After finishing the PhD in atmospheric science on in situ-investigation of turbulence in the middle at-mosphere with rocket-borne instruments, the research field changed and concentrated on accelerator physics and development. One focus was on the generation and acceleration of spin-polarized beams. The related research programme comprised the development of a dedicated GaAs-photoinjector for polarized electrons, the application of sophisticated schemes for the correction of depolarizing reso-nances during post-acceleration in circular accelerators and the development of a polarimeter based on Compton backscattering of circularly polarized laser photons. Another major part of the research programme focused on the acceleration and storage of high beam currents, the development of effective damping measures of beam instabilities and dedicated beam monitors. Accepting a call to Hamburg University in 2016, the research field changed to generation of ultrashort and brilliant electron and photon pulses, generation of coherent X-rays with seeded free electron lasers (FEL), improvement of superconducting rf resonators, development of high repetition electron sources, and design of compact accelerators for medical imaging.