Professional career
| 2004- | C4 professor of chemistry at TU Berlin (Inorganic Chemistry / Metalorganic Chemistry and Inorganic Materials) |
| 1996-2004 | C4 professor of inorganic chemistry at Ruhr University Bochum (Cluster and Coordination Chemistry) |
| 1993 | Habilitation in inorganic chemistry “Silicium und Phosphor in ungewöhnlicher Koordination” |
| 1990-1996 | Research assistant (C1) at the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Heidelberg |
| 1988-1989 | Postdoc position with Prof. Dr. Robert West in Madison,Wisconsin, USA |
| 1988 | Doctorate "Neue Bor-Phosphor-Heterocyclen mit Phosphoratomen in unterschiedlichen Koordinationszahlen" supervised by Prof. Dr. Walter Siebert (Heidelberg): summa cum laude |
| 1983-1985 | Studied philosophy at the University of Heidelberg; final thesis: “Zum Logischen Empirismus von Rudolf Carnap und der Einheit der Wissenschaften” |
| 1985 | Completion of Diplom thesis supervised by Prof. Dr. Walter Siebert titled: "Synthese und Struktur eines 1H-1,2,5-Phosphadiborol Derivats" |
Awards and honors (selection)
Admission as full member of the European Academy of Sciences(2020)
Davison Lecture of the Inorganic Chemistry Division of MIT (USA) (2016)
Visiting professor at ETH Zürich, Switzerland (2016)
Appointed full member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities BBAW (2014)
Appointed to the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (2012)
WACKER Silicone Award (2011)
Alfred Stock Memorial Prize of the Gesellschaft deutscher Chemiker (2010)
Visiting professor, ETH Zürich, Switzerland (2009)
Visiting professor, University of Tsukuba, Japan (2005)
Otto Klung Prize for Chemistry (2000)
Additional activities
| 2019- | Co-spokesperson of the UniSysCat Cluster of Excellence |
| 2017- | Scientific director of the Chemical Invention Factory (CIF; John Warner Center for start ups in Green Chemistry) |
| 2016- | Vice coordinator of the Einstein Center of Catalysis |
| 2012- | Scientific director of the UniCat & BASF joint lab (BasCat) |
| 2007-2018 | Spokesperson of the "Unifying Concepts in Catalysis" Unicat Cluster of Excellence funded by the DFG |