1997 - 2002 Studies of biology, main subjects Genetics, Microbiology, Virology, Biochemistry, Philipps University of Marburg; 2002 - 2005 Doctorate to Dr. rer. nat., Max Planck Institute for Breeding Research, Cologne; 2005 - 2006 Postdoctoral Fellow,University of California, San Diego, USA Postdoctoral Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany; 2006-2011 Head of an independent junior research group, Institute of Biology and Biotechnology of Plants, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster.
Genetic Engineering in Plants; Plant Physiology; Molecular Genetics and Molecular Biology