Europe · 12 countries · 2023–2026
TEPACE
What parents and teachers in twelve countries think about character education: 47 researchers and 10,909 respondents — a study initiated and led from Austria.
Project page →Research · programmes · networks
Projects
What we research, what grows out of it for schools, and what is being prepared
The projects of Roland Bernhard and the Austrian Character Initiative at KPH Vienna/Lower Austria, carried out with schools, education directorates and universities across Europe. Many of them have their own page here; for the newer ones, the Character Initiative’s website, charactereducation.at, has more (in German).
Studies
Research
Studies with partners in Austria and across Europe — and what follows from them for schools.
University of Oxford · FWF · 2018–2024
School Quality and Teacher Education (SQTE)
What highly effective schools in challenging circumstances in England do differently: 43 interviews, a survey of 622 school leaders and teachers, and eight recommendations for Austria.
Project page →
Vienna · 2026–2031 · with Teach For Austria
Kompass School of Character Favoriten
Accompanying research, led together with Denise Hofer, at a new school for excellent teaching and character education, founded on the initiative of Teach For Austria.
Project page →
Psychotherapy study · 2025–2026
Leadership for Resilience and Character Strengths
What psychotherapists and school psychologists advise schools: a study with more than 80 professionals, with Lena Cataldo-Schwarzl — and three school development modules for school leaders derived from it.
Project page →
With Evelyn Kropfreiter · Oxford 2026
A theory of character education
What are personality, temperament and character, and how do they relate? With Evelyn Kropfreiter, Roland Bernhard is developing a model that connects neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics with psychobiological personality research — presented in January 2026 at the conference of the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues at Oriel College, Oxford.
More on charactereducation.at (in German) →
European COST network · applied for in 2026
LEARN2FLOURISH
How does education help people learn to flourish? 44 researchers from twelve countries have applied to COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) for a joint network, led by Palacký University Olomouc — among the Austrian members Roland Bernhard and Evelyn Kropfreiter. The decision on funding is pending.
More on charactereducation.at (in German) →
Vienna and Barcelona · 2026
Mentoring and practical wisdom
Many young people know what would be right and still do not do it. A mixed-methods study at a grammar school in Vienna and a school in Barcelona, where every student has a personal mentor, asks whether mentoring helps to turn moral knowledge into action — first findings were presented in Trnava in June 2026.
More on charactereducation.at (in German) →
With Teach For Austria and the MMS Aspern · since 2022
Classroom Leadership
Teachers lead every day — through clear structures, relationships and example. From the London research, formats for Austrian teachers emerged with Teach For Austria and the Modulare Mittelstufe Aspern: modular training series, classroom videos and a guide to onboarding new teachers that is used across Austria.
More on charactereducation.at (in German) →
Submitted to the FFG · with Johannes Luef and Heidi Burkhart
Agentic AI for Character Education
A teacher enters subject, topic and grade — and receives curriculum-aligned lesson plans, worksheets and activities for the class, always with a character education perspective. Beyond that, agentic AI is to support schools in quality development and relieve school leaders of administrative work.
More on charactereducation.at (in German) →Further research
Charakterinitiative Deep Dives — free research summaries for schools, school leaders and policy; no. 1: what makes people happy
School development consulting — three studies and instruments, with colleagues at KPH Vienna/Lower Austria and the University for Continuing Education Krems
KISU — how artificial intelligence is changing school and teaching development in Austria: an interview study with school leaders and system stakeholders
Earlier research: history education and textbooks, 2012–2021 — EBAHT (Oxford), CAOHT (FWF) and three open-access volumes on historical myths
Training and practice
Programmes for schools and leaders
What the research turns into in professional development, teaching and everyday school life.
With the Autoris Leadership Institute
Character-based leadership in practice
Tools of the Autoris Leadership Institute for coaching, conversations and team development, brought to Austria’s school leaders and teachers with Matthias Ehrhardt and Verena Lauffs — at the EULEAD Summerschool and the LEAD Conference 2026, in a free live online seminar and in “Making Others Great”, which is also a micro-credential of the KPH.
Character-based leadership →
Education Directorate of Lower Austria · 2026/27
Annual theme “Leadership and Character Education”
Character education and character-based leadership as the annual theme for all schools in Lower Austria — with workshops for the school leaders of every school type, a workbook and an accompanying study.
Workbook and tools →
With Aron Marton · Styria 2026
Character-building classroom management
How leading a class shapes character: on the initiative of Marion Reitterer, Roland Bernhard and Aron Marton, head of the Kompass School of Character, work in 2026 with all school leaders in Styria on calm, clear and appreciative classroom leadership. The first session took place in Scheifling in November 2026.
The first session →
For school leaders · since 2021
EULEAD Summerschool
The annual summer school for Austria’s school leaders — in 2026 with more than 100 leaders from education, business and civil society at Lilienfeld Abbey.
About the summer school →
KPH Vienna/Lower Austria · 6 ECTS · from February 2027
University certificate course and MOOC
“School-based character education for mental health”: one semester, fully online, for teachers and school leaders of all school types, with a supervised practice project at their own school, in cooperation with the Austrian Federal Association for Psychotherapy — and a free MOOC on iMooX for primary and early secondary school.
All courses and seminars →
With Heidi Burkhart
Leader in Me Austria
Children and young people learn to lead themselves: to take responsibility, set goals and work well with others. With Heidi Burkhart, Roland Bernhard is bringing FranklinCovey’s school programme Leader in Me to Austrian schools — with materials in German, websites and talks, also as part of Lower Austria’s annual theme.
More on charactereducation.at (in German) →Planned projects
In preparation
Two projects that are being prepared with partners.
Planned · with the Wiener Domsingschule
Character education through singing
What do children learn about living with others when they sing together in a choir? A planned school development project with Markus Göller, director of the Wiener Domsingschule, and partner schools of the Archdiocese of Vienna. Revived in 2021, the cathedral singing school brings together pupils and teachers from several schools.
More on charactereducation.at (in German) →
Planned · with Agnes Schwarzenberger-Berthold
Character education in early childhood
Character grows from the very beginning: being kind, waiting, sharing, daring, saying thank you. The planned project is to bring character education into kindergartens and into the training of early childhood educators — building on Roland Bernhard’s experience in founding kindergartens and developing pedagogical concepts that were put into practice.
More on charactereducation.at (in German) →In Europe and at the KPH
Networks
Together with others — across Europe and at KPH Vienna/Lower Austria.
Europe · since 2022
European Character and Virtue Association
Europe’s network for character education, co-founded in 2022: conferences in Madrid, Rome, Vienna and Trnava, and in 2027 in Stockholm. Roland Bernhard serves on its executive board.
About ECVA →
KPH Vienna/Lower Austria · since 2026
Transdisciplinary Department at the KPH
Thinking gifted education, character education and potential development together: 15 lecturers and partners from school practice, co-led by Denise Hofer and Roland Bernhard.
More on charactereducation.at (in German) →
TEPACE · LEARN2FLOURISH · ECVA
Colleagues and partners
The co-authors, project partners and consortium members behind these projects, with their institutions — from the TEPACE consortium in twelve countries to partners in schools and education authorities in Austria.
Colleagues & partners →Get involved
Partners for the next steps
The next projects — the second wave of TEPACE, the large-scale implementation of character-based leadership, the accompanying research at the Kompass School of Character and Agentic AI for Character Education — are looking for partners: schools, universities, education authorities and funders.