Title Promoter Affiliations Abstract "New insights into strategic HRM: a configurational and Bayesian network approach to HR practices, organization of work and leadership" "Sophie De Winne" "Department of Work and Organisation Studies (main work address Antwerp)" "Research in Strategic HRM has mainly focused on the relationship between HR practices and firm performance. In this project, we argue that this focus is one-sided and too simplistic. First, next to HR practices, the organization of work and leadership should be considered, as they also influence employees' behavior and therefore drive firm performance. Second, in an era of sustainable and employee-centred HRM, research should not only focus on firm performance, but also on employee well-being. We therefore study configurations of HR practices, the organization of work and leadership, and relate these to employee well-being (e.g. organizational commitment, stress), operational firm performance (e.g. labour productivity) and financial firm performance (e.g. return on equity). The aim of this project is (1) to detect 'powerful connections' and 'deadly combinations', i.e. configurations of HR practices, the organization of work and leadership with synergistic respectively destroying effects for employee well-being and firm performance, and (2) to understand how and why these different configurations influence employee well-being and firm performance. To address this aim, we will combine quantitative (multi-source survey) and qualitative (in-depth interviews) research methods and use novel analysis techniques in line with the theoretical assumptions of the configurational perspective underlying our approach (i.e. Bayesian network and necessary condition analysis)." "Program network organization" "geen abstract" "The functional organization of cortico-striatal networks during motor sequence learning: fMRI research in the context of typical and atypical development" "Wim Fias" "Department of Movement and Sports Sciences, Department of Experimental psychology" "The postdoctoral project aims to directly investigate the functional organization of the cortico-striatal networks in children with and without motor developmental problems. First, typical developmental changes during motor sequence learning will be compared between children, adolescents and adults on functional brain activation and connectivity parameters. Brain organization will then be compared between typically developing children and children with Developmental Coordination Disorder." "Policy Research Centre - Governmental organization in Flanders II: local governance. The impact of networks on local policy, politics and management" "Local governments become involved in a more network-like governance context. 'Local policy' and 'local straegy', often used in terms of 'autonomous organisation', become the product of these interactions. This evolution provokes questions on the meaning of 'local politics' and 'local policy', on the capacities of municipalities to function in these networks and on the way municipalities should organise themselves." "Developing novel highly precise RNA targeting CRISPR tools to study higher order functional organization of genetic networks" "Sibylle Vonesch" "Microbial and Plant Genetics (CMPG)" "To understand how the genotype shapes the phenotype of an organism is an important problem in genetics. Moreover, higher-order genetic interactions are notoriously difficult to research. To study these interactions, specific and high-throughput tools are needed. However, current technologies, like RNA and CRISPR interference, are either unsuitable for genome-scale screens or have too variable and unpredictable efficiencies. In this PhD project, I will develop a highly specific RNA targeting CRISPR based tool and utilize it to assess the impact of higher-order genetic interactions on the phenotype. To develop this tool, I will use a directed evolution experiment to improve the efficiency of targeting and reduce the toxicity of an RNA targeting Cas protein, RfxCas13d. Next, I will benchmark a genome-scale RNA knockdown screening assay in a multiplexed and pooled way, using the developed tool. Finally, I will use this assay to explore subtle higher-order genetic interactions in response to an osmotic stress. The developed tool can not only be used to study genetic interactions, but will open numerous possibilities for industrial, biotechnological and medical applications." "Local network organizations for prisons" "Tine Van Regenmortel" "Research Group Social and Economic Policy and Social Inclusion" "The overall objective of the project is to identify and develop good practices for prisoner activation through a network organization based on an exploratory analysis with the existing network and to develop, implement and evaluate concrete actions (experiments) with the new, strengthened network, in the penitentiaries of Mechelen and Oudenaarde.  " "Ideas, international policy networks, and political transfer in the development of the modern welfare state. An intellectual history of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) between 1930 and 1980" "This research focusses on the intellectual role of the International Labour Organisation in the international socio-political debate on the origin and development of the Keynesian welfare state between 1930 and the 1970s. By using the concept of 'political transfer' the ILO will be studied as an idea-generating center, a laboratory of knowledge where new models, paradigms and ideas on the welfare state were generated, exchanged and transferred to national states." "Queer Interest Groups in the EU (QUEST - QUeer-interEST): Explaining Organization and Strategic Interaction in Hostile Contexts" "Petra Meier" "Politics & Public Governance" "In many EU member states powerful political actors increasingly fight against the proliferation of equal rights for LGBTQ+ people. This directly endangers the well-being of millions of LGBTQ+ people in the EU. Due to this threat, the role of LGBTQ+ organizations that defend and/or promote these rights is crucial. Yet, scholarship has a limited understanding of how these organizations are structured and how they navigate their strategic interactions with policymakers or likeminded organizations to reach their (political) goals. Moreover, it is unclear how national context affects the strategies of LGBTQ+ organizations. This limited understanding is partly because LGBTQ+ organizations have so far mainly been approached as social movements. Instead, this project will approach these organizations as interest groups to theoretically and empirically analyze their organization and strategic behavior. Using this novel approach, the project asks: How do national contexts affect the organization and strategies of LGBTQ+ interest groups in EU member states? Its analyses will be based on three datasets on LGBTQ+ interest groups' organization and strategies in 6 EU countries with varying degrees of hostility. Using quantitative methods and social network analysis, this project will 1) map and compare the organization of LGBTQ+ interest groups, 2) determine the hostility towards LGBTQ+ rights, and 3) model the effects of national contexts on interest groups' strategic interactions." "Morphological feautures of the canine omentum: a study on the draining and immunoregulatory tissue organization." "Hilde De Rooster" "Department of Small Animal" "The omentum is an important abdominal organ for various surgical applications in both man and animal. In the dog, no details are known on lympatic ducts, the primo-vascular system nor the milky spots. Immunohistochemistry and in vivo staining will be used to gain information on the draining and immunoregulatory features of the canine omentum." "Sabbatical Elegast Monbaliu: Clinical-Scientific Complex Movement Disorders Network" "Elegast Monbaliu" "Rehabilitation Sciences, Bruges Campus" "My line of research lies within pediatric neurorehabilitation with a particular focus on complex movement disorders such as dystonia and choreoathetosis in dyskinetic cerebral palsy (DCP). My sabbatical will focus on the development of a scientific network for childhood disabilities with a very specific focus on complex movement disorders. Research-related, the European Academy of Childhood Disability (EACD) and the European Dyskinetic CP network (EDCPN) are of great importance for academic networking, international collaboration and dissemination of our research results. EACD congress: The EACD is a European clinical scientific organization whose mission is to promote research and education for people with childhood disabilities. The EACD congress is organized annually and is the reference congress within our research domain. The number of attendees varies between 1000 and 1300 people. During my sabbatical as president of the 36th EACD Congress, I will have a unique opportunity to focus on research network creation. The EACD congress will take place from May 29 to June 1, 2024 in the Concertgebouw Brugge and the Bruges Meeting Convention Center. We were chosen by the Flanders Tourism Agency to participate in the Legacy trajectory Flander's Conferences of the Future, based on our scientific but above all empowerment program for people with disabilities. VISITFLANDERS strives to organize conferences that have a positive impact with a legacy in the medium and long term. EDCPN conference: The EDCPN is a European research network that was founded by myself in 2018 during the first European DCP symposium (17/03/2018, Bruges) and has the mission (1) to promote and disseminate research excellence through the development of a European network, (2) promoting interdisciplinary research for breakthrough science and (3) empowering and attracting young researchers and innovators for the DCP target group. DCP experts from 24 European countries are currently represented in the network. As chair of this EDCPN conference that will be held on May 27-28, 2020 in the buildings of Campus Bruges, I create a lever for structural cooperation and a step towards application Horizon COST funding."