• Room 01.005B - 6 College Green

    United Kingdom

Accepting PhD Students

PhD projects

- ABA-focussed PhD in any social important area (on-campus or distant learning options)
- Applicants have to be Board Certified Behaviour Analysts or hold a MScABA

1992 …2025

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Research Statement

Karola Dillenburger is Professor of Behaviour Analysis and Education and the Founding Director of the Centre for Behaviour Analysis at Queen's University Belfast.

She is a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst-Doctoral (BCBA-D), a certified behaviour analyst with the UK-Society for Behaviour Analysis (UKBAcert. PSA accredited), and a HCPC registered Clinical Psychologist.

Professor Dillenburger is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AdvanceHE), and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society and has been adjunct Professor at multiple universities across Europe and Australia. She is International Guest Faculty at the Asia Pacific ABA Network Institute in Japan and international advisor for Behaviour Momentum in India. Her teaching focus is on behaviour analysis, autism, and professionalisation.

Her research focuses on meeting the needs of the autism community nationally and internationally; developing compassionate behaviour analytic interventions to support vulnerable children and adults, explicating parenting across the lifespan, and elucidating trauma, bereavement, and stress. She has successfully supervised many PhD students and invites applications from those interested in doctoral research in any area of behaviour analysis.

She is published widely in high-impact international journals and has delivered invited keynote addresses and lectures in Europe, America, Asia, and Australia. Her books include: 

Applied Behaviour Analysis-based Interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorder: Bridging theory and practice (Routledge; 2025).

Job Coaches for persons with disabilities: A practical guide (Jessica Kingsley Publishers; 2019).

A seat at the table: Families affected by Autism (Amazon Kindle Publication; 2015).

Child Neglect and Behavioural Parent Education: Research and Practice (Russell House; 2014).

Behaviour Analysis: A Primer (ibooks; 2012)

Applied behaviour analysis and autism: Building a future together (Jessica Kingsley Publishers; 2006).

Parents’ Education as Autism Therapists. Applied behaviour analysis in context (Jessica Kingsley Publishers; 2000). Translated in Japanese 2005; translated in German 2013.

Advances in Behaviour Analysis (University College Dublin Press; 1997).

The abuse of women within childcare work (Open University Press; 1995).

Violent bereavement: Widows in Northern Ireland (Ashgate Publishing Company, 1992).

In 2024 she was awarded the Gold Medal from Masarky University, Czech Republic in recognition of her outstanding contribution to science, culture, higher education, and public life, including her commitment to the struggle for human rights and dignity.

She is the lead academic for the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Queen’s and Masaryk University in the Czech Republic.

In 2024, she was elected as the President of the European Association for Behaviour Analysis.

In 2025 she was appointed Fellow of the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI).

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
  • SDG 4 - Quality Education
  • SDG 5 - Gender Equality
  • SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
  • SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

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