Iris Kohlfürst

Iris Kohlfürst is a Professor at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria (FH Oberösterreich) in Linz, affiliated with the Research Center Linz. She actively contributes to social work and social pedagogy through research, teaching, and leadership in professional organizations.

Her research centers on ethical frameworks for social professions, specializing in moral reflection models like the 'Vier-Faktoren-Modell' for analyzing dilemmas in practice. She investigates academicization processes in Austrian social work and develops practical tools for ethical decision-making, bridging theoretical concepts with real-world applications in care and educational settings.

Recent publications demonstrate a cohesive focus on ethical case reflection across social, pedagogical, and psychosocial fields, culminating in her 2023 anthology that synthesizes quantitative and qualitative approaches to professional ethics.

Her contributions have been recognized through prestigious awards:

• Leopold Kunschak Wissenschaftspreis (2015)
• Österreichischer Wissenschaftspreis für Soziale Arbeit 2016/17 - Dissertationen (2017)

She actively shapes the discipline through leadership as chair of the Österreichische Gesellschaft für Soziale Arbeit (ogs) board (2024-2026), organizing conferences like ogsaTAGUNG 2025, and delivering invited talks on ethical challenges in contemporary social work practice.