Dr. Frank Umbach Umbach studierte von 1985 bis 1990 Politikwissenschaft, osteuropäische Geschichte und Völkerrecht an der Philipps-Universität Marburg und der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn (M.A. 1990). Von 1991 bis 1995 war er wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter am Bundesinstitut für ostwissenschaftliche und internationale Studien in Köln; sein Betreuer war Gerhard Wettig. 1991 forschte er am Institut für wissenschaftliche Information auf dem Gebiet der Gesellschaftswissenschaften der Russischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Moskau, am Institute for National Strategic Studies der National Defense University in Washington, D.C., am Foreign Military Studies Office der US Army in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas und der RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, Kalifornien. Mit einem Short-term grant des Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies war er 1992 am Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington D.C. tätig. Außerdem war er 1992 Research Assistant des „Special Advisor for Central and East European Affairs“ Christopher N. Donnelly im Büro des NATO-Generalsekretärs in Casteau/Mons, Belgien sowie von 1993 bis 2003 Konsultant ebendort. 1995/96 war er Research Fellow am Japan Institute of International Affairs in Tokio. Er wurde u.a. durch die NATO und die Japan Foundation unterstützt.
1996 wurde er an der Universität Bonn mit einer Dissertation, die u.a. durch die Volkswagenstiftung gefördert wurde, über den Warschauer Pakt zum Dr. phil. promoviert. Zu seinen „Doktorväter[n]“ zählt er Wolfgang Pfeiler, Hans-Adolf Jacobsen, Karl Kaiser und Alexander Fischer. Von 1996 bis 2007 war er Programmleiter für Internationale Energiesicherheit und Sicherheitspolitik in Asien-Pazifik beim Forschungsinstitut der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik in Bonn und Berlin. 2008 wurde er Senior Associate für internationale Energiesicherheit am Centre for European Security Strategies in München. Von 2010 bis 2014 war er Associate Director des European Centre for Energy and Resource Security am King’s College London. Seitdem ist er Research Director.
Von 2003 bis 2007 war er Co-Chair des European Committee of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific. 2005/06 war er Mitglied der BDI-Präsidialgruppe Internationale Rohstofffragen. 2007/08 war er offizieller Berater für Energiesicherheit der sozialdemokratischen litauischen Regierung Kirkilas. 2009/10 gehörte er einem Expertenrat für NATO-Russland-Beziehungen des EastWest Institute in Brüssel an. 2010 wurde er Mitglied der Arbeitsgruppe Energiesicherheit der Ukraine 2020 Task Force. Von 2010 bis 2014 war er Non-Resident Senior Fellow beim Energy and Climate Programme des Atlantic Council (Washington, D.C.). 2011 wurde er Vertragsautor des Geopolitical Information Service und 2012 wissenschaftlicher Fachberater von Shale Gas Europe.
Er ist Visiting Professor am European Interdisciplinary Studies Department des College of Europe in Warschau und Mitglied des International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. Außerdem tritt er als Berater in zahlreichen Ländern in Erscheinung.
Dr. Frank Umbach studied Political Science, Eastern European History and International Law at the Philipps-University Marburg and the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn from 1985 to 1990 (M.A. 1990). From 1991 to 1995 he was a research assistant at the Federal Institute for East-Asian and International Studies in Cologne; his supervisor was Gerhard Wettig. In 1991, he conducted research at the Institute for National Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, at the National Defense University Institute for National Strategic Studies, Washington, DC, at the US Army’s Foreign Military Studies Office in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California. He received a short term grant from the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies in 1992 at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington D.C. active. He also served as Research Special Advisor for Central and East European Affairs, Christopher N. Donnelly, at the NATO Secretary General’s office in Casteau, Mons, Belgium, in 1992, and consultant from 1993 to 2003. In 1995/96 he was Research Fellow at the Japan Institute of International Affairs in Tokyo. Amongst others he was supported by NATO and the Japan Foundation.
In 1996 he received his doctorate (Dr. phil.) at the University of Bonn, sponsored among others by the Volkswagen Foundation, for his thesis about the Warsaw Pact. Among his „dissertation supervisors“ had been Wolfgang Pfeiler, Hans-Adolf Jacobsen, Karl Kaiser and Alexander Fischer. From 1996 to 2007 he was Program Director for the International Energy Security and Security Policy in Asia-Pacific at the Research Institute of the German Council on Foreign Relations in Bonn and Berlin. In 2008 he became Senior Associate for the International Energy Security at the Center for European Security Strategies in Munich. From 2010 to 2014, he was associate director of the European Center for Energy and Resource Security at King’s College London. Since then he is Research Director.
From 2003 to 2007 he was co-chair of the European Committee of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific. In 2005/06 he was a member of the BDI Presidential Group International Commodities Issues. In 2007/08 he was the official energy security advisor to the social democratic Lithuanian government Kirkilas. In 2009/10 he was a member of the Council of Experts on NATO-Russia relations of the EastWest Institute in Brussels. In 2010 he became a member of the Energy Security Working Group of the Ukraine 2020 Task Force. From 2010 to 2014 he was Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Energy and Climate Program (Washington, D.C.). In 2011, he became a contract author for the Geopolitical Information Service and in 2012, scientific advisor to Shale Gas Europe.
He is a Visiting Professor at the European Interdisciplinary Studies Department of the College of Europe in Warsaw and a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. He is also active as a consultant in numerous countries.