Peter Frank van der Graaf obtained his college degree in 1993 at the Comenius College in Capelle aan den IJsel. In the same year he started studying Sociology at the University of Utrecht, specialising in theoretical-empirical research and data-analysis. He graduated in 1998 and his thesis subject was on the strategies of success for the Dutch Environmental Movement. In the following year he started working as a researcher at the Verwey-Jonker Instituut in Utrecht. His research at the Verwey-Jonker Institute focused on social work, social infrastructure, local social policies and urban renewal. While working at the Verwey-Jonker Institute, he starting writing his PhD dissertation in 2005 and became a guest researcher at the Amsterdam School of Social science Research (ASSR) at the University of Amsterdam. In 2007 He is currently employed as a Research Associate at the Social Futures Institute of the University of Teesside in Middlesbrough, UK, where he is involved in research on third sector development and youth participation.
