Born 1962, in Bruck/Mur (Austria). study of chemistry, doctorate Technical Univ. of Graz/Austria (Prof. H. Weidmann, 1987), postdoc Univ. of Geneva/Switzerland (Prof. Oppolzer, 1990-1991), habilitation in organic chemistry at the Technical Univ. of Graz/Austria (1992), group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Coal Research (1993- 1997), Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute of Coal Research/Foundation (since 1998), Associate Professor Univ. of Dortmund (since 1998).