2012-2016

Ph.D., University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
Dissertation: Monitoring and Expressing Opinions on Social Networking Sites – Empirical Investigations based on the Spiral of Silence Theory

2010-2012

M. Sc., Applied Cognitive and Media Science, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
Specialization: Media Psychology

2007-2010

B. Sc., Applied Cognitive and Media Science, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
Specialization: Psychology, Computer Science

Since 05/2021

Assistant Professor (Tenure Track) of Psychological Processes of Education in Social Media

09/2023 - 04/2024

02/2021 - 08/2021

Parental Leaves

09/2018 - 10/2018

Visiting Scholar at the Department of Communication and Media (Prof. Dr. Brian Weeks), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA

Since 01/2018

Head of the Junior Research Group "Digital Citizenship in Network Technologies (DICINT)", University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany

05/2016-12/2017

Postdoctoral researcher: Social Psychology: Media and Communication (Chair: Nicole Krämer), University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany

01/2015-12/2017

Editorial assistant of the Journal of Media Psychology (Hogrefe)

10/2012-05/2016

Researcher and doctoral student: Social Psychology: Media and Communication (Chair: Nicole Krämer), University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany

10/2010-09/2012

Student research assistant: Social Psychology: Media and Communication (Chair: Nicole Krämer), University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany

2009-2010

Student trainee: Internal & Online Communications RWE AG (German electric utilities company)

2008-2009

Assistant for television production: Westdeutscher Rundfunk (West German Broadcasting)

01/2018 - 05/2023

Head of the Junior Research Group DICINT (funded by Ministry of Culture and Science of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia)

04/2017-12/2017

Researcher in the project "Forum Privacy and Self-determined Life in the Digital World" (funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research)

02/2016-03/2017

Researcher in the project "Automated Allocation of Volunteers in Major Disasters" (funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research)

2011-2012

Student research assistant involved in the project “Reception of online science information – Factors of selection and attitude formation” (Special Priority Program „Science and the general public: Understanding fragile and conflicting scientific evidence”, funded by the German Research Foundation)

2018-2020

Secretary of the Division "Communication and Technology" (ICA)

Since 2018

Deutscher Hochschulverband

2017-2021

Young Members' Representative of the Group "Media Psychology" (German Psychological Society DGPs)

Since 2014

German Association for Journalism and Communication Research (DGPuK)

Since 2012

International Communication Association (Divisions: Communication and Technology, Political Communication, Mass Communication; Interest Group: Computational Methods)

2020

Stafford Beer Medal for the article "Are social bots a real threat? An agent-based model of the spiral of silence to analyse the impact of manipulative actors in social networks"

2017

Best Paper Award of the Division Media Psychology (German Psychological Society)  for the article "Monitoring the opinion of the crowd: Psychological mechanisms underlying public opinion perceptions on social media" (published in Media Psychology)

Herbert S. Dordick Dissertation Award (Communication and Technology Division, International Communication Association)

2015

Top Student Paper Award (Communication and Technology Division, International Communication Association)

2014

Scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to perform part of the PhD studies at the Nanyang Technological University, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information (Prof Joseph Walther)