Study of Biology at the University of Würzburg, BSc (2000), MSc (2003), and PhD (2006) at the University of Würzburg (topic: Protective bacteria and attractive pheromones - symbiosis and chemical communication in beewolves (Philanthus spp., Hymenoptera: Crabronidae), postdoctoral researcher at the University of Regensburg (2006-2009) and the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA (2007-2009), Max Planck Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology (2009-2015), Professor for Evolutionary Ecology at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz (since 2015), Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology (since 2020).