Olaf Kapella's research interests include strategic family research in an international context, evaluation research (e.g. family policy measures or child and youth welfare), violence research, men's studies and the development of comprehensive models of sexual education.

He is a member of various European committees, including the WHO Europe and BZgA Expert Group for Sexuality Education, the scientific advisory board of the German LeSuBiA violence study and has various teaching assignments and trainer activities in Austria and abroad. He has been research coordinator at the Austrian Institute for Family Studies (OIF) since 2006. In addition to his work at the OIF, he works as a counsellor in a funded family counselling centre, focusing on men's and sexual counselling as well as violence and prevention.

Research Focus and Projects

• International Family Research and Policy: European Congress on Family Research, DigiGen EU Project within the framework of Horizon 2020, Familyplatform
• Evaluation research, e.g. Evaluation of the Federal Child and Youth Welfare Act (2016-2018), Child care allowance (Kinderbetreuungsgeld bzw. Kinderbetreuungsgeldkonto) (2001-2022), Family counselling in Austria (2019-2021), Online counselling in Austria (2023), Familypolicy in Austria (2013-2015)
• Research on violence: Prevalence of violence in Austria; Scientific Board of LeSuBiA in Germany;  20 Years of the law of corporal and psychological punishment; Phenomenon on Violence in Education in Japan and Austria
  
• Prevention and sexuality education: Standards for Sexuality Education; Training Matters: A Framework for Core Competencies of Sexuality Educators, Training Matters: Operational Guidance for Training Sexuality Educators, Sexual violence (Runder Tisch Sexueller Missbrauch).
• Men's and fathers' research: Papa geht Arbeiten