Curriculum Vitae

Career History

          since 2024
          Professor of Psychology, University of Southern California (cross-appointed to philosophy)

2018 – 2024
Associate Professor of Psychology, USC

2012 – 2018
Assistant Professor of Psychology, USC

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, Seattle

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

Educational Background

          2025
           M.S., Marriage and Family Therapy, USC

          2006

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

2001

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

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

Fellowships, Grants, and Awards

          2025-26
          10-months residential fellowship at Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg (HWK, Institute for Advanced Study)

          2024
          Caplan Foundation Grant for project “Boosting Minoritized Children’s Help-Seeking: A training study

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)