Program committee
Dr. Bernadine Brady
Dr. Bernadine Brady is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Political Science & Sociology and Associate Director of the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre at the University of Galway. Dr Brady has researched and published widely on youth mentoring in a range of contexts, including community and school and with young people involved with care, youth justice and mental health systems. Acknowledged as a leading global expert on youth mentoring, she has published two books, 12 peer reviewed journal articles, two book chapters and ten research reports based on her mentoring research, presented this research at international conferences and helped to spearhead the creation of a mentoring research community in Europe.
Dr. Tatiana Ciff
Dr. Tatiana Ciff is a senior lecturer and researcher in behavioral and social sciences within the Professorship Green Economics & Process Optimization and Research Group at the European Studies study program. Her research focuses on the social-psychological aspects of human behavior, human capital, entrepreneurship, intercultural leadership, innovation, emotional intelligence, LLL, coaching and (social) mentoring, Europeanisation, and the design and evaluation of educational programs. She is a member or the Researchers’ Committee at Mentoring Europe, member of the International Community of Practice: Quality Mentoring Systems and Frameworks (Canada) and a fellow researcher in the LLO working group at the University of the North (UvhN), the Netherlands.
Peter De Cuyper
Peter De Cuyper is head of the research group Social and Economic Policy and Social Inclusion at the University of Leuven. His research focuses on migrant integration policies, with mentoring as a central theme since 2014. He developed one of Belgium’s first mentoring to work initiatives and has since contributed to numerous regional and EU-funded projects on mentoring to work, social mentoring for migrant newcomers, and workplace mentoring, with a particular focus on effective elements, governance, quality, and impact. Peter contributes to strengthening the European knowledge and evidence base on social mentoring as a founding member of the Mentoring Europe Researchers Committee and through his involvement in the MENT4EU project.
Katrin Hofer, MA
Katrin Hofer, MA, leads Engagement & Communications at Younus Mentoring, Austria. In this role, she enhances visibility and strengthens the impact of volunteer based social mentoring. With a background in pediatric occupational therapy and a degree in Social Economy and Social Work, she develops evidence informed, practice-oriented approaches to volunteer management and impact driven mentoring, drawing on strong cross sector collaboration and network building. Her interest in social mentoring is rooted in a long-standing commitment to advancing social inclusion and equitable opportunities for children, young people, and parents facing challenging life situations. She collaborates with universities and local partners to embed mentoring in study programs.
Prof. Òscar Prieto-Flores
Prof. Òscar Prieto-Flores is Associate Professor in the Department of Pedagogy at the University of Girona (accredited as Full Professor). He is currently Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of IMISCOE (International Migration Research Network), the most consolidated international network of academics on migration, and directs the research project of the Social Observatory of La Caixa Foundation: SAFESPACES, Social Mentoring, Well-being and Mental Health with racialized migrants and refugees. He has been Visiting Fellow at the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (Stanford University) and the Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring (UMASS Boston). His academic publications include the publication of his latest book ‘Mentoring Children and Young People for Social Inclusion: Global Approaches to Empowerment’ (Routledge, 2021).
Simon Reisenbauer, MA
Simon Reisenbauer, MA is working as a researcher at the Bertha von Suttner Private University, and as a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Vienna. His research focuses on inclusive teaching and learning practices from global and local perspectives, inclusive epistemologies, as well as professional development and organizational transformation. Practices of social mentoring are a common thread in the context of inclusive societal change and sustainable development in recent research collaborations with partners in the Global South.
Prof. Dr. Ralph Sichler
Prof. Dr. Ralph Sichler studied psychology and philosophy at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg until 1988. He then worked as a research assistant at the Institute of Psychology at the University of Technology in Berlin, where he focused primarily on the contemporary relationship between humans and nature. From 1997 to 2000, he was a research assistant at the University of Bremen. His teaching and research there focused on the current world of labour and its psychological aspects. He subsequently worked at various universities in Austria. In 2024, he was appointed Professor of Principles of Psychology at the Bertha von Suttner Private University. His current research interests include psychological aspects of the perception of art and popular music, the psychology of time, and psychological dimensions of current crises (e.g., the climate crisis).