Studies in Microbiology, Universität Göttingen, 1967-1972
Diplom (Biology), Universität Göttingen, 1972
Dr. rer. nat (Biology), Freie Universität Berlin, 1972-1974
Postdoc and Junior Staff Member, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1974-1980
Research Associate, Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry, Martinsried, 1980-1982
Leader of an independent Research Group, Otto-Warburg Laboratory at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin, 1982-1986
Leader of an independent Research Group at the Institute for Genebiological Research in Berlin, 1987-1992
Professor of Genetics, Institute for Genetics and Microbiology at the Ludwigs-Maximilians-Universität München, 1992-2001
Director and Head of the Department of Organismic Interactions at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg, 2000 -2019
Professor of Genetics, Philipps-Universität Marburg, 2001-2019