The R&D strategy for the Social Work study programs (Bachelor in Social Work, Master in Social Work, Social Policy & Management) currently relates to the following main fields:
- System theory according to M.Bunge/W.Obrecht/Staub-Bernasconi as a social-science basis for understanding and analyzing societal problems and the development of solution strategies
- Gerontology – its importance and challenges for people and social systems in an aging society; the development of effective and affordable solutions and best-practice models
- Development and professionalization of new fields of social work (e.g. school social work, industrial social work) as a response to the increasing complexity of social problems in certain fields of life (educational institutions, SMEs, etc.)
- Quality management and the quantification of results in social work as a basis for defining standards for the capture, evaluation and optimization of inputs, processes, outputs and outcomes (benefits to clients) in social services
- History, status quo, and future perspectives and fields of action for social work in the Tyrol, Austria and worldwide in the context of socio-economic predictions relating to the next big wave in the world economy (6th Kondratieff wave of psychosocial health and competence)
- International social work and the increase in universal social problems.
Activities in these main research areas take the form of both applied R&D projects in collaboration with partners in the field of practical social work and internal research projects run by the MCI’s full-time teaching staff. In some cases they include student involvement in the context of class and external projects. Interdisciplinary R&D projects are handled in collaboration with other relevant study programs.
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