Research at Department of People and Technology
The research at the department is organized into six main areas:
- Social Psychology of Everyday Life
- Lifelong Learning
- Health Promotion
- Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship
- Working Life
- Environment, Energy, Transport, Regulation, Innovation, Climate Policy
- Space, Place, Mobility, Urban Studies
- Computer Science and Informatics
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Social Psychology of Everyday Life is characterized by exploring psychological issues as they manifest themselves in everyday life. It focuses on psychological processes as they unfold in the spaces that are most strongly associated with everyday life: home, family, childcare and schools, work, urban spaces and community, but also on how the processes can be related to significant psychological themes such as gender, class, ethnicity, technology and power. There is also a focus on how the psychological processes of everyday life are challenged by general development in society.
Lifelong Learning is oriented towards exploring learning processes in a life-long perspective. Research into life-long learning is designed in relation to the stages of life (children, adolescents, adults, elderly), learning contexts (education, institutions, family, work, health, social innovation processes, professions, etc.) and learning aspects (skills development, orientation capacity, identity, etc.). The fundamental goal is to develop a nuanced understanding of the interplay between people's conditions for learning and the subjective processes that are involved in processes of learning and change, as well as helping to develop innovative working and learning environments.
Health Promotion studies health and illness from social, everyday life and subjective perspectives. The research generates knowledge about the conditions for health, about health policies, health interventions and about innovation in the health promotion efforts. Conditions and processes that create learning and empowerment in health are studied and developed on the basis of the premise that there is a close relationship between people's influence and health promotion. Work is conducted on theory development concerning what health promotion represents, and what role it plays in relation to changes in late-modern everyday life, the welfare state and its institutions.
Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship. The research group develop and share knowledge on social innovation processes, learning and competency development, and innovative management styles. The perspective is interdisciplinary and in part draws on psychological, pedagogical, and sociological perspectives, while also drawing on barrier-breaking knowledge which applies to the areas we study.
Working Life. The research group combines an interest in learning in working life with an interest in lifelong learning. We study the developmental conditions and course of development of working life, including possibilities and conditions for learning in working life. “Work” is of great importance, not just for the individual human being. As a collective practice in relation to changes on an institutional and societal level it makes a difference. The focus on subjective perspectives on lifelong learning in our research indicates that this kind of research is unable to capture the complexities of its object, if the notion of competency development is reduced to an adaptation to external demands. The research is transdisciplinary in the field between general social theory, social psychology, organization theories and physical / technical working analyses. The research profile is sociological with strong attachments to education, political analyses, health aspects and technical understanding of working conditions. Also labour market conditions and employment are included.
Environment, Energy, Transport, Regulation, Innovation and Climate Policy. This research includes identification of environmental impact as well as none sustainable exploitation of resources such as formation of criterions and strategies in connection with sustainable formation of companies, sectors, areas and economies. It also includes analyses of inclination within the economic development and analyses of the policy, regulation and planning which controls the upgrading and transition to sustainable development. Finally the research includes democracy processes, participation and interests in the development of policy, regulation and planning.
Space, Place, Mobility and Urban Studies. This research includes identification and investigation of the spatial reorganization of society. Relations between everyday life, culture, settlement and industries. New forms of mobility, social exclusion, intercultural relations, new technologies and creative industries demand new approaches in theory and in practice.
Computer Science and Informatics. IT systems have become a vital part of the infrastructure of modern human society. The design, construction, validation and evaluation of systems of ever increasing complexity and sophistication brings research challenges, both basic and applied, that are addressed by the research groups "User-driven IT Innovation" and "Programming, Logic and Intelligent Systems". Understanding the needs of users, customers and businesses starts with understanding people in context, which in turn drives the management of IT projects and the design of innovative IT solutions and information systems. Research in these areas relies on and is inspired by theories of organizational behaviour, sociology, psychology and management. The construction of reliable, intelligent, resource-efficient systems requires basic research in the mathematical and logic foundations of knowledge representation, algorithms, programming tools and languages. The overall multi-disciplinary goal of human-centred computing includes research in security and privacy, intuitive human-computer interaction, interfaces based on natural language and data visualization.
Research activities
Here is an overview of the research groups, research centres, large project and other research activities.
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Centre for Maritime and Marine Research
Research center for Social Entrepreneurship (CSE)
Research center in Health Promotion (CSUF - in Danish)
Research center for Welfare, Profession and Everyday Life (VelPro)
Research center for Experience and Tourism (COF)
Research center for Action Research and Democratic Societal Change
The Danish Centre for Research in Early Childhood Education and Care (CEDIF)
Research centres - only in Danish
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Childhood, Youth and Family Life
The research group on Childhood, Youth and Family Life is currently conducting several kinds of interdisciplinary research projects about the everyday life of children and young people across institutions and families. These research endeavors aim to uncover the impact of ongoing modernisation on children and young people as well as on institutions and family life.
This group brings together researchers who map and analyse the university and its practices in their current and historical forms. The research of the group is trans- and interdisciplinary and draws on a range of traditions including policy sociology, ethnography, sociology of science, continental philosophy and critical psychology, and members work with a range of methods including international and comparative perspectives. While 'critical' means different things to the members of the group, and is an on-going point of discussion, the common denominator is a shared concern about the future of the university as a social institution.
Environment, Energy, Transport, Regulation, Innovation and Climate Policy
The purpose of the research is to improve knowledge about the interaction between the growth of society and its groundings. This knowledge will form the basis of planning in correlation with environment, energy, production and transport. The research in METRIK is levelled at cross-curricular issues and includes scientific, technological as well as social aspects related to development and utilisation of nature, resources, infrastructure and technology.
Gender, Body and Everyday Life
In all culture gender is a category which is used to define a framework for the individual’s actions. Although different kinds of meaning are associated with gender in various social and historical contexts, gender can be a category which always makes a difference. This is the reason why the research group focus specially on gender across different fields of research. We wish to study the meaning of gender in and through different contexts with the aim of developing understandings of the meanings of the gender across various fields of research and from different theoretical perspectives.
Organization, Ethics and Social Sustainability
Programming, Logic and Intelligent Systems
The PLIS (Programming, Logic and Intelligent Systems) group at Roskilde University investigates foundations, tools and languages for the development of adaptable, reliable, human-oriented computer systems.
Social Innovation
The research group develop and share knowledge on social innovation processes, learning and competency development, and innovative management styles. The perspective is interdisciplinary and in part draws on psychological, pedagogical, and sociological perspectives, while also drawing on barrier-breaking knowledge which applies to the areas we study.
Mobility, Space, Place and Urban Studies
The research unit investigates the spatial reorganisation of society. We investigate relations between everyday life, culture, settlement and industries. New forms of mobility, social exclusion, intercultural relations, new technologies and creative industries demand new approaches in theory and in practice.
Subject, Technology and Social Practice
The research group focuses on studying of human beings’ subjectivity, experiences, and activities in their everyday life across different contexts. Today technologies play a vital part in coordinating the social activities and subjectivity in the plurality of contexts which is the basis of modern social life. Through the study of the social organisation of human practice (e.g. in a work place, a child care centre, a health care practice), the research aims to analyse relations between the challenges, perspectives, and technologies of everyday life. Furthermore, the research group makes analyses of the influence of these relations on how human subjects understand each other and act together.
Sundhedsfremme og sundhedsstrategier
User-Driven IT innovation
Understanding user needs and requirements starts with understanding people in context. These discoveries can then be translated into visions of user experiences and used for driving the design of innovative IT solutions. The starting point of user-driven IT innovation is analyses of the needs of users, customers, teams of professionals, organizational units, and businesses. The goals of our research are to achieve more successful IT projects and greater benefits of using IT. We focus on how organizations manage, design, implement, and use IT to support users' needs and business strategies. Internationally this research is related to the widely established research community of information systems (IS).
The research group combines an interest in learning in working life with an interest in lifelong learning. We study the developmental conditions and course of development of working life, including possibilities and conditions for learning in working life. “Work” is of great importance, not just for the individual human being. As a collective practice in relation to changes on an institutional and societal level it makes a difference. The focus on subjective perspectives on lifelong learning in our research indicates that this kind of research is unable to capture the complexities of its object, if the notion of competency development is reduced to an adaptation to external demands. The research is transdisciplinary in the field between general social theory, social psychology, organization theories and physical / technical working analyses. The research profile is sociological with strong attachments to education, political analyses, health aspects and technical understanding of working conditions. Also labour market conditions and employment are included.
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