Katja Corcoran

Univ.-Prof. Katja Corcoran serves as Professor of Psychology and Vice Dean for Research at the University of Graz's Faculty of Natural Sciences, leading the Institute of Psychology. She directs the university's 'Smart Regulation' profile area and participates in the 'Brain and behavior' research network, with leadership roles including former Head of Psychology Institute (2017-2019) and Deputy Head of Doctoral School of Psychology (2021-2023).

Her research centers on social psychological mechanisms in sustainability transitions, particularly:

• Energy citizenship frameworks and prosumer behavior
• Goal contagion dynamics in social networks
• Intergroup contact interventions in educational settings
• Regulatory psychology for sustainable systems

Recent publications (2023-2025) demonstrate interdisciplinary integration of psychological, legal, and economic perspectives, featuring field experiments across Austria and multi-lab European collaborations examining energy citizenship scales, behavioral nudges for appliance usage, and prejudice reduction in schools.

Honors include:

• Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship (Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, 2004)

She currently directs major funded initiatives:

• EU: 'Energy Citizenship and Energy Communities for Clean-Energy Transition' (2021-2024)
• FFG: 'FIWARE Driven Energy Communities for the Future' (2023-2026)
• International: 'Active User Participation for Smart Energy Services' (2020-2023)

Corcoran serves on editorial boards of Social Psychology (since 2016) and Social Cognition (since 2013), and her work operates within the 'Brain and behavior' network fostering neuroscience-psychology-economics collaborations for complex decision-making research.