Born 1957 in Bad Neustadt/Saale, Germany; Studies of Biology, Universität Würzburg, Germany (1976-1980); PhD with Martin Heisenberg, Universität Würzburg, Germany (1984); Research Assistant, Max-Planck-Institute of Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen (1984-1993); Junior Group Leader at the Friedrich Miescher Laboratory, Tübingen (1993-1999); Professor at UC Berkeley (1999-2001); Director, Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, Martinsried (2001-2021). Member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (since 2011). Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, Martinsried, in foundation (since 2022).