Kurt was appointed Director General of DG CLIMA on 16/01/2023.Until then, he was the Green Deal and Health advisor to President Ursula von der Leyen since 1/12/2019. He had joined the cabinet of the President coming from DG Research and Innovation where he was Director for Policy & Programming since 1/02/2016 and Acting Director for Research & Innovation Outreach since 1/06/2019.Before that, he was Director for 'Climate action and resource efficiency' at DG Research and Innovation since 07/2013.He served in the Cabinet of Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin (1999-2004) and as Head of the Cabinet of Janez Potočnik, who was Commissioner for Research and Innovation (2004-2009) and subsequently for Environment (from 2010).Kurt joined the European Commission in 1996 as co-ordinator of the Commission's Intermodal Transport TF and of the Transport Research Programme. Before that, Kurt worked for 4 years as a manager at Ernst & Young Association Management, where he set up, managed and represented international trade associations.After reading French and Italian literature at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL) and obtaining a degree in Public and International Affairs at the University Catholique de Louvain-la-Neuve (UCL), Kurt gained a Master of Arts degree in International Relations at the S.A.I.S. in Bologna, Italy and Washington D.C.,US.