I have a B.A. in International Relations from the Technische Universität Dresden (Hauptfach Internationales Recht), an MPhil from Cambridge (dissertation on the right of self-determination in international law), and a DPhil from Oxford and Merton College (dissertation on the definition of a legitimate target in international humanitarian law). While a student, I was an ERASMUS student at l'Université de Lausanne (Faculté de Droit), a Fulbright student at Seton Hall University (Whitehead School), and a visiting research collaborator at Princeton (School of Public and International Affairs). 

Prior to my current role at the Blavatnik School of Government, I was an Assistant Professor of Normative Theory at the London School of Economics, from 2015-2017. From 2017-2023, I was the John G. Winant (Associate until 2022) Professor of U.S. Foreign Policy at the Department of Politics and IR (DPIR) at the University of Oxford and Nuffield College. In 2024, I was a visiting Fellow at "Kolleg Forschungsgruppe: International Law, Rise or Decline?" in Berlin. 

I have been Co-Director of the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed (ELAC) conflict together with Dapo Akande since 2018. I am also a Senior Fellow at the Rothermere American Institute and an Associate Fellow of Nuffield College.

In 2021, I won a Philip Leverhulme Prize for researchers "whose work has had international impact and whose future research career is exceptionally promising." I am using the prize to conduct research on decision-making in war. 

In 2022-2024, I co-convened (with Scott Sagan) a research project on the "Law and Ethics of Nuclear Deterrence, funded by the MacArthur Foundation and hosted by the Harvard Belfer Centre. 

2024-2026, I am working on a three-year project entitled "Cumulative Civilian Harm: Addressing the Hidden Human Cost of the Law's Blind Spot", which is funded by a joint grant from the ESRC and the National Science Foundation.

2025-2026, I am co-leading an expert process co-organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC) regarding the concept of military objective under IHL. The process forms part of the Workstream 4: Protecting Civilian Infrastructure (Co-Chairs: Algeria, Costa Rica, Sierra Leone, Slovenia) of the Global Initiative to galvanise political commitment to international humanitarian law, launched by Brazil, China, France, Jordan, Kazakhstan, and South Africa and the ICRC in September 2024. 

I serve on various Advisory Boards and am currently a Global Advisor to the Annual Committee of the American Society of International Law (ASIL), a participant of the European Nuclear Studies Groups, and a board member of the Journals International Security, International Theory and the American Journal of Political Science. 

I was born and raised in Germany. I live in Oxford with Steven H. Simon and our daughter. A die-hard Bach fan, I enjoy classical music and singing, and travelling to visit my dispersed extended family.