After my BSc in Agricultural Science at the University of Bonn, I finished my MSc in Crop Sciences at the University of Hohenheim. I became interested in plant-parasitic nematodes during my bachelor's thesis, where I investigated the role of glutathione in plant-nematode interactions. Building on these experiences, I did my master's thesis in collaboration with the plant-parasite interactions group and investigated the interaction of a transcriptional master regulator of nematode parasitism with its cognate DNA motif. Following my master's thesis I joined the plant-parasite interactions group, first as a Pre-doc and now as a PhD student, to continue my research on regulators of nematode parasitism.