Awards
- 1989: "Wissenschaftspreis" of the "Industrie und Handelskammer"
- 1991: "Dissertationspreis" of the University of Marburg
- 1994: "Gerhard-Hess-Förderpreis" of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- 1995: "The J.J.Thomson Premium" of The Institution of Electrical Engineers
- 1995: "Walter-Schottky-Preis" of the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft
- 1999: Teaching Award of the state of Bavaria
- 1999: Philip-Morris-Research Award
- 2001: "Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz-Preis" of the German Science Foundation
- 2001: "Verdienstkreuz am Bande" of the Federal Republic of Germany
- 2007: "Forschungsprofessur" within the DFG funded LMU excellence program LMUexcellent
- 2011: ERC Advanced Investigator Grant awarded by the European Research Council (ERC)
- 2012: Member of the German National Academy of Sciences, Leopoldina
- 2013: Nanonica Prize: "Breakthrough of the Year 2013 in the Nanosciences"