Professor of Sociology at the University of Cologne. Main research areas include healthy aging, social networks, and organizations.
Professor of Sociology
I am Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology and Social Psychology (DSS) at the University of Cologne (UoC), Germany, where I also serve as head of the department.
What I do
My research focuses on the relationship between social networks and well-being. Within this framework, I pursue two research lines: personal networks and health of older adults, and informal networks in organizations. Much of this work applies advanced quantitative methods.
Academic roles
In addition to heading the department, I am Academic Director of the B.Sc. program in Social Sciences, a board member of the Academy of Sociology (AS), a member of the scientific advisory board of the German Ageing Survey (DEAS), and a mentor in several university programs.
Career
From 2021 to 2026, I held a Heisenberg Professorship funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), and from 2014 to 2021 I was an Assistant Professor (including periods of maternity leave) in the same department. Before that, I spent eight years (2006–2014) at the Interuniversity Center for Social Science Theory and Methodology (ICS) at the University of Groningen (RUG) in the Netherlands. My positions there included doctoral researcher, postdoctoral researcher, and lecturer. I received my PhD in Sociology from the University of Groningen in 2011.
