Born 1959 in Mainz. Study of Physics and Biology Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (1977-1984), Adjunct Research Instructor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey/CA/USA (1985- 1986), PhD in Physics (1991), Postdoctoral Fellow of the Advanced Study Program (University Corporation of Atmos-pheric Research, UCAR) at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder/CO/USA (1991-1993), german Habilitation in meteorology (1999), head of the Aerosol Research Group at the Institute for Chemistry and Dynamics of the Geosphere at the Research Center Jülich Ltd. (1998-2000), Professor Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (since 2000), Director (part-time) and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (since 2001).