He was born in Hódmezővásárhely and graduated as a teacher. After working as a teacher, he joined one of the research groups of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) in Szeged. After a scholarship in Caltech (USA) he worked in the Central Physics Research Institute (KFKI) and in one of its successor institutes. He is a university professor at Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) and was a founding director of the Bay Zoltán Material Sciences and Technology Institute. He has spent almost a third of his professional career in leading American, French and German universities. He is freeman of Hódmezővásárhely.