After receiving her PhD there at the Faculty of Social and Cultural Sciences, focusing on neighborhoods and networks of older adults, she further developed her interest in interactions between individual and societal change. A modernization perspective is proving useful for understanding recent changes in neighborhoods, personal networks, and their associations. She is also exploring the use of evolutionary theory for understanding the way different social and cultural settings shape grandparenting and its effects on fertility. She greatly enjoys the interdisciplinary and international work environment of social gerontology.