| 1985 | Graduation, branch of study: agriculture, plant production, Studies at Vienna University of Natural Resources and Applied Live Sciences |
| 1991-2005 | Delegate to the Provincial Parliament of Burgenland |
| since 1991 | Deputy Head of the Provincial parliamentary group of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) Burgenland |
| 1998-2000 | General Manager of the Provincial ÖVP group |
| 2002-2005 | Head of the parliamentary fraction of the ÖVP's Provincial parliamentary group |
| 2005-2008 | Member of the Provincial Government of Burgenland |
| since 2005 | Member of the Chief Executive Department of the Austrian Farmers' Federation - Federal Secretary |
| since 2006 | Head of the Farmers' Federation of the Province of Burgenland |
| 2008-2013 | Agriculture and Environment Minister of the Republic of Austria |
| since 2013 | Member of Parliament |
| 1977 | PhD, Development Theory, University of Bremen |
| 1981 | Postdoctoral qualification, University of Osnabrueck |
| 1981-1982 | Informatics, Economics, Electronics Certificate, University Karlsruhe TH |
| 1970-1974 | Scientific Assistant, Alfred-Weber-Institute at the University of Heidelberg |
| 1974-1979 | Scientific Assistant, University of Osnabrueck |
| 1979-1981 | Scientific Manager, MVV Energy AG |
| 1982 | Appointment as Professor, University of Osnabrueck |
| 1986-1988 | Head for Energy Policy Section, Ministry of Environment of Hessen |
| 1987 | Appointment as Adjunct Professor |
| 1987-1990 | Policy Advisor/Climate mitigation, German Bundestag |
| 1985-1988 | Research at the Institute of Applied Ecology/Freiburg |
| 1988-1992 | Professor of Economics, University of Applied Sciences of Darmstadt |
| 1991-1994 | Policy Advisor, Climate Mitigation, German Bundestag |
| 1992-2000 | Appointment as Director of the Energy Division, Wuppertal Institute of Climate, Environment and Energy |
| 1992-2008 | Appointment as Professor, Economic and Energy Policy, University of Wuppertal |
| 1998-2000 | Vice President and Director of the Energy Division, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, Energy |
| 2000-2002 | Policy Adviser, Energy, German Bundestag |
| 2002-2006 | Member of the International Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel, GEF, Washington |
| 2000-2003 | Vice-President and Acting President, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, Energy |
| 2003-2008 | President, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, Energy |
| since 2008 | Senior Scientist und Project Manager, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy |
| 1970 | Professur in Frankfurt |
| 1971 | Lehrstuhl für Theoretische Physik in Dortmund |
| 1984-1986 | Präsident der Deutschen Physikalischen Gesellschaft |
| seit 1987 | Vorstandsmitglied der Kernforschungsanlage Jülich (KFA) |
| 1993-1997 | Vorsitzender der Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren |
| 1995-1996 | Präsident der Gesellschaft Deutscher Naturforscher und Ärzte |
| 1990-2006 | Vorsitzender des Vorstands der Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH |
| 1999-2003 | Vorsitzender des Deutschen Verbandes Technisch-Wissenschaftlicher Vereine |
| 2000-2006 | Vorsitzender des Lenkungsausschusses "Wissenschaft im Dialog" |
| 2006-2012 | Präsident der Jacobs University Bremen |
