Interdisciplinary tracks

Apply to one of these interdisciplinary tracks:

1. Health and Inequality

Health and socio-economic inequality are interrelated – but how, and why? Chronic non-communicable diseases are a case in point: conditions not spread by infectious agents but shaped by lifestyles, environments, and social determinants. This track examines the interconnectedness of health and inequalities, be it from an individual, social, cultural, organisational or transnational perspective. Why do life expectancy and morbidity differ across socio-economic groups? How do health problems generate or reinforce inequalities, and how are they related to discrimination? What roles do social policies, healthcare systems, and health infrastructures as well as prevention and intervention strategies play? What can comparative data and case studies reveal about health in transnational contexts? And what new approaches to global health address current topics such as food supply, nutrition and obesity or the impact of climate change on human and planetary health and epidemics? These are some of the possible questions that can be covered in this track.

Chairs: Jutta Mata (University of Mannheim, Health Psychology), Catarina Goulão (Université Toulouse Capitole, Health Economy), Jurgen Willems (WU, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Public Management) 

2. Technological innovations: effects on organisations and societies

Since the 1990s, the popularisation of the internet has transformed many aspects of the ways we interact with technology and with each other. Deep technology innovations, like the recent advent of generative AI and the prospect of artificial general intelligence, impact almost every aspect of human life. How are technological innovations reshaping economic relations and industries, work, entrepreneurship and consumer behaviour? How do they influence organisational behaviour as well as management, corporate communication and marketing? What repercussions can we see and anticipate for societies from interpersonal relationships to the economic, legal and political order at a transnational level? This interdisciplinary track examines the interconnections between technological innovation and the diverse dimensions of societies and organisations through a multidisciplinary lens.

Chairs: Margret Keuper (University of Mannheim, Machine Learning), Florian Stahl (University of Mannheim, Quantitative Marketing and Consumer Analytics), Philipp Kellmeyer (Unversity of Mannheim, Responsible AI and Digital Health), Daniel Schuster (University of Mannheim, AI Methods for Process Analysis & Management), Nikolai Dentchev (University of National and World Economy, Social Entrepreneurship)

3. Migration, demographic change and urbanisation: impact on societies and organisations

A range of factors has brought migration, urbanisation and demographic change to the centre of some public and academic debates. In many high-income countries, population pyramids are becoming increasingly top-heavy, reflecting rapid population ageing. Sustaining productivity and economic stability therefore depends, in part, on integrating younger workers—many of them migrants—who can contribute to the labour force and support social systems. At the same time, increased migration from lower- to higher-income countries and from rural areas to the cities brings complex socioeconomic and cultural consequences. Taken together, these dynamics create a challenging context that calls for careful, multidisciplinary analysis: How can populations shifts be accurately measured, compared and prognosed? How can we foster resilient urban eco-systems and fair care economies for ageing societies? How can we counter racism and discrimination – and how can research better incorporate migrant and marginalised perspectives?

Chairs: Maria Rita Testa (Luiss University, Political Science, Demography), Henning Hillmann (University of Mannheim, Economic Sociology), Davud Rostam Afschar (University of Mannheim, Accounting)

4. Degrowth and decarbonisation

This track addresses two long-standing and intertwined economic paradigms: economic growth and carbon-based production. While the reduction of CO₂ emissions has become a key policy goal to many state and industrial actors alike, degrowth and post-growth models remain relatively marginal perspectives often criticised for being unrealistic and potentially harmful. This track aims to discuss practices, models, theories and case studies that focus on post-/degrowth, decarbonisation or the relationship between the two, at a time when decarbonisation is being challenged internationally. What are the major obstacles to and the incentives for transitioning to a decarbonised energy economy? How are clean-energy transportation and manufacturing managed? What can we learn from low-carbon and post-growth business models? How do management practices, organisational behaviour as well as policies, media, communication and social behaviour come into play? Which perspectives on carbon markets and carbon pricing are most relevant – and how can they be adequately measured, reported and verified? 

Chairs: Moritz Fleischmann (University of Mannheim, Operations Management), Ulrich Wagner (University of Mannheim, Environmental Economics), Sjak Smulders (Tilburg University, Environmental Economics), Frank Wiengarten (Esade Business School, Operations, Innovation and Technology Management), Rolf Wüstenhagen (University of St. Gallen, Management of Renewable Energies)