UGent @ Work is one of the ten IDC of Ghent University

Ghent University invests heavily in 'UGent @ Work', one of the ten InterDisciplinary research Consortia aimed at realising societal impact (IDC). In the (Dutch) video below the rector of Ghent University, prof. dr. Rik Van de Walle, explains why such an investment is so important.

IDC: InterDisciplinary research Consortia aimed at realising societal impact

An 'interdisciplinary research consortium aimed at realising societal impact'. That is a bit of a mouthful. But what does this mean exactly for UGent @ Work? In that cumbersome description there are three main ideas: research, interdisciplinarity, and societal impact.

Research

Within UGent @ Work research will be done on topics on work and the labour market in the broadest sense possible. In the future there are great challenges with respect to these topics such as the increasing number of employees with burn-outs, labour market discrimination and the impact of robotisation and digitisation on the labour market. These challenges demand that the strengths of different disciplines are combined.

Interdisciplinarity

At UGent topics on work and the labour market are studies by at least 24 professors and their research teams from at least six faculties and at least ten departments. In the past this was done partly on distinct 'islands'. UGent @ Work wants to increase collaboration between the researchers from these faculties and departments. For this means we organise – among others – bimonthly seminars and an annual doctoral course. And we want to increase societal impact with the research that is conducted in these collaborations.

Maatschappelijke impact

We do not want the research that is done within UGent @ Work to collect dust on a shelf. We will communicate more and better about research results (among others by means of our (Dutch) blog and (Dutch) clips) to increase evidence-based policy. After all, the most efficient policy is a policy of which you know, based on research findings, that it works. For that means we also launch Laboratory @ UGent @ Work, with which we want to actively contribute to the development of evidence-based policy advice. Additionally, besides merely communicating the output of our research to the general public; we also want to increase input for our research from the general public. For this means we organise big surveys on which labour market questions we should examine according to the general public. The first survey took place in January 2021 and the first results can be found in our (Dutch) Stories @ UGent @ Work. Finally, we will let smaller groups of citizens co-interpret the practical implications of our results in co-creation panels.

Our aspired contribution to evidence-based policy finds support among policy makers themselves, as indicated in the (Dutch) video below by Hilde Crevits, Flemish minister of – among others – work and economy.

TL;DR

In the (Dutch) video below the spokesperson of UGent @ Work, prof. dr. Stijn Baert, explains it all once more.