Roland Wester is a molecular physicist who received his Ph.D. from the University of Heidelberg and afterwards went to the University of California, Berkeley, for postdoctoral research. Since then he has been investigating the reaction dynamics and spectroscopy of cold molecules and molecular ions. With his research group at the University of Freiburg in Germany, he has pioneered imaging experiments on ion-molecule reactive scattering. For low-temperature studies of astrophysically relevant molecular anions in particular, he relies on cryogenic radio frequency ion traps. Starting in October, he takes up an appointment as full professor at the University of Innsbruck in Austria.
