EIL 01: Leadership Advice from Dr. Rolf-Dieter Heuer, Past Director General at CERN

Have you ever questioned the very nature of existence? Have you wondered how it all started and what secrets the universe holds? For most of us, these matters are beyond our comprehension. And yet, these are questions scientists at CERN - the world’s leading research body for particle physics - are currently exploring.

Dr. Heuer discusses with host Dr. Katrina Burrus the experiences and challenges to which he now attributes his successful leadership and achievements within the scientific community.

Who is Rolf-Dieter Heuer?

Dr. Heuer studied physics at the University of Stuttgart. He then obtained his PhD in 1977 at the University of Heidelberg under Joachim Heintze.

His post-doc studies include the JADE experiment at the electron-positron storage ring PETRA at DESY, and from 1984, at the OPAL experiment at CERN, where he also became a spokesperson of the OPAL collaboration for many years. Having been offered a full professorship for experimental physics at the University of Hamburg, Heuer returned to DESY in 1998. In 2004, he was appointed DESY’s Research Director. In December 2007, the CERN research council announced that Heuer will take office as CERN’s Director General starting 1 January 2009.