Educational Research

The research focus on “Educational Research” continues the central foundational concept of the University of Klagenfurt, namely to explore, shape and advance education. Knowledge societies aspiring to the active involvement and inclusion of as many members as possible require comprehensive knowledge about the effective planning, design and implementation of educational processes and settings in order to achieve these democratic policy goals.

The focus on Educational Research is underpinned by this notion. The aims being pursued in research in the field of Education at the university are therefore to gain insights into individual, social and societal developments and opportunities, to help shape these in the sense of equal opportunities, and to align education with global, solidarity-based and transformative dimensions.

The thematic areas covered by researchers at the university are broad and include educational processes across the entire human lifespan with respect to diversity and gender, inter- and transculturality, sustainable development, multilingualism and migration, inclusion and exclusion, social inequality, educational processes related to everyday life, initial qualification and further training of educators, quality of higher education, schools and teaching, as well as the knowledge society and science communication. These topics of Educational Research are addressed by the (sub-)disciplines represented at the university – for example, from the perspective of subject didactics, adult education and vocational training, social pedagogy, educational psychology or the sociology of education.

In order to support researchers undergoing the qualification phase in the field of Educational Research, the Thematic Doctoral Programme Education and Transformation was established in the winter semester 2021/22.

Once a year, the participating departments host a research day at the University of Klagenfurt, to discuss current topics in the field of Educational Research. For this purpose, prominent scholars from the field of education are invited to give keynote speeches, and early-career researchers are offered the opportunity to present and discuss their research projects.