1962
Born in Lübeck, Germany
1982 - 1989
Studies of Chemistry at the Universities of Würzburg and Hamburg, Germany
1989
Diploma in Chemistry (Topic: Investigations of the mosaic structure of graphite and several graphite intercalation compounds) with Professor Dr. W. Metz
1993
Dr. rer. nat. ("summa cum laude") at the University of Hamburg (Topic: Theoretical and experimental investigations of the structure of graphite intercalation compounds using X-ray diffraction and X-ray absorption spectroscopy) with Professor Dr. W. Metz
1994 - 1996
Feodor Lynen postdoctoral fellowship (AvH Foundation) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA, USA (Dr. Joe Wong)
1996 - 2000
Habilitation for Inorganic Chemistry at the Institute of Inorganic and Applied Chemistry, University of Hamburg (Topic: Mesostructured Materials: Synthesis and Characterization)
2000 - 2001
Associate Professor of Inorganic Chemistry (C3) at University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
2001 - 2007
Full Professor of Inorganic Chemistry (C4) at Justus-Liebig-University Gießen
Since July 2007
Full Professor of Inorganic Chemistry (W3) at the University of Hamburg