Curriculum Vitae

Career History

2018 – present
Associate Professor, University of Southern California

2012 – 2018
Assistant Professor, University of Southern California

2009-11
Research Scientist in the Department of Comparative and Developmental Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

2007-2009
Research Scientist at the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington

2006-2007
Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Comparative and Developmental Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (advisor: Michael Tomasello)

Educational Background

2006
Ph.D. in Psychology, University of Leipzig, Germany (Advisor: Michael Tomasello, MPI-EVA)

2001
Diplom (German Master’s Degree) in Psychology, Philipps University Marburg

1999
Licence in Psychology, Sorbonne (Université René Descartes, Paris V)

Fellowships, Grants, and Awards

2023
Joseph B. Gittler Award (American Psychological Foundation)

2019-23
Borchard-Foundation Grant for project “Understanding Cultural-Evolutionary Mechanisms for Human Knowledge Transmission” ($35,000) Role: Lead-PI (w/ Ryan Nichols)

2017
Spencer Foundation Midcareer Grant for project “Toward a Second-Personal Account of Learning from Teaching: Uniting Philosophy of Education with Studies in Cognitive Development” ($149,405)

2016
Albert S. Raubenheimer Award for Outstanding Faculty Member, awarded by USC

2015-16
Templeton Fellowship at the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study

2014  
Zumberge Interdisciplinary Award, awarded by USC. Role: Lead-PI (w/ E. Kaiser, S. Narayanan)

Grant for project “The Emergence and Modeling of Counterfactual Reasoning”, awarded by the Office of Naval Research ($750,000) Role: Lead-PI (w/ Morteza Dehghani)

2012
Grant for Research Group “The Anthropological Difference: Empirical and Conceptual Perspectives”, awarded by the Saxonian Academy of Sciences (365,000 €). Role: Co-PI (w/ Andrea Kern)

2011
Young Mind and Brain Prize, Center of Cognitive Science of Turin

Young Academy Membership

2007-2012
Dilthey-Fellowship: 5-year-research grant (400,000 €), awarded by the Volkswagen Foundation. Role: PI

2002-2005
Doctoral Fellowship from the German National Merit Foundation (Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes)