She graduated summa cum laude from University College Utrecht in 2007 and won the University College Alumni Association Award for social involvement and academic excellence. She obtained her Masters degree in Psychology and Law from Maastricht University in 2008, where she received the Top 3% Award. She completed her Ph.D. thesis on the effects of eye-closure on eyewitness memory at the University of York in 2011, for which she received both the American Psychology-Law Society Dissertation Award (first place) and the British Psychological Society – Social Psychology Section PhD Award.