diff --git a/matlab/Add2Queue.m b/matlab/Add2Queue.m
index 4339b7c..f9de813 100644
--- a/matlab/Add2Queue.m
+++ b/matlab/Add2Queue.m
@@ -17,7 +17,18 @@ else
     jobnum = 1;
 end
 
-queue.jobs{jobnum}.finished = 0;
+running = numel(queue.jobs_finished) - sum(queue.jobs_finished);
+
+while (running>=queue.maxThreads)
+    [queue running] = CheckQueue(queue);
+end
+
+
+if (queue.verbose>=1)
+    disp(['Add2Queue: Job #' num2str(jobnum) ' starting...']);
+end
+
+queue.jobs_finished(jobnum) = 0;
 
 queue.jobs{jobnum}.argsfile = [tempname '.mat'];
 save(queue.jobs{jobnum}.argsfile,'func_args');
diff --git a/matlab/CheckQueue.m b/matlab/CheckQueue.m
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bd9747c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/matlab/CheckQueue.m
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+function [queue running] = CheckQueue(queue, query_time)
+% function [queue running] = CheckQueue(queue, <query_time>)
+%
+% Check the given queue for finished tasks.
+%
+% Parameter:
+%   query_time (optional): time interval to check for finished tasks
+%                          (in seconds, default is 5)
+%
+% For more details see: InitQueue
+%
+% See also: InitQueue, ResultsQueue, Add2Queue, RunOpenEMS
+%
+% openEMS matlab interface
+% -----------------------
+% author: Thorsten Liebig
+
+if ~isfield(queue,'jobs')
+    running = 0;
+    return
+end
+
+if (nargin<2)
+    query_time = 5;
+end
+
+numJobs = numel(queue.jobs);
+
+pause(query_time);
+
+for n=1:numJobs
+    if (queue.jobs_finished(n)==0)
+        if (queue_checkProcess( queue.jobs{n}.pid, queue.jobs{n}.filenames)==0)
+            queue.jobs_finished(n)=1;
+            load(queue.jobs{n}.outargsfile);
+            queue.jobs{n}.outargs = outargs;
+
+            % read in output and cleanup
+            [queue.jobs{n}.stdout,queue.jobs{n}.stderr] = queue_delProcess( queue.jobs{n}.pid, queue.jobs{n}.filenames );
+
+            % cleanup
+            delete( queue.jobs{n}.argsfile );
+            clear queue.jobs{n}.argsfile;
+            delete( queue.jobs{n}.outargsfile );
+            clear queue.jobs{n}.outargsfile;
+
+            queue.jobs_finished(n) = 1;
+
+            if (queue.verbose>=1)
+                disp(['CheckQueue: Job #' num2str(n) ' is finished!']);
+            end
+        end
+    end
+end
+
+running = numel(queue.jobs_finished) - sum(queue.jobs_finished);
diff --git a/matlab/FinishQueue.m b/matlab/FinishQueue.m
index 97203b4..10020c5 100644
--- a/matlab/FinishQueue.m
+++ b/matlab/FinishQueue.m
@@ -25,41 +25,14 @@ end
 
 numJobs = numel(queue.jobs);
 
-for n=1:numel(numJobs)
-    is_done = queue.jobs{n}.finished;
-end
-
 if (queue.verbose>=1)
-    disp(['FinishQueue: Waiting for ' num2str(sum(~is_done)) ' of ' num2str(numJobs) ' jobs to finish...']);
+    disp(['FinishQueue: Waiting for ' num2str(sum(~queue.jobs_finished)) ' of ' num2str(numJobs) ' jobs to finish...']);
 end
 
-while sum(is_done)<numJobs
-    pause(query_time);
+running = numel(queue.jobs_finished) - sum(queue.jobs_finished);
 
-    for n=1:numel(numJobs)
-        if (is_done(n)==0)
-            if (queue_checkProcess( queue.jobs{n}.pid, queue.jobs{n}.filenames)==0)
-                queue.jobs{n}.finished=1;
-                load(queue.jobs{n}.outargsfile);
-                queue.jobs{n}.outargs = outargs;
-
-                % read in output and cleanup
-                [queue.jobs{n}.stdout,queue.jobs{n}.stderr] = queue_delProcess( queue.jobs{n}.pid, queue.jobs{n}.filenames );
-
-                % cleanup
-                delete( queue.jobs{n}.argsfile );
-                clear queue.jobs{n}.argsfile;
-                delete( queue.jobs{n}.outargsfile );
-                clear queue.jobs{n}.outargsfile;
-
-                is_done(n) = 1;
-
-                if (queue.verbose>=1)
-                    disp(['FinishQueue: Job #' num2str(n) ' is finished!']);
-                end
-            end
-        end
-    end
+while sum(running)>0
+    [queue running] = CheckQueue(queue, query_time);
 end
 
 if (queue.verbose>=1)
diff --git a/matlab/InitQueue.m b/matlab/InitQueue.m
index 1895ec9..d78ffa0 100644
--- a/matlab/InitQueue.m
+++ b/matlab/InitQueue.m
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ queue.use_octave = 1;
 
 queue.verbose = 1;
 
+queue.maxThreads = Inf;
 
 % add current path
 queue.DependPath = ['addpath(''' pwd ''');'];
@@ -68,6 +69,9 @@ for n=1:2:nargin
     if strcmp(varargin{n},'UseOctave');
         queue.use_octave = varargin{n+1};
     end
+    if strcmp(varargin{n},'MaxThreads');
+        queue.maxThreads = varargin{n+1};
+    end
 end
 
 
@@ -79,3 +83,5 @@ else
     queue.bin = [matlabroot '/bin/matlab'];
     queue.bin_options = [' -nodesktop -nosplash  -r'];
 end
+
+queue.jobs_finished = [];
diff --git a/matlab/ResultsQueue.m b/matlab/ResultsQueue.m
index 03c3c28..cc9f745 100644
--- a/matlab/ResultsQueue.m
+++ b/matlab/ResultsQueue.m
@@ -19,6 +19,6 @@ if (nargout>numel(queue.jobs{n}.outargs))
     error 'not enough job output arguments'
 end
 
-for n=1:numel(queue.jobs{n}.outargs)
-    varargout{n} = queue.jobs{n}.outargs{n};
+for k=1:numel(queue.jobs{n}.outargs)
+    varargout{k} = queue.jobs{n}.outargs{k};
 end