text: He was born in Bratislava, then Czechoslovakia in a family of Slovak actor Juraj Kukura. In 1984 the family emigrated to Germany. In 2002 he graduated with a Master of Chemistry from the University of Oxford and competed in the 2001 and 2002 Rugby League Varsity matches. In 2006 he completed his PhD in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley College of Chemistry.