As a geodynamicist my main interest is understanding how geological processes work, from the grain scale to the scale of a planet. We predominantly do this with the help of mathematical and numerical models, for which we develop new approaches in our group. Ongoing research projects include lithospheric-scale shear localization, the coupling between melt migration and lithosphere deformation, the formation of fold-and-thrust belts, the coupling between erosion, lithosphere dynamics and mantle flow, the dynamics of subduction zones as well as the development of new software that runs on high-performance computing systems.
My research is funded by the German Research Foundation, the European Research Council, the German ministry of Science and Education (BMBF), and through multiple European Research Council Grants: an ERC Starting Grant (MODEL, 2010-2015), an ERC Proof-of-Concept Grant (SALTED, 2016-2017) and an ERC Consolidator Grant (MAGMA, 2018-2023).
My teaching interest include Geophysics, Modelling of tectonic processes, The dynamics of the Earth and Lithosphere as well as anything related to Quantitative Geosciences.
We are often looking for motivated and qualified students to do a PhD project. Have a look at our webpage and publications and contact me if you are interested and have a MSc-degree in a related field.
Publications
See the group publication list, or my Google Scholar profile.
Work Experience:
2014-now: Full Professor and Chair of Geophysics and Geodynamics (W3), JGU Mainz, Germany.
2011-2014: Professor of Geophysics (W2), JGU Mainz, Germany.
2010-2011: Assistant Professor of Computational Geodynamics, ETH Zürich, Switzerland.
2007-2010: Senior research scientist (Oberassistant), ETH Zürich, Switzerland.
2007-2015: Research Assistant Adjunct Professor, USC, Los Angeles (USA).
2005-2006: Postdoctoral Research Associate, USC, Los Angeles (USA).
Education:
2004: Ph.D. in Natural Sciences, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
2000: M.Sc. (Diplom) in Natural Sciences, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
1997: B.Sc. (Vordiplom) in Geology, RWTH Aachen, Germany
Academic Honours
2019: Fellow of the Gutenberg Research Council
2017: ERC Consolidator Grant MAGMA (Melting And Geodynamic Models of Ascent)
2015: ERC Proof of Concept Grant SALTED
2014: John von Neumann Excellence Project for high performance computing.
2014: Carl Friedrich Gauss Lecturer of the German Geophysical Society (DGG)
2012: Paul Niggli Medal
2011: EGU Arne Richter Award for Outstanding Young Scientists.
2010: ERC Starting Grant Award MODEL (Mechanics Of Deformation of the Earth's Lithosphere)
2007: Editors’ citation for ”Excellence in Refereeing” for "G-Cubed"
2006: ”Exceptional reviewer” award by GSA Today.
2005: ETH Medal for Ph.D. thesis.
pdf of the full CV