Felix Büchel studied Political Science at the Free University of Berlin, where he received his degree as Diplom-Politologe in 1988 and later a doctorate degree as Dr. rer. pol. in 1991. He worked as a Research Associate (1988-1992) and as an Assistant Professor (C1; 1992-1998) at the Department of Economics at the Technical University of Berlin, where he received his post-doctoral degree (Habilitation) in Economics in 1998. From 1998 on, he worked as a tenured Senior Research Scientist (C3 position) at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development (Max-Planck-Institut für Bildungsforschung) in Berlin. He was affiliated as a Professor of Economics (Adjunct Professorship) at the Technical University Berlin), as a Professor of Sociology (Honorary Professorship) at the Free University of Berlin, and as a Research Professor with the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) at the DIW Berlin.

Büchel's research interests included applied labour economics, economics of education, population economics, and social policy research. Büchel served in various scientific boards and committees and published articles in journals such as Population Research and Policy Review, Ageing & Society, Journal of Population Economics, Journal of Urban Economics, Applied Economics, Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Economics of Education Review, Journal of Marriage and the Family, Acta Sociologica, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, and the International Journal of Manpower.

Felix Büchel had joined IZA as a Research Fellow in January 2002.
He passed away on July 12, 2004.

IZA will cherish his important contributions in memory.