She has an MA in communication science/romance philology and a Ph.D. in communication science from the University of Vienna, Austria. Prior to joining MSU she was senior research and teaching associate in the Media Change & Innovation Division, Institute of Mass Communication and Media Research (IPMZ), University of Zurich, Switzerland (2008-2016). She was a Hertha Firnberg Scholar at the Department of Communication, University of Vienna, Austria (2005-2008); the inaugural Fellow of the Stanford-Vienna Transatlantic Technology Law Forum (TTLF) and a visiting researcher at Stanford Law School (2007); a post-doctoral fellow on international communication at the ARNIC, Annenberg School for Communication, USC, Los Angeles (2004-2005); and a research fellow at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria (1998-2004).