From 1988 to 1992, Staudinger was a research scientist at the Academy of Sciences and Technology in Berlin. From 1992 to 1999, she was a senior scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development leading the research group on wisdom. Staudinger held a chair in lifespan psychology at Technical University Dresden from 1999 to 2003. She was then appointed Vice President and professor at the Jacobs University Bremen where she founded and led the Jacobs Center on Lifelong Learning and Development from 2003 to 2013.
From July 2013 until December 2017, Staudinger was the founding director of the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center,[4] a university-wide center that is based at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University and the Robert N. Butler Professor of Sociomedical Sciences and Professor of Psychology. As part her duties as director of the Aging Center, she also led the International Longevity Center (ILC).[8][9][10]
On March 17, 2020, Staudinger was elected as new rector of the TU Dresden, succeeding Hans Müller-Steinhagen [de]. She took office as rector of the university on 18 August 2020.[15]
Research
Staudinger's research focuses on human development and aging.[16][17] She has worked on identifying the conditions under which individuals and societies can optimize aging. Her scientific research includes aspects of lifespan psychology, such as the potential of lifelong development (resilience and plasticity); the development of life insight, conduct of life and wisdom[18][19] across the lifespan as well as inter-generational relationships.[20]
Staudinger, U. M. (2020). The positive plasticity of adult development: Potential for the 21st century. American Psychologist.
Hessel, P., Kinge, J. M., Skirbekk, V., Staudinger, U. M. (2018). Trends and determinants of the Flynn effect in cognitive functioning among older individuals in 10 European countries. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 1-7. doi:10.1136/jech-2017-209979
Mergenthaler, A., Sackreuther, I., & Staudinger, U. M. (2018). Productive activity patterns among 60-70-year-old retirees in Germany. Ageing & Society, 1-30. doi:10.1017/S0144686X17001404
Calvo, E., Madero-Cabib, I., & Staudinger, U. M. (2017). Retirement sequences of older Americans: Moderately destandardized and highly stratified across gender, class, and race. Gerontologist, 00(00), 1-11. doi:10.1093/geront/gnx052
Bonsang, E., Skirbekk, V., & Staudinger, U. M. (2017). As you sow, so shall you reap: Gender norms and late-life cognition. Psychological Science, 28(9), 1201-1213. doi:10.1177/0956797617708634
Oltmanns, J., Godde, B., Winneke, A., Richter, G., Niemann, C., Voelcker-Rehage, C., . . . Staudinger, U. M. (2017). Don't lose your brain at work – The role of recurrent novelty at work in cognitive and brain aging. Frontiers in Psychology, 8(117), 1-16. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00117
Wink, P., & Staudinger, U. M. (2016). Wisdom and psychosocial functioning in later life. Journal of Personality, 84, 306-318. doi:10.1111/jopy.12160
Staudinger, U. M., Finkelstein, R., Calvo, E., & Sivaramakrishnan, K. (2016). A global view on the effect of work on health in later life.The Gerontologist, 56, S281-S292. doi:10.1093/geront/gnw032
Scheibe, S., Sheppes, G., & Staudinger, U. M. (2015). Distract or reappraise? Age-related differences in emotion-regulation choice. Emotion, 15(6), 677-681. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0039246
Heidemeier, H., & Staudinger, U. M. (2015). Age differences in achievement goals and motivational characteristics of work in an ageing workforce. Ageing & Society, 35(4), 809-836. doi:10.1017/S0144686X13001098
Staudinger, U.M. (2015). "Images of aging: Outside and inside perspectives." In: Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 35(1), 187-210.
Skirbekk, V., Stonawski, M., Bosang, E. & Staudinger, U. M. (2013). "The Flynn effect and population aging." In: Intelligence, 41(3), 169-177.
Uglanova, E. A., & Staudinger, U. M. (2013). "Zooming in on Life Events: Is Hedonic Adaptation Sensitive to the Temporal Distance from the Event?" In: Social Indicators Research, 111(1), 265-286.
Mühlig-Versen, A., Bowen, C. E., & Staudinger, U. M. (2012). "Personality Plasticity in Later Adulthood: Contextual and Personal Resources Are Needed to Increase Openness to New Experiences." Psychology & Aging, 27(4), 855-866.
U. Staudinger und J. Glück: "Psychological Wisdom Research: Commonalities and Differences in a Growing Field." Annual Review of Psychology 62, 2011
C. Voelcker-Rehage, B. Godde und U.M. Staudinger: Physical and motor fitness are both related to cognition in old age." European Journal of Neuroscience 31, 2010, 167–176
U. Staudinger und E.-M. Kessler: "Intergenerational potential: Effects of social interaction between older people and adolescents." Psychology and Aging 22, 2007, 690-704
Paul B. Baltes und U. Staudinger: Interactive minds: life-span perspectives on the social foundation of cognition. Cambridge University Press, 1996, ISBN0-521-48567-3, [2] at Google Books