Daniela Wetzelhütter

Daniela Wetzelhütter is a Professor at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, based at the Research Center Linz with a focal area in Societal & Social Innovation. She holds an ORCID profile (0000-0001-5747-2250) and maintains an active research career with 55 research outputs, an h-index of 5, and significant citation impact across social science disciplines. Her work bridges theoretical frameworks with practical applications in contemporary societal challenges.

Her research spans Social Sciences, Values Research using the Portrait Values Questionnaire, Social Innovation, and Artificial Intelligence applications in educational contexts. Recent work critically examines ChatGPT's role in quantitative data analysis for students while maintaining rigorous empirical standards. She also investigates leadership competencies in social organizations and hard-to-reach youth engagement in street work, demonstrating methodological versatility across multidimensional scaling, goodness-of-fit testing, and qualitative field approaches.

Publication trends reveal increasing interdisciplinary convergence between social work methodologies and digital tools, with recent outputs showing strong emphasis on AI ethics in education and cross-cultural values research. Her 2024-2025 publications particularly highlight practical implementation frameworks for social innovation projects.

She has received notable recognition including:

• Gabi Moser Forschungspreis 2022/23
• GOR Poster Award (2023)
• Posterpreis (2023)

As principal investigator, she leads substantial research initiatives including BF-ChatGPT in university settings (2023-2025), AiO-Monitoring for NEET youth integration (2023-2026), and extremism prevention training evaluations. These projects secure significant funding and involve extensive cross-institutional collaboration, particularly with Upper Austrian social service organizations and international partners in Africa and Middle Europe. Her 72 recorded activities include 41 peer-reviewed presentations and substantial editorial contributions.

Wetzelhütter operates within the Research Center Linz ecosystem, directing teams focused on societal innovation where academic research directly informs social policy implementation. Current efforts prioritize developing AI literacy frameworks for social work students and evidence-based monitoring tools for integration services, reflecting her commitment to actionable scholarship in community contexts.