I studied mathematics and physics at the Ruhr University Bochum and received my Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Leipzig in 2001. In 2003 and 2004 I was a postdoctoral fellow at the Santa Fe Institute and at the Redwood Neuroscience Institute (now the Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience at UC Berkeley). After my postdoctoral stay in the USA I became a member of the Mathematical Institute of the Friedrich Alexander University in Erlangen at the assistant professor level. Since September 2005 I work as Max Planck Resarch Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences in Leipzig where I am heading the group Information Theory of Cognitive Systems. As external professor of the Santa Fe Institute I am involved in research on complexity and robustness theory. Since September 2009 I am affiliated with the University of Leipzig as associate professor (Privatdozent) for mathematics.