Daniel
Graf
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Areas of expertise
Biography
Daniel Graf is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the INVEST Research Flagship Centre, University of Turku, specializing in bullying and peer relations across adolescence. He holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Vienna, where he investigated risk and protective factors in offline and cyberbullying, and a Mag. rer. nat. in Psychology, with a focus on empathy and neural processes.
His academic journey combines research, teaching, and supervision, alongside applied work in youth support and social policy. He has presented his findings at international conferences and contributed to interdisciplinary collaborations, exploring how rigorous research can make a tangible difference in young people’s lives.
Teaching
Daniel has several years of experience teaching master’s students in educational psychology, including supervising and mentoring master’s theses. He currently gives lectures in the Peer Relations course (focusing on friendships) and the Prevention and Intervention course (focusing on evaluating intervention effectiveness).
Research
Daniel's work focuses on understanding both sides of bullying: the factors that make some adolescents vulnerable and the motivations behind others’ harmful behavior. More broadly, he studies peer relations and social dynamics, examining how individual traits, group structures, and different contexts — including school and online environments — shape adolescent development.