Born 1962 in Zeddam, The Netherlands. Study of physics, doctorate University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands (1988), postdoctoral research assistant IBM, San Jose, California (USA) (1989-1990), postdoctoral Fellowship of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences at the Free University of Amsterdam (1991), University Lecturer at the University of Nijmegen (1992), Professor in Experimental Physics, University of Nijmegen (1995), Director of the FOM Institute for Plasmaphysics "Rijnhuizen", Nieuwegein, The Netherlands (2000), Director and Scientific Member at the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society (since 2002), Honorary Professor University of Nijmegen (2003), Honorary Professor Free University of Berlin (2004).