Five Questions for Dr. Bernhard Dalheimer

My most productive time are mornings. I try to get most of my writing and coding work done between 7 and 10, mostly in home office. Then I go to the office and have meetings, during the semester I teach my classes and have lunch and coffee with colleagues. I start my afternoons doing administrative work and answering emails. Before calling it a day, I usually try to do another hour or two of conceptual work, writing or coding.

During longer breaks I enjoy travelling. I really like to get to experience new places, their culture, food, and language. My travel-hobbies are hiking, surfing and – most recently – fly fishing. For weekends and after work, I go to the gym, cook food, play football or music and hang out with friends.

I do not really have one that I think about often and try to live by, but closest to it might be „Failure is not an option“. I knew this one ever since I watched the movie Apollo 13 as a kid and really liked the way it was said (and lived by) by the people at the time who needed to complete this mission. When I was mid-way in my PhD, I got a magnet of that mission at Kennedy space center with that saying, which helped me to complete my dissertation.

As a teenager I wanted to become a professional musician. I started playing trumpet at an early age and later learned some guitar and piano. My biggest dream was being part of one of the big jazz bands or orchestras that tour the world. However, I came to realize that it was only a fraction of the best who get to live that dream. Nevertheless, I think that working in research – much like in the arts – requires creativity while offering some degree of professional freedom. Nowadays I still play some guitar and sometimes the trumpet for fun.

My girlfriend. If she’s busy maybe the Obamas.