Laura Arnau is an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Pedagogy at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). She is involved in the research group IARS (Children and Young People at Social Risk) at UAB. Laura has developed extensive research in several fields, with her main research line focussing on social welfare, residential care and the transition of youths from care into adulthood. She has undertaken several fellowship stays, at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) in 2013 and at the University of Chicago in 2015, collaborating in different comparative studies. Currently, Laura is co-leading with Robbie Gilligan from TCD an international research project on care leavers and successful work transitions, involving 6 different countries. Prior to joining UAB, Laura worked as a career counsellor.