Dorotea Sudar’s career illustrates how an education in sociology and the humanities can be successfully combined with public policy, European funds, and academic research on socially relevant issues. As an alumna of the Faculty of Croatian Studies, University of Zagreb, Dorotea now works at the intersection of sociology, criminology, and prevention science.

She graduated in Sociology in 2016 from what was then the Centre for Croatian Studies, University of Zagreb (now the Faculty of Croatian Studies, University of Zagreb), and completed her degree in Philosophy at the same institution a year later.

Even during her studies, she demonstrated a strong interest in connecting social theory with practice. In 2016, she received the University of Zagreb Rector’s Award for her individual research project entitled “Social Context as a Dimension of Police Integrity,” as part of which she also participated in the international research project Police Integrity in Croatia.

Today, she works at the Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy as a Senior Analyst for European Funds and International Financial Mechanisms within the Managing Authority of the Directorate for European Union Programmes. Her work involves contributing to the development and implementation of public policies through the use of European financial instruments, combining analytical expertise with an understanding of societal needs.

Since 2021, she has been a doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Zagreb, enrolled in the postgraduate doctoral programme in Prevention Science and Disability Studies, specialising in Prevention Science – Prevention of Mental and Behavioural Disorders and Mental Health Promotion.

“My education in sociology provided me with a foundation for understanding the broader social context in which deviant behaviour emerges, while also opening up space for thinking about prevention and the preservation of mental health, particularly through interdisciplinary approaches and art,” Dorotea explains.

To date, she has published several academic and professional papers. Her research, teaching, and professional interests focus on the criminology of violence, juvenile delinquency, deviant behaviour, models of policing, and police corruption from a sociological perspective, as well as the prevention of deviant behaviour and the promotion of mental health through art, with a particular emphasis on music as a medium.