She visited Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona in 2014 and the University of Cambridge in 2013 and was a postdoctoral researcher and visiting lecturer at the University of Mannheim in 2012. She pursued her undergraduate studies at Maastricht University and Université de Montréal until July 2006. She received her PhD in Economics from the University of Konstanz in January 2011. Her research focuses on applied empirical research in the fields of Political Economy and Public Finance covering a broad range of policy-relevant topics such as political business cycles in local public finances, determinants of individual voting behavior, globalization and public policy as well as political selection and policy choices.