Heisenberg Professorship
I was awarded a fellowship in the Heisenberg Programme of the German Research Foundation (DFG), which funded my professorship from 2021 to 2026. The program fully funds a professorship for five years (€788,000).
Research project
The German Research Foundation (DFG) granted funding for a three-year research project on “Social networks and wellbeing: A multi-method study in an older community”. The project sought to identify which kinds of social networks are associated with positive health outcomes in older adults. Methods comprised the collection and analysis of qualitative and quantitative panel data on the social networks of older adults in several Cologne Carnival clubs. The project, known as the Jeckenstudie (“Carnival Revelers Study”), ran from 2022 to 2025 (€516,000).
Media reports on this project:
Interviews in the Kölner Universitätsmagazin, Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, Kölnische Rundschau, and MDR, and a mention on WDR 4.
Publications from this project:
Steinhoff, P., Ellwardt, L., Reiner, A. (2026): Functional social support and physical activity in community-dwelling older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Public Health, 26: 2504. [open access]
Steinhoff, P., Bilecen, B. (2026): The complexity of connection: Multiplex ties and network management in the second half of life. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 43(9): 2648–2672. [open access]
Reiner, A., Moody, J. (2025): Moving beyond constrained settings: Health and network dynamics among middle-aged and older adults in voluntary clubs. Network Science, 13: e15. [open access]
Reiner, A., Wittek, M., Ellwardt, L. (2025): Who would ask whom for health advice? The structural anatomy of health advice networks among middle-aged and older adults. Network Science, 13: e14. [open access]
Reiner, A., De Gioannis, E., Steinhoff, P. (2025): Social networks and their association with depression in community-dwelling older adults: A meta-analysis. Aging & Mental Health, 29(7): 1209–1238. [open access]
Steinhoff, P., Ellwardt, L., Wermeyer, M. (2024): Well-being in middle-aged and older adults who volunteer: A qualitative network analysis. Aging & Mental Health, 29(2): 343–351. [open access]
Reiner, A., Steinhoff, P. (2024): The association of social networks and depression in community-dwelling older adults: A systematic review. Systematic Reviews, 13: 161. [open access]
Steinhoff, P., Reiner, A. (2024): Physical activity and functional social support in community-dwelling older adults: A scoping review. BMC Public Health, 24: 1355. [open access]
Conference funding
The Fritz Thyssen Foundation funded a conference on social network research, held at GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences in 2019 (€8,500).
