Prof. Dr. Frank Niklas

Important stations:

• 2019 - Professor for Educational Psychology and Family Studies at the LMU Munich
• 2018 - 2019 Senior Lecturer (Akademischer Rat) at the University of Augsburg
• 2015 - 2018 Senior Research Fellow at the University of Würzburg
• 2013 - 2015 Post-doctoral studies at the University of Melbourne, Australia
• 2007 - 2013 Research Fellow at the University of Würzburg
• 2001 - 2007 Studies in psychology at the University of Würzburg
  

Shortbio:

Frank Niklas is a developmental and educational psychologist with research interests in how children learn in the context of families (Home Learning Environment). He studied psychology at the University of Würzburg, where he completed his PhD in 2010. In 2013, he was granted a 2-year post-doctoral fellowship by the German Academic Exchange Services (DAAD) to work as a post-doc at the University of Melbourne, Australia, at which he still has an honorary appointment. In 2014, he received his venia legendi for psychology at the University of Würzburg, where he worked as senior research fellow after his return from Australia in 2015. From June 2018 until February 2019, Frank was appointed senior lecturer at the University of Augsburg. Since March 2019, he is Professor for Educational Psychology and Family studies at the LMU Munich.

Detailed Curriculum Vitae (PDF) (PDF, 256 KB)

• Home Literacy Environment / Home Numeracy Environment
• Interventions in the Home Learning Environment (Also with Digital Media)
• Development of Mathematical and Literacy Competencies in Children
• Educational Learning Apps for Children
• Development of the Academic Self-Concept
• Composition Effects in Kindergartens and Schools
• School Readiness

• HOME: Supporting Early Giftedness in the Family
• Learning4Kids: App-based Learning for Kindergarten Children at Home
• Rotary4Kitas: Enhancing the Digital Media Competency in Kindergartens (in Cooperation with Rotary Germany)
• Apps4Kids – Evaluation of Learning Apps for Promoting Children's Skills

• Niklas, F., Birtwistle, E., Mues, A., & Wirth, A. (2025). Learning apps at home prepare children for school. Child Development, 96, 577–590. Link
• Niklas, F. & Schneider, W. (2017). Home learning environment and development of child competencies from kindergarten until the end of elementary school. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 49, 263-274. Link
• Niklas, F. & Tayler, C. (2018). Room quality and composition matters: Children's verbal and numeracy abilities in Australian early childhood settings. Learning and Instruction, 54, 114-124. Link
• Valcárcel Jiménez, M., Wirth, A., Birtwistle, E., & Niklas, F. (2024). The Home Literacy Environment and television exposure as mediators between migration background and preschool children’s linguistic abilities. Reading & Writing, 37, 2323–2347. Link
• Wirth, A., Mues, A., Birtwistle, E., & Niklas, F. (2024). Evaluating educational apps for preschoolers: Differences and agreements between the assessments of experts, parents and their children. Computers in Human Behavior, 160, 108361. Link
• Wirth, A., Stadler, M., Birtwistle, E., & Niklas, F. (2023). New Directions in the Conceptualization and Operationalization of the Home Learning Environment. Journal of Educational Psychology, 115(1), 160–172. Link
  

List of all Publications (PDF) (PDF, 437 KB)