You studied in Freiberg. What made you decide to study at the Bergakademie?

To be honest, I didn't quite know what direction I wanted to study. I wanted to study biology because I was a biology student at school - but I realised during my bachelor's degree that biology wasn't my thing after all. Fortunately, the Applied Natural Sciences degree programme is so interdisciplinary that it was easy to switch to physics. No other university could offer this interdisciplinary nature of the degree programme.

What lasting memories do you associate with your time at TU Bergakademie Freiberg?

I particularly like to remember my time in the experimental physics working group. From the Bachelor's degree onwards, you were heavily integrated into the working group and experienced first-hand how everyday scientific life works. You were also invited to Christmas parties and other group events, so you really had a great time. The contact with the professors was also really good - I can't imagine that this works as well at other universities as it does in Freiberg.

When you look back on your studies with the knowledge you have today: is there anything you would do differently or what you would pay attention to?

I would take more engineering and theoretical physics modules, simply because I now realise how much it interests me. But apart from that - no. I deliberately chose a very balanced degree programme. Even though I don't need the theoretical physics modules now in my everyday (working) life, I found and still find theoretical physics very exciting. What advice would you like to give current students in Freiberg? Enjoy your time at university. My time was really nice and I have lots of great memories. And take some time out before you go back to work - I never allowed myself to do that and would recommend it to every student - you'll never have as much time as you did during your studies again.

What do you think is particularly interesting about your current job?

The variety! I supervise scientific projects, work hands-on on maintenance tasks on the tool, programme evaluation routines for analysing measurement data, create workflows for workers, carry out process engineering and improve components of my tool. I'm practically never bored and my day-to-day work is very varied.

Do you still have professional or private contacts with TU Bergakademie Freiberg?

Yes, on the one hand we have special measurements carried out at TU Freiberg - as we don't have the equipment or the expertise for these measurements. On the other hand, I still ring my old working group when I have a seemingly unsolvable X-ray problem. So I would say I still have very good contacts with the university, both privately and professionally.

Finally, can you tell us your life motto?

Firstly, things turn out differently than you think and secondly. You can't close your mind to new opportunities and must always remain open to new ideas and ways of thinking. Life will throw a spanner in the works one way or another and then you have to react flexibly to the new circumstances. If you can do that, you can be happy.