Many German academics move abroad during their careers. Some stay longer than one semester and pursue a career far from home. UNIGLOBALE presents them in a series and asks what they particularly like about their new alma mater and which app should not be missing on their smartphone.
Prof. Dr. Holger Müller is a physics professor at UC Berkeley in California
Even as a child, Holger Müller was an inventor and wanted to get to the bottom of natural laws and physical principles. He began experimenting early on, constructing electronic devices and registering his first patent when he was just 14 years old. At school, says Müller, he wasn't a high flyer. That came later at university. He studied in Konstanz, received his doctorate at the Humboldt University in Berlin and followed the Nobel Prize winner in physics Steven Chu to Stanford. Since 2008, Holger Müller has been teaching and researching at the renowned University of California in Berkeley near San Francisco. In the current semester he is giving a lecture on quantum mechanics and dealing with questions as fundamental as they are complicated such as “What is time?” or “Can you measure time with a vacuum?” Müller and his team of researchers recently presented an article in the US journal “Science” presented a potentially groundbreaking invention: a new type of precision clock that can also weigh atoms.
UNIGLOBALE: From your experience: What would you import to German universities?
HM: The openness to new and new things. This means that at the best universities in the USA, old habits can hardly arise. New research projects are started there more quickly and young researchers are given independent positions sooner. The competition is tough but fair. Also when it comes to funding. This means that good projects get more money, which ultimately raises the level.
When you're not at university, what does a perfect day off look like?
Jogging in the Berkeley Hills. If only I had more time for it...
UNIGLOBALE: Which app is your favorite?
HM: In addition to e-book readers and Google Maps, especially Star Walk, with which you can explore the starry sky in real time.
UNIGLOBALE: Did you take anything typically German with you abroad?
HM: Yes, especially music by German composers. Everything – from Bach to Wagner.
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Many German academics move abroad during their careers. Some stay longer than one semester and pursue a career far from home. UNIGLOBALE presents them in a series and asks what they particularly like about their new alma mater and which app should not be missing on their smartphone. Prof. Dr. Holger Müller
