As a sociologist of religion, she focuses on the influence of religions on politics and society, specifically with regard to the Russian Orthodox Church. Stoeckl acquired her PhD at the European University Institute in Florence and research grants included a Marie-Curie Fellowship from the University of Rome Tor Vergata and an APART grant from the Austrian Academy of Sciences. In 2015, she received the START grant for outstanding young researchers from the Austrian Science Fund FWF and the ERC Starting Grant from the European Research Council for her research project on post-secular conflicts.