Schmidt studied physics at the Technical University of Darmstadt, including two semesters at Syracuse University (SU), Syracuse, NY, USA, where he received a rowing scholarship.[citation needed] During his studies, he worked as a radiation worker in the laboratory.[citation needed] In 1988, he received his Bachelor-of-Science and in 1991 his Master-of-Science degree in Physics, both at Syracuse University.[citation needed] His first professional station was the former Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Center (now Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe).[citation needed]
In 1993, he accepted a doctoral position at the Justus Liebig University in Giessen, Hesse, Germany, at the chair of the biophysicist Prof. Dr. Jürgen Kiefer.[citation needed] He returned to Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe as a post-doc.[citation needed] At the Institute for Reactor Safety, he worked on the thermohydraulic design of a lead-cooled nuclear reactor. Then came the step into industry: As project coordinator at the Gesellschaft für Nuklear Service (GNS) in Essen, Schmidt was responsible for the development of fuel-assembly containers for energy suppliers in the USA and Italy.[1]
In 2001, he began working at EnBW Kraftwerke AG in the department of "Fundamental Nuclear Issues" in Stuttgart and at the Philippsburg nuclear power plant (KKP).[citation needed]
Politics
Schmidt has cited the support of the AfD for nuclear power as his reason for joining the party in 2013.[2] In 2014, he was elected city councillor in Karlsruhe, later re-elected twice,[4] and a regional councillor in the Middle Upper Rhine Regional Association.[citation needed] Since 2019 he has been the parliamentary-group chairman in both bodies.[citation needed]
In 2016 and 2021,[5] Schmidt ran in the Karlsruhe I state parliament constituency, and in 2020 in the mayoral election in Karlsruhe.[2][6] He ran in the 2025 German federal election on the AfD state list of Baden-Württemberg in 19th place, and was the final candidate elected from that list.[3]
In September 2025, the AfD established a parliamentary working group on nuclear power on Schmidt's initiative, which he currently chairs.[citation needed] Schmidt is also a member of the Bundestag committee on the Environment, Climate Protection, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.[1]
