I studied theoretical physics at the universities of Kaiserslautern, Munich and Jena, and received my diploma with a thesis in gravitational theory from the university of Jena in 2004. From 2004 to 2008, I conducted research at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization in Göttingen, first as PhD student then as scientific collaborator in the group of M. Timme and in the department of T. Geisel. In 2008, I was awarded the Otto Hahn Medal of the Max Planck Society and a Swartz Postdoctoral Fellowship from Harvard University. From 2008 to 2010, I was as an independent Swartz fellow at Harvard University working together with H. Sompolinsky. Thereafter (2010 to 2015), I continued my research as an assistant professor (first tenure track then tenure) in the Neuroinformatics department at the Donders Institute at Radboud University Nijmegen. In 2014, I was awarded the Bernstein Award. From 2015 to 2016, I have conducted research at the Center for Theoretical Neuroscience of Columbia University as a Fellow of the Max Kade Society New York. In fall 2016, I have joined the FIAS Frankfurt. Since May 2017 I have been tenured university professor at the Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, at the University of Bonn.