When you don't know many things, it is simple to know what is "right". For example, if you only know horses for transportation, then the best transportation is by horse: "My kingdom for a horse!" (from Shakespeare's play "Richard III").
When I was growing up in Hall in Tirol, life was simple: I was a Tirolean, I was a climber, I was a physicist. Those things were good. Then I traveled and lived in new countries and continents, learned new languages (well, I managed to speak at least one of them without embarrassing myself), started to do research and to write computer programs, and found someone to share that new kind of life. Life had changed, and everything seemed to be possible.
Then I lost many of my friends in the mountains, had a serious climbing accident, and could do neither research nor sports at the level that I really wanted to. Instead of doing research, I started to teach students. So my life had changed again.
What is now "right"? I don't think I really know that any more.
Hall in Tirol
Hall is a city which got very rich mining salt in the Middle Ages. This is reflected in a beautiful, well preserved, and active old town.
Also, the first Taler coin was printed here - the precursor of today's Dollar!
The "Stadtpfarrkirche" gives you a good insight, not only into architecture, but also into Tyrolian traditions and history.
The roof of the church was made by my uncle and my grandfather.
The surroundings are beautiful. The mountains domineer - the countryside, the people and the business.
Traveling, climbing, research & teaching
For a long time I was focused on living intensely. For me that corresponded to traveling (meeting new people, seeing new landscapes, experiencing new cultures), research (exploring the unknown), and climbing. And the best way to combine these aspects is by moving into new places and work there:
Palo Alto, USA (1986), research scholarship at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI)*
Boulder, USA (1988), research scholarship at the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA)
ETH Zürich, Switzerland (1988 - 1992), doctoral degree
Univ. of Sydney, Australia (1992 - 1995), postdoc, at the Dept. of Psychology
Paris, France (1995), research scholarship at the College de France
Tübingen, Germany (1995 - 1998), postdoc, at the Neurological University Hospital, Tübingen
Zürich, Switzerland (1999 - 2003), habilitation at the ETH Zürich
After my climbing accident in Zurich in 2001, which resulted in a partial paraplegia, I said goodbye to traveling, climbing, and research. From then on I tried to pass on my experience and knowledge by focusing on teaching:
Hagenberg, Austria (2004 - 2006): Upper Austrian Research (UAR), Medical Informatics
Linz, Austria (2006 - jetzt): Professor at the Univ. Appl Sci. Upper Austria, Dept. of Medical Engineering