The European Association of Developmental Psychology gives every two years The William Thierry Preyer Award for Excellence in Research on Human Development to a European psychologist or a group of European psychologists – who is/are recognized internationally for an original and substantial contribution to a better understanding of human development and its contexts, as demonstrated by first-rate publications in scholarly journals, based on empirical research into the antecedents, processes and outcomes of human development-in-context. This year the jury decided to give the award to Professor Christina Salmivalli.
Salmivalli has been pioneering in bullying related research since the early 1990s. Salmivalli's work has received both national and international recognition. Her main research topics in educational and developmental psychology have been the dynamics of child and adolescent development, and particularly school bullying and the factors that explain it. Salmivalli is known for developing the antibullying programme KiVa School.
The Jury consisted of former Award winners: Wim Meeus, Hakan Stattin, Marc Johnson and the head was the EADP president Marcel van Aken.
