The Consortium

University of Graz

The University of Graz, founded in 1585, is Austria’s second oldest and largest university. Many excellent scientists, amongst them six Nobel laureates, have taught and researched here. With 30,000 students (17% international) and 4,600 employees the University of Graz regards itself as an international institution for education and research committed to research and teaching for the benefit of society. The University’s international networking in the fields of teaching, research, and administration has increased considerably in the context of building the European Higher Education Area. The team leader Prof. Dr. Natalia Waechter is sociologist and educational scientist, contributing to the project with her expertise in comparative empirical methods of social science, youth studies, education in the life course as well as social inequalities/social inclusion. Dr. Markus Meschik is educational scientist focused on social inclusion of young people and quantitative empirical methods. The team implements two case studies in Austria, co-leads WP4 and contributes to all other WPs.

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Prof. Dr. Natalia Waechter

Team Leader

Natalia Waechter is a professor in Social Pedagogy at the Department of Educational Science, University of Graz, Austria. Her research focuses on young people and generations, educational trajectories and transitions in the life course, digital media, social inequalities, youth work and social work, identities and diversity, and comparative empirical methods. She is head of the Austrian Sociology of Youth, vice-president of the Austrian Network Youth Research, and executive board member of the RC Sociology of Youth of the International Sociological Association (ISA). Furthermore, she is editorial board member of the journals Emerging Adulthood (Sage) and Youth and Globalization (Brill) for which she has guest-edited the special issue on “Digital Citizenship” (2025). Throughout her career she has participated in various EU-funded projects, e.g., youthSKILLS (2020-2023) and further excellent research programmes. Her most recent research has been published in high-ranked journals such as the Austrian Journal of Sociology (2024), Data in Brief (2024), Journal of Applied Youth Studies (2024), Journal of Children and Media (2025), Journal of Research on Education (2024), and New Media & Society (2024).

Markus Meschik is an educational scientist and senior researcher at the University of Graz. His research focuses on youth culture at the intersection of social work and digital media. He serves as a reviewer and expert for the BUPP (Federal Office for the Positive Assessment of Digital Games) of the Austrian Federal Chancellery. With enter, he runs a counseling center in Graz that supports parents and young people in dealing with digital media.

Markus Meschik, PhD

Elena Stuhlpfarrer, BA BA MA

Elena Stuhlpfarrer, BA BA MA, is a social pedagogue and sociologist. She teaches and does research at FH JOANNEUM, Institute for Social Work in Graz, and is also an external lecturer at the University of Graz. Her research interests include youth studies, especially about love and relationships, digital phenomena, and deviant behaviour. In addition, she focuses on poverty and homelessness, especially female poverty.