10.1978 - 02.1983 Chemistry studies at the Universities of Göttingen and Hannover; diploma thesis on "Regioselective Transformations of Bicyclo[3.3.0]octanes” in the research group of Prof. Dr. E. Winterfeldt, University of Hannover

03.1983 - 05.1985 Ph.D. thesis on "Stereoselective Cyclopentanone Annulations" with Prof. E. Winterfeldt at the University of Hannover

12.1985 - 12.1986 Postdoctoral studies with Prof. K. P. C. Vollhardt at the Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, USA, working on "Cobalt-Mediated [2+2+2] Cycloadditions of Imidazoles"

01.1987 - 02.1990 Habilitation at the University of Hannover on "Transition Metal-Mediated Syntheses of Heterocycles"

03.1990 ADUC award 1989 of the German Chemical Society

07.1990 Lecturer award of the Fund of German Chemical Industry

01.1991 Gerhard-Hess award of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)

02.1991 Offer of a professorship for Organic Chemistry at the University of Münster

02.1991 Offer of a chair for Organic Chemistry at the University of Karlsruhe

04.1991 Offer of a professorship for Organic Chemistry at the University of Bonn

05.1991 Offer of a chair for Organic Chemistry at the University of Marburg

08.1991 - 11.2001 Full professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Karlsruhe

10.1995 - 09.1997 Chairman of the Chemistry Department at the University of Karlsruhe

10. - 11.1998 Visiting professor at the University of Tsukuba, Japan, as fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)

01.2000 Visiting professor in India on invitation of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA)

11.2000 Offer of a chair of Organic Chemistry at the Technical University of Dresden

02.2001 Offer of the Regius Chair of Chemistry at the University of Glasgow

07.2001 Offer of a chair in Synthetic Organic Chemistry at the University of Oslo

since 12.2001 Professor of Organic Chemistry at the Technical University of Dresden

03.2006 Election as an Ordinary Member of the Saxon Academy of Sciences

12.2006 Admission as "Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC)”

10. - 11.2007 Visiting professor at Kyushu University, Japan, as fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)

01.2008 - 12.2011 Member of the presidium of the Saxon Academy of Sciences

since 01.2011 Editor-in-Chief of "The Alkaloids” (Academic Press, London)

Research Publications: more than 230 scientific articles, reviews and patents