Franz Schiermayr

Franz Schiermayr is a Professor at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria (Linz Campus), affiliated with the Research Center Linz Digisocialisation where he leads the Societal & Social Innovation focal area. His work bridges digital technology and social services, with emphasis on vulnerable populations in online environments.

Schiermayr's research centers on digital social spaces and crisis intervention, investigating how families form connections online, identifying invisible at-risk children/families, and promoting adolescent health communication. His fingerprint highlights Counseling (100%), Care Relationships (46%), and Family Crisis (23%) as core themes. Projects like “Artificial Eye” address social blind spots through technology, while “Lonely home office?” tackles isolation in remote work.

His recent publications (2024-2025) reveal consistent focus on digital social innovation, with cross-cutting themes in health communication for youth, risk detection for marginalized families, and deradicalization. The “Artificial Eye” framework emerges as a unifying methodology for enhancing social visibility.

Schiermayr has secured competitive funding from Fast Track Digital and the Future Fund of the Chamber of Labor Upper Austria for projects spanning 2019-2023, including systemic assistance programs for isolated employees and evaluations of early help networks. He actively presents at international forums like the European Conference for Social Work Research.

As director of the Linz Digisocialisation Research Center, he collaborates closely with Dr. Sweet on digital intervention frameworks. His team develops tools for “connecting social blind spots” while addressing ambivalence in counselor-family relationships through nonviolent communication techniques.