Julia investigates the tectonics and geodynamics of orogens, including the deformation and evolution of the lithosphere in orogenic collision processes. After working in the Alps, focusing on high-precision earthquake locations of lower crustal earthquakes and their relation to the slab rollback mechanism of the European lithosphere, she started her Ph.D. in 2013 about the structure and dynamics of the Himalayan orogenic wedge in Bhutan. In her thesis, she applies different seismological methods, such as receiver functions, local earthquake tomography, earthquake refraction seismology and seismotectonic studies.