 From 1963 to 1968 he studied at the Institute of Mathematics at the University of Vienna, and obtained his Ph.D. under the supervision of Leopold Schmetterer.He spent his postdoctorate years (1968 to 1973) at Manchester ('68-'69), the Institut des hautes études scientifiques in Bures-sur-Yvette near Paris ('69-'70), the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (1970-'71), the University of Vienna (1971-'72) and the Austrian Academy of Sciences (1972-'73).In 1972 he received habilitation.