Assoc. Prof Robin SAMUEL

Associate Professor of Youth Studies, Department of Social Sciences

Head, Centre for Childhood and Youth Research (CCY)

Head, Youth Studies Research Group Director, Doctoral Programme in Social Sciences (Doctoral School in Humanities and Social Sciences)

Robin Samuel’s research focuses on youth, digitality, health and well-being, sustainability, and research methods. He primarily works with large-scale datasets, applying statistical techniques, and also uses experimental designs and qualitative methods in some projects.

A selection of ongoing funded projects:

• Pathways into the Labor Market of Young People with Disabilities in Switzerland and Luxembourg: Drivers of and Barriers to Successful Transitions, 2023–2026 (PATH_CH-Lux).
• European Labour Markets Under Pressure – New Knowledge on Pathways to Include Persons in Vulnerable Situations, 2023–2026 (PATHS2INCLUDE).
• Youth Life Chances in the Digital Society, 2022–2026 (NYR25, also see NYR20).
• Youth Survey Luxembourg, 2016–2026 (YSL).
• Sustainability, Environmental Knowledge, and Social Imaginations of Climate Futures, 2024–2027.
• Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis for Social Sciences: Possibilities and Challenges, 2022–2027.

Robin is currently not accepting new Ph.D. candidates.

Robin teaches a wide range of topics, including general sociology, classical and contemporary sociological theory, youth studies, and research methodology (mainly foundations, introductory and advanced statistics), at the undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels.

He is involved in program development and academic governance as a member of the steering committees for both the Bachelor in Social Sciences and Educational Sciences (BSSE) and the Master in Social Sciences and Educational Sciences (MASSES). He frequently supervises bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral theses and serves on academic committees.

A central feature of Robin’s work is the integration of empirical research with practice and policy. He and his team promote knowledge exchange through multilingual digital platforms and workshops, fostering collaboration among researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. He maintains strong partnerships with ministries, observatories, and local municipalities, supporting the development of policy-relevant and impactful research, as documented here: youth-in-luxembourg.lu and jugendbericht.lu.

Robin serves on numerous steering committees of policy-relevant projects at the CCY, such as the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study.

Robin joined the University of Luxembourg in 2016 as an Associate Professor. Prior to this, he conducted research at the universities of Basel, Bern, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Stanford.

Robin holds a Lizentiat (equivalent to a Master’s degree) in Sociology, Sustainable Development, and Modern History from the University of Basel (2008), where he also earned his Ph.D. in 2012.