Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at Leipzig University, Germany, since 1993. She received her diploma (1982) and doctoral degree (1983) at Philipps University, Marburg, Germany. After stays at the University of Sussex, UK (Liebig Grant 1984/85), the University of Western Australia (Liebig Grant, 1985/86) and the ANU, Canberra, Australia (grant, DFG, 1986/87), she completed her habilitation in Marburg (1988). From 1988-1990 she was a Research Associate at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Stuttgart, Germany.