Project team members:

• Prof. Lelia Kiš Glavaš, PhD
• Assoc. Prof. Natalija Lisak, PhD
• Assoc. Prof. Marina Milković, PhD
• Assis. Prof. Blaženka Brozović, PhD
• Svea Kučinić, assistant
• Martina Horvat, mag. soc. ped.
• Lucija Šutić, PhD
• Ana Krnić, assistant

Associates:

• Kristina Perišić, mag. psych.
• Maja Tadić Vujčić, PhD

The main objective of the PRO-ERF project is to examine how individual and contextual factors contribute to well-being in the academic community of the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Zagreb, using a longitudinal and multi-method research design. The project includes four waves of quantitative data collection (students: 900 at T1, ≈675 at T4; faculty: 60 at T1, ≈45 at T4; alumni: 600 at T1, ≈450 at T4), two diary studies with students and alumni (total N = 200), and 17 focus groups conducted in two phases – at the beginning and at the end of the project – with the aim of better understanding needs, challenges, and processes of change (students: N = 63, faculty: N = 36, alumni: N = 54). Drawing on the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) model, the project investigates the effects of personal characteristics, study and working conditions, institutional support, and systemic challenges on subjective, student, and professional well-being. Based on the findings, a psychoeducational intervention for students will be developed and scientifically evaluated (three cycles with 30 participants each). The intervention process will be monitored through focus groups and by comparing measurements at different time points in order to evaluate its effects. The scientific contribution includes the validation of four measures (Study Demands–Resources Scale, COPSOQ III, UWES-S, and MBI-SS), the development of a brief instrument for daily assessments of well-being, the creation and evaluation of an evidence-based intervention, and the establishment of a national database in the CROSSDA repository, which will enable further research and ensure data transparency. The results will be disseminated through publications in high-ranking journals and presentations at national and international scientific conferences, thereby contributing to the theoretical and methodological understanding of well-being in the academic community and in helping professions. The project also strengthens the institution’s research capacity by establishing a new interdisciplinary research group that includes faculty members from all study councils of the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, as well as by actively engaging students in research activities.