Wolfgang Rhode studied physics at the University of Freiburg and completed a further study of philosophy with a doctorate. In 1993, he received his doctorate in physics from the University of Wuppertal. Wolfgang Rhode has both conducted research and taught at the Universities of Wuppertal and Berkeley and has held a professorship for Astroparticle Physics at TU Dortmund University since 2004. In 2022, he was additionally honored as an Honorary Professor by the Ruhr University Bochum. His research group is internationally renowned for their application of data analysis methods, which are implemented in various astrophysical experiments, including the large-scale projects IceCube, CTA, FACT, and MAGIC.