Stefan Heidemann has been professor of Islamic studies at Universität Hamburg since 2011, and currently serves as director of RomanIslam—Center for Comparative Empire and Transcultural Studies in Hamburg (2020–25). The Center compares the Roman Empire with the Islamic Empire and each post-imperial period. Heidemann was the principal investigator of the ERC Advanced Grant Project “The Early Islamic Empire at Work—The View from the Regions Toward the Center” (2014–19) and has been the editor in chief of the journal Der Islam since 2011. Formerly, he served as associate curator of Islamic art at the Metropolitan Museum and as professor of Islamic history and material culture at Bard Graduate Center. He earned his PhD at Free University Berlin in 1993 and his habilitation degree at Jena University in 2001. He has cooperated with German, British, French, and Syrian archaeological missions in al-Raqqa, Damascus, Aleppo, Masyaf, Balkh, Karakorum (Mongolia), Cerro da Villa (Portugal), and other sites.