, U. K.). This project was focused on the synthesis of the C10 – C17 subunit of the immunosuppressant rapamycin. After returning to Hannover he finished his degree and joined the group of Professor H. M. R. Hoffmann. His PhD was focused on the development of asymmetric [4+3] cycloadditions and applications to natural product synthesis. In May 2000 he changed fields and moved to the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge (Cambridge, U. K.). In the group of Professor P. F. Leadlay FRS and Professor J. Staunton FRS he carried out research targeted on the biosynthesis of the polyether ionophore monensin. In December 2002 he accepted a position as a Junior-Professor for Organic Chemistry at the Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the Freie Universität Berlin (Berlin, Germany).