2016–2023: Vice President for Research, Universität Hamburg, Germany
Since 2003: Professor (C4) for Theoretical Physics, Universität Hamburg, Germany
1996–2002: Professor (C4), Universität Halle, Germany
1995: Habilitation in Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München, Germany
1993–1996: DFG Heisenberg Fellow, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München, Germany
1991–1993: Research Fellow, CERN, Geneva, Switzerland
1988–1991: Research Associate, SLAC and Stanford University, USA
1985–1988: Doctorate in Physics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
1979 – 1985: Degree in Physics, Universität Karlsruhe, Germany

2019–2022: Spokesperson of the Cluster of Excellence “Quantum Universe”, Universität Hamburg, Germany
Since 2016: Member of Scientific Advisory Panel of the Institute of Physics, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Since 2012: Member of Advisory Board of the Mainz Institute for Theoretical Physics, Germany
2009–2016: Member of the Scientific Committee of the Galileo Galilei Institute (GGI)
2006–2016: Spokesperson of the DFG SFB 676 “Particles, Strings and the Early Universe”, Universität Hamburg, Germany
2006–2012: Member of the Minerva-Weizmann Committee
Since 2005: Founding member of the “Akademie der Wissenschaften in Hamburg”, Germany
2000–2007: Spokesperson of the DFG-Schwerpunktprogramm (SPP 1096) “Stringtheorie im Kontext von Teilchenphysik, Quantenfeldtheorie, Kosmologie und Mathematik”
1999–2007: Member of the Advisory Committee of the Max Planck Institute “Mathematik der Naturwissenschaften”, Leipzig, Germany