Curriculum Vitae

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Dr. Gabriel Bester studied physics at the University of Stuttgart where he obtained his Master of Science in 1997. His Master's thesis focused on the connection between the thermodynamic properties of defect formation and its microscopic origin. By combining "ab-initio" density functional calculations (DFT) with a thermodynamic model, he gained access to the energetics of atomic defects and their concentrations. He applied the theory to intermetallic compounds.

He then went to the Max-Planck institute for Metal Research in Stuttgart where he obtained his Ph.D. in 2001. The focus here was on the interpretation of results obtained in the framework of DFT in the language of bonding/antibonding-bonds well established in quantum chemistry.

He then joined the group of Dr. Zunger at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) as a Postdoc where he worked on the calculation of the electronic and optical properties of nanostructures. From 2004 until 2007 he worked in the Solid State Theory group at NREL as Senior Scientist on the development of numerical methods and the application of these methods to a variety of problems in the realm of quantum dot physics.

In 2007 he was appointed as independent junior research group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research.