Tania is the Director of the Department of Social Neuroscience at
the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences
in Leipzig since 2010. After receiving her Ph.D. in Psychology in
2000, she became a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Max Planck
Institute for Human Development in Berlin, at the Wellcome
Department of Imaging Neuroscience, and at the Institute of
Cognitive Neuroscience in London. In 2006, she accepted a
position as Assistant Professor at the University of Zurich and
later as Inaugural Chair of Social Neuroscience and
Neuroeconomics and Co-Director of the Laboratory for Social and
Neural Systems Research. In Zurich, she hosted a Mind & Life
Institute Conference with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and is a
Board Member of the Mind & Life Institute. Her research focuses
on the foundations of social behavior and the neuronal,
developmental, and hormonal mechanisms underlying social
cognition and emotions (e. g, empathy, compassion, and
fairness). She investigates the psychological and neuroscientific
effects of compassion and meditation training. Tania has
published in journals such as Science and Nature. She is the
Principal Investigator of the ReSource Project, a longitudinal
mental training study. She also examines how biology and
psychology can inform economic decision making. Tania has
addressed global concerns by presenting a proposal for Caring
Economics at the World Economic Forum and the Global
Economic Symposium.
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