Frederic Laquai earned his Chemistry degree from the University of Marburg, Germany, in 2003, and later obtained a doctoral degree in Physical Chemistry from the University of Mainz in 2006. Following this, he spent two years as a Research Fellow in Professor Sir Richard Friend's group at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge (UK), exploring ultrafast energy and charge transfer processes in organic semiconductors. Returning to the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPIP) in Mainz in 2008, he led the Organic Optoelectronics group until assuming the role of 'Associate Professor of Material Science and Engineering' at KAUST in early 2015.

His research group at KAUST delves into the photo-physical processes that impact the efficiency of photovoltaic devices, encompassing organic, inorganic, perovskite, and hybrid PV materials. They employ a range of steady-state and time-resolved optical and electro-optical spectroscopy techniques. Frederic Laquai, who also serves as the Associate Director of the KAUST Solar Center (KSC) since 2016, transitioned to Full Professor of Applied Physics at KAUST in July 2021. Additionally, he assumed the role of Interim Center Director for the KSC in August 2021. The primary focus of his group's research lies in investigating photophysical processes in organic and inorganic-organic hybrid materials for photovoltaic and photocatalytic solar energy conversion, employing primarily (ultrafast) time-resolved spectroscopic techniques.