1983-1988 physics study at Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena

1988 Diploma in physics; title of thesis: “On the influence of the quantum properties of light on the resolution of spectrometer” (Prof. Dr. M. Schubert)

1988-1991 PhD study at Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena

1991 Promotion (PhD) in physics at Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena ; title of thesis: “On the generation, optical processing and detection of non-classical light” (Prof. Dr. M. Schubert)

Febr. 2000 Habilitation at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; title of thesis: “Electromagnetically Induced Transparency in Optically Thick Media”

Jan. 1991 - May 1992: research associate, Center for Advanced Studies, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, U.S.A.

May 1992 - Sept. 2000: wissenschaftlicher Assistent, LMU München, Germany

March 1996 - Apr. 1997: Feodor-Lynen Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at Texas A & M University, College Station, U.S.A.

Sept. - Nov. 1997: visit to Dept. of Physics, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

March - May 1999: visit to ITAMP, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, U.S.A.

May - October 2000: visit to ITAMP and Dept. of Physics, Harvard Univ., Cambridge, U.S.A.

since 1. October 2000: professor (C3) for theoretical physics, University of Kaiserslautern,

2003 - 2009: member of editorial boards of Physical Review A and Journal of Modern Optics

May - September 2005: visit to ITAMP and Dept. of Physics, Harvard University

2006: call for W3 position at University Duisburg-Essen (F. Haake) - declined

since 2006: W2 professor for theoretical physics (special contract) at TU Kaiserslautern

2006 - 2010: speaker of DFG graduate college GRK 792

2008 - 2010: speaker of section “Quantum Optics and Photonics” of the DPG

2008 - 2012: member of the selection committee of the Alexander-von-Humboldt foundation for institutional partnerships

2010 - 2013: department head, Dept. of Physics, and member of Senate TU Kaiserslautern

2010 - 2016: member of editorial board (Divisional Associate Editor) of Physical Review Letters

2012 - 2018: member of the board (Vorstandsrat) of the German Physical Society (DPG)

since 2014: member of the Academy of Sciences and Literature, Mainz

2015 - 2020: member of the selection committee of the DFG senate for Collaborative Research Centers (SFBs)

since 2016: vice coordinator of DFG priority program GiRyd SPP 1929

since 2020: spokesperson of the Collaborative Research Center TR 185 “OSCAR”

2021 - 2023: spokesperson of the Steering Committee Research of Univ. of Kaiserslautern

2025: Herbert Walther award of the DPG and OPTICA (formerly Optical Society of America)

since 2016: member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD)