Jürgen Köhler studied physics at the University of Düsseldorf, Germany (Ph.D. 1990) followed by a postdoc period at the University of Leiden, The Netherlands. In 1999 he became an associate professor at the LMU Munich, Germany. In 2000 he commenced as professor at the University of Bayreuth. His main research interests cover the study of the electronic states of soft condensed matter, including (bio-) macromolecules and molecular aggregates, using optical (single-molecule) spectroscopy techniques.