Thomas Heinzel received his PhD from the University of Munich in 1994. He subsequently joined the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, for two years. From 1996 to 2001, he worked at the ETH Zurich, where he received his habilitation. From 2001 to 2004, Professor Heinzel held a professorship in experimental physics at the University of Freiburg, after which he accepted a post as professor of experimental physics of condensed matter at the University of Düsseldorf, both in Germany. His current research interests are electrons in nanostructured as well as in self-organized materials.