How do we perceive others? Why do we stereotype others, and why are we sometimes prejudiced? How do we make decisions? How aware are we of these automatic social processes, and what can we do to raise our awareness? I study, research, and teach about the cognitive underpinnings of social processes. In my research, I try to find answers to some of the most difficult questions about society and the mind, using rigorous scientific methods from cognitive sciences. In my teaching, I try to get students as excited about these questions as I am, even if (or maybe because) we often don't know the answers to many of them.My research and teaching has been awarded by the Society of Social and Personality Psychology (SPSP, Early Career Award 2019), the American Psychological Association (APA, Young Investigator Award 2014), and by my students at the University of Cologne (Students' choice for best Seminar 2018-2019, 2019-2020). I initially chose psychology simply because it sounded interesting: I had always been interested in how the mind works, how language works, how people relate to each other. But I also liked Math. And I cared about politics, about social justice. I found all of my interests combined when I was fortunate enough to receive a scholarship to go study abroad at Yale University and started taking classes in social psychology, and today I often joke that if social cognition didn't exist as a research field, someone would have to invent it for me. I went on to complete a Ph.D. at the University of Colorado Boulder, topped off with a postdoctoral fellowship at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. After six years as an assistant professor at the University of Cologne, I recently started a position as Senior Lecturer at the University of Bath in the UK. I'm still as passionate about social psychology and social cognition as I was when I started, and today I try to educate new generations of researchers to share at least some of that excitement and blend it with their own passions and interests.