Originally, I am from the palatinate region in south-west Germany. In 2005, I went to Berlin for my undergraduate studies and lived in Berlin and Heidelberg while obtaining my Ph.D. After graduating in 2014, I moved to Berkeley, CA and in 2018 I relocated to the Washington, D.C. area.

Degrees

• Ph.D. in physics (summa cum laude), Free University of Berlin, 2014 (thesis)
• Diploma in physics (with distinction), Free University of Berlin, 2010 (thesis)

Experience

The Knot Worldwide (01/2019-present), Data Scientist

• Performing data analysis and developing machine learning models
• Collaborating within cross-functional teams that include data scientists and engineers, product managers, and software developers.

University of California, Berkeley (01/2015-09/2018), postdoctoral researcher

• Awarded a prestigious two-year postdoctoral fellowship by the German National Academy of Sciences “Leopoldina.”
• Developed a new method to fabricate heterostructures of graphene nanoribbons with widths of only around 1nm. These heterostructures resemble p-n junctions in current semiconductor technologies but are much smaller and hold the potential for more energy-efficient devices.
• Investigated graphene nanoribbons doped with nitrogen, sulfur, and boron and used scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy to show how the precise position of individual dopant atoms affect the electronic properties of the graphene nanoribbons.

University of Heidelberg, Germany (07/2013-12/2014), Ph.D. candidate, then postdoc

• Invented a procedure to remove an unwanted side-product (bromine) during chemical reactions at surfaces which are used to synthesize nanostructures. The removal of the side-product makes the reaction more efficient which is why other researchers have adopted this method as well.
• Measured the binding energy of various organic molecules on surfaces. These results were used by theoretical physicists to benchmark new, cutting-edge computational methods. Wrote a script to automatically perform the complex “King analysis.”

Free University of Berlin, Germany (02/2009-06/2013), Ph.D. candidate

• Synthesized the first doped graphene nanoribbons and investigated the effect of doping on the electronic properties of the nanoribbons. Being able to manipulate materials in such a deliberate manner is important for the development of new nanoscale devices.
• Characterized previously not experimentally accessed parts of the band structure of bismuth and the electron dynamics occurring there. Wrote scripts to analyze the multidimensional data of the respective spectroscopic experiments.

Teaching Experience

• I have worked with 7 graduate students and 5 undergraduate students, training them in experimental procedures and data analysis tools and supervising their work.
• I have substituted for 3 undergraduate-level courses at the University of California, Berkeley.
• During 4 semesters of advanced lab courses, I supervised students performing experiments.