29 June 2026 – 1 July 2026. WU Vienna University of Economics and Business

We invite PhD students and early career researchers to apply for the in-person Early
Career Workshop in Researching Care and Care Policy in Europe: Emerging Topics in
Care and Care Policy to be held at WU Vienna University of Economics and Business,
Austria, from Monday, 29 June 2026 (h. 13:00) to Wednesday, 1 July 2026 (h. 13:00).

The Early Career Workshop aims to provide participants with a discussion space for
current and emerging issues and challenges for care and care policies in Europe. We
aim to connect research on care across different policy fields: early childhood education and care, care for adults with disabilities, and long-term care for frail older people. The Early Career Workshop invites PhD students and early-career researchers in sociology, political science, social work, economics and related fields. Key topics we propose to focus on during the workshop include:

• care policies in the context of economic, environmental and social sustainability
• improving working conditions and recruitment strategies for care workers
• migrant care work(ers)
• (attitudes on) informal care work
• the impact of digitalization and technology on care systems
• inequalities in care and care provision and underlying dynamics
• territorial and spatial dimensions of care services
• multilevel governance of care policies

The Early Career Workshop will provide participants the opportunity to (i) discuss the main issues and challenges for social care policy in Europe; (ii) evaluate data, measurement and methodological problems concerning research on care policy and care systems; (iii) explore the research strategies best able to capture the main issues and present dynamics in the field.

The Workshop’s format will be a mix of keynote addresses, networking activities, and
opportunities for early career participants to present and discuss their research with
peers and senior academics in a supportive and constructive environment.

The Early Career Workshop is organized in collaboration with the Transforming Care
Network. Local organizers at WU Vienna University of Economics and Business are
August Österle, Astrid Pennerstorfer and Julia Radlherr.

Candidates are invited to send their CV, a summary of their research topic for
presentation in the workshop (max. 500 words) and a motivation letter to
julia.radlherr@wu.ac.at, by 30 January 2026. Successful candidates will be notified
within two weeks.

There is no participation fee. Participants will fund their own travel, accommodation and
meals. We will organise a welcome reception on Monday evening, and provide lunch for
Tuesday and Wednesday. For further information contact julia.radlherr@wu.ac.at

Polytechnic of Milan, 5-7 June, 2024

The Summer School in Researching Care and Care Policy in Europe: challenges for care resilience in turbulent times will take place from June the 5th to June the7th 2024 at Polytechnic of Milan, Italy. The School is organized in collaboration with the Transforming Care Network and it is supported by the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies of the Polytechnic of Milan and LPS, Social Policy Lab of the Polytechnic of Milan. The School is organized by a steering committee composed by: Costanzo Ranci, Giuliana Costa, Emma Garavaglia, Tine Rostgaard, and Stefania Sabatinelli.

During the School, participants will have the opportunity to learn from both senior scholars and their peers, while presenting and discussing their work in panel sessions, improving their understanding of the main issues and challenges for care and care policies in Europe.

The School will include keynote addresses on care across different policy fields, and specifically:

• Kate Hamblin (University of Sheffield, UK), Digital Technology and Care: Roles, Risks, Realities and Rewards. 
• Ingela Naumann (University of Fribourg, Switzerland), Family life between choice, compromise and sacrifice: rethinking care regimes from a “lived experiences” perspective
• Ricardo Rodrigues (University of Lisbon, Portugal), Inequalities and time, inequalities across time – adding a time dimension to the study of inequalities in care

Also, a total of 27 presentations by participants will be discussed in 7 panel sessions focused on:

• Access to care in old age
• LTC systems: equity and generosity
• Work-life balance and the gendered division of care
• Care workers
• Care policies and care policy-making
• The challenges of informal caregiving
• Innovation in care and in research on care

Overall, the School will provide participants the opportunity to (i) discuss the main issues and challenges for social care policy in Europe; (ii) evaluate data, measurement and methodological problems concerning research on care policy and care systems; (iii) explore the research strategies best able to capture the main issues and present dynamics in the field.

There will be plenty of occasions for participants to network with invited speakers, senior scholars and peers, building valuable connections for their future career.