She became interested in the mechanisms of totalitarian states and would later expand on her observations in her academic studies.
She has published a number of academic papers, mainly in the field of sociology on the topic of totalitarian systems.
[3] In 2010 she published Youth of the People's Republic of Poland: portraits of generations in historical context, a culmination of many years of research for which she received the Jan Długosz award in 2011.
President Bronisław Komorowski awarded Świda-Ziemba the Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta for outstanding achievements in research and teaching.
[4] She died on January 11, 2012, in Warsaw and was buried at the Powązki Military Cemetery (section D 31-tuje-6).