Andreas Freise obtained his PhD in 2003 from the University of Hannover for developing new optical simulations and for significant contributions to the experimental realisation of the German-British gravitational wave detector GEO 600. He then became the first post-doctoral researcher at the newly established European Gravitational Observatory in Pisa to work on the Virgo detector, continuing his work to bring the first generation of gravitational wave detectors online. In 2005 Freise became a member of permanent academic staff in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Birmingham, initiating a research activity on new technologies for high-precision experiments. The focus of his current research is on optics and interferometry for the Advanced LIGO project, the Einstein Telescope and future gravitational wave detector.
After having worked on both European detector sites, he actively supported the formation of a joint European community from the GEO and Virgo gravitational wave collaborations, which led to the successful FP7 design study for a future European research infrastructure, the Einstein Telescope.