Center for Work Studies

The Transdisciplinary Center for Work Studies is a research and educational hub that brings together experts from diverse fields to examine complex issues related to work, the workforce, and the evolving nature of labor. The mission of the Center is to foster a holistic, transdisciplinary, and socially engaged understanding of work — as a social, cultural, economic, and ethical phenomenon.

The Center is grounded in the conviction that work is not merely a means of survival, but a key space of social relations, identity formation, and democratic participation. In a time marked by digitalization, demographic shifts, and ecological crises, the Center seeks balanced and just approaches to the future of work, founded on human dignity, mutual care, and sustainable wellbeing.

Vision

To become a research, educational, and advisory center in Slovenia and the wider European area that, through transdisciplinary approaches, comprehensively studies and co-shapes a just, sustainable, and humane future of work.

Mission

By connecting science, practice, and communities, the center promotes an in-depth understanding of work within its social, cultural, economic, and ethical contexts, and co-creates inclusive and sustainable forms of work.

Key Objectives

  • To develop transdisciplinary research on work, labor relations, and workforce transformations
  • To create experimental spaces for research and learning (laboratories, workshops, dialogue platforms)
  • To promote ethical and sustainable transitions in the digital and green economies
  • To strengthen competencies for intercultural understanding, mediation, and leadership within organizations
  • To contribute to the development of educational content and university courses (e.g., Long-Term Care, Diversity in Organizations, Intercultural Mediation, Organizational Behavior) that enable students to connect theory and practice
  • To advance gender equality, diversity, and inclusion as transversal axes of all research, teaching, and institutional engagement.

Organizational Structure

Founding members: dr. Nadia Molek, dr. Annmarie Gorenc Zoran, doc. dr. Magda Lužar, dr. Alexander van Biezen, Vesna Grabnar, dr. Lejla Imanović Lerić.

Head of the Center: dr. Nadia Molek (FOŠ)
Responsible for the strategic direction, research and academic leadership of the center, coordination of national and international activities, and the development of partnerships within European networks and programmes (e.g. Erasmus+, CERV, and, where possible, Horizon Europe and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions).

Vice Head of the Center: dr. Lejla Imanović Lerić

Advisory Board:

    • Dr. Aljoša Polajšar, Univerza v Mariboru, Slovenia
    • Dr. Rajko Muršič, Univerza v Ljubljani, Slovenia
    • Juan Carlos Revilla Castro, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Španija
    • Dr. Aneta Piezka, Kozminski University, Poljska

Research and Development Group: an interdisciplinary network of researchers and experts from the fields of organizational studies, anthropology, sociology, psychology, philosophy, economics, environmental studies, sustainability, artificial intelligence, ethics, etc.

Administrative and Project Support: professional support in project preparation, reporting, dissemination, event organization, and financial management.

External Collaborators and Partners: members of academic, public, and private institutions in Slovenia and abroad who collaborate on projects, visiting appointments, and joint research.