Born 1969 in Heidenheim. Undergraduate & masters degree in physics and PhD in physics (1996) at the University of Ulm, Scientific Assistant Univ. of Ulm (1996- 1997), postdoc Institut Curie, Paris/France (1997-1998), Scientific Assistant (1998-2000) and German Habilitation in physics at University of Ulm (2000), Associate Professor for Biophysical Chemistry University of Heidelberg (2000), Adjunct Senior Faculty Member, Jackson Laboratory, Maine, USA (since 2002), Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (until the end of 2015). Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research (from 2016).