Nathalie Mella holds a PhD in psychology from Paris-Descartes University, obtained in 2008, focusing on the link between emotions and the perception of time. She then joined the University of Geneva for a post-doctorate on the development of empathy throughout life, and in particular on the evolution of the links between emotions and cognition. Subsequently, her research focused on intra- and inter-individual variability in cognitive development and aging. Since 2017, she has been conducting research on the development of socio-emotional skills in school settings, first in the Health Psychology group and then at the Center for Research in Affective Sciences (CISA). At the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences she joined the G-RIRE team in 2022 and then the IDEA team in 2025, where she works with future teachers to address the relational and affective dimensions of education and training.