- since 07/2013:
Full professor for Biological Personality Psychology and Psychological Assessment at the Georg August University of Göttingen, Germany
- 07/2011:
Habilitation in psychology at Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
- 01/2011-06/2013:
Lecturer at the Department of Psychology of the University of Edinburgh, UK
- 02/2008-12/2010:
Post-doctoral research fellow in the Disconnected Mind project (PI: Prof. Dr. Ian J. Deary) at the Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, UK (funded by the Medical Research Council)
- 02/2006-07/2007:
Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter [pre-doctoral researcher] in the DFG-funded project "Implicit and explicit sociosexuality in the context of Quickdating (speed-dating)" (PI: Prof. Dr. Jens B. Asendorpf) at the Institute of Psychology, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
- 10/2004-07/2007:
External Fellow, International Max Planck Research School "The Life Course: Evolutionary and Ontogentic Dynamics" (LIFE)
- 04/2004-07/2007:
Graduate student of psychology at the Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany
- 02/2004-01/2006:
Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter [pre-doctoral researcher] in the DFG-funded project "Evolved implicit representations and automatic behavioral tendencies: Sociosexuality and jealousy" (PI: Prof. Dr. Jens B. Asendorpf) at the Institute of Psychology, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
- 10/1999-11/2003:
Study of psychology at the University of Bielefeld, Germany (diploma with distinction)
- Born on 2 September 1978 in Detmold, Germany
Grants and awards
- 2025:
Focus Meeting Funds “Integrating human and animal personality research” from the European Association of Personality Psychology (EAPP) (Co-PI, with Mitja Back, Melanie Dammhahn & Cornelia Wrzus), € 10,000.
- 2021:
DFG Collaborative Research Center 1528 "Cognition of Interaction" (Co-PI, with Alexander Gail (speaker) and 22 other PIs), € 12.5 million (own part € 306,450).
- 2021:
Research Building Human Cognition and Behavior HuCaB (Co-PI, with Annekathrin Schacht (leading PI) and 8 other PIs), € 37 million.
- 2018:
Preregistration challenge prize from the Open Science Framework (OSF) for Kordsmeyer & Penke (2019, Journal of Research in Personality), $ 1,000.
- 2018:
Seed funds from the Leibniz ScienceCampus "Primate Cognition" for the project "Investigating the impact of sex hormonal levels on facial emotion perception" (with Yasaman Rafiee, Annekathrin Schacht and Julia Ostner), € 12,736.
- 2018:
Seed funds from the Leibniz ScienceCampus "Primate Cognition" for the project "Inter-individual differences in males' ability to recognize emotions expressed by faces and voices" (with Adi Lause and Annekathrin Schacht), € 9,657.
- 2016:
Seed funds from the Leibniz Research Campus "Primate Cognition" for the project "Hormonal reactivity, perceived dominance and nurturance, and mating success in men" (with Tobias Kordsmeyer and Julia Ostner), € 9,948.
- 2015-2024:
DFG Research Training Group 2070 "Understanding Social Relationships" (Co-PI, with Julia Fischer (Speaker) and 11 other PIs), first funding peroid: € 3,713,315 (own part € 314,432.98), second funding period € 3,705,611 (own part € 277,269).
- 2015-2016:
Fellow der Forschergruppe "Genetic and Social Causes of Life Chances" am Zentrum für interdisziplinäre Forschung (ZiF), Universität Bielefeld
- 2015:
Seed funds from the Leibniz Research Campus "Primate Cognition" for the project "Online diary study testing estrus-like changes in female sexuality" (PI, with Julia Ostner), € 10,000.
- 2015:
Funding from "Forschungsorientiertes Lehren und Lernen" (FoLL) for the project "Wer ist beratungsresistent (und warum)? Persönlichkeits-Prädiktoren der Ratschlagssuche und –vermeidung im täglichen Leben" (Co-PI, with Tanja Gerlach and Ruben Arslan), € 4,790.40.
- 2013-2014:
Principle Investigator, Courant Research Centre "Evolution of Social Behaviour"
- 2012:
Early Achievement Award of the European Association of Personality Psychology (EAPP), € 1,000.
- 2011-2014:
Medical Research Council Research Grant "Brain white matter imaging and cognitive ageing in the Lothian Birth Cohort of 1936: II" (with Ian Deary (PI), Mark Bastin, John Starr and Joanna Wardlaw), £ 808,224.
- 2011:
PPLS Pilot Grant for the symmetry lab (PI), £1,658.
- 2010:
Infrastructur Grant for establishing a symmetry lab (PI, with Timothy Bates and Ian Deary), £ 78,000.
- 2009:
British Academy Overseas Conference Grant part-funded attendance at ISSID 2009 (International Society for the Study of Individual Differences), in Evanston, USA, £ 500.
- 2008-2020:
Associate member of the Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology (CCACE, Director: Prof. Dr. Ian J. Deary) at the Department of Psychology of the University of Edinburgh, UK (funded by the BBSRC, EPSRC, ESRC und MRC)
- 2007:
Award for the best publication in the European Journal of Personality based on a Ph.D. or Master/Diploma thesis for "The evolutionary genetics of personality", £ 250.
- 2006:
Travel grant from the Personality Psychology and Psychological Assessment section of the German Society for Psychology, funding attendance of the summer school "Hierarchical Linear Modeling" in Syros, Greece.
Memberships
- Deutsche Gesellschaft für Psychologie (German Society for Psychology DGPs)
- Branch Personality Psychology and Psychological Assessment (DPPD)
- Branch Social Psychology (FGSP)
- European Association of Personality Psychology (EAPP)
- International Society for Intelligence Research (ISIR)
- Human Behavior and Evolution Society (HBES)
- European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association (EHBEA)
- Menschliches Verhalten unter evolutionärer Perspektive (MVE)
- Scientific network "Personality and Social Relationships: Current State and Perspectives" (PERSOC)
- Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists™ (LFHCfS)
