MCI professorship to Lukas Kerschbaumer

The Entrepreneurial School® confers professorship to Dr. Lukas Kerschbaumer

In recognition of his outstanding achievements in research and teaching and his exemplary contributions to the further development of the Entrepreneurial School®, the MCI recently awarded the professorship to Lukas Kerschbaumer from the Department of Nonprofit, Social &  Health Care Management. In the presence of family, friends, and colleagues, he was presented with his certificate by MCI Rector Andreas Altmann and Head of the Academic Council Franz Pegger, before giving fascinating insights into his research areas in his subsequent inaugural lecture.

Lukas Kerschbaumer began his academic career at the Leopold-Franzens-University (LFU) in Innsbruck, where he completed his bachelor's degrees in Educational Science and Sociology in 2012 and his master's degree in Social and Political Theory in 2014. He then worked on a project at the LFU Institute of Sociology before his career took him to the Institute for Employment Research Nuremberg (IAB). He worked there as a research assistant from 2015 to 2018, focusing on the research areas "Labor Market and Social Security" and "Unemployment and Participation". In 2023, he completed his doctorate in sociology at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.

In 2018, he found his way to the Center for Social & Health Innovation (CSHI) at MCI, where he works on the influence of social contexts on health and social policy. In addition, he has been Head of the MCI bachelor's degree program of Nonprofit, Social & Health Management since September 2022.

Lukas Kerschbaumer can also look back on numerous publications, successful projects, and prestigious awards, including the "Ars Docendi Recognition Award" from the Federal Ministry and the Prize for Research and Innovation from the City of Innsbruck.

His research interests include social dynamics, long-term unemployment, and poverty research - highly topical issues that he also addressed in his inaugural lecture entitled "Navigating statistical outliers, overcoming job transitions against the odds, and debunking assumed success: Insights into the labor market for long-term unemployed and vulnerable groups". He addressed the challenges of long-term unemployment and presented ways in which the transition back into the labor market could succeed.