COMAC (Cognition, Management, and Communication) is a research unit at the University of Southern Denmark. Its main aim is to bridge disciplines by integrating research from the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Faculty of Humanities. COMAC associates are international scholars who work within the professional research communities of different fields of research, giving visibility and possibilities to discuss and develop findings in the international research environment. One of these fields is Careers research.
COMAC Career Research Unit
The COMAC Career Research Unit integrates organizational, managerial and communicative perspectives in research on practices and policies of career development, career education, career guidance, HRM and lifelong guidance. Central concepts and theories are: Employability, Transition Trajectories, Career Competences, New Career Theory, Social Justice and Critical Psychology. Researchers associated with the COMAC Career Research Cluster corporate with a range of different organisations such as European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network, NVL, Municipalities in Denmark (KL), Danish Teacher Organisation (DLF) University Career Centers, Enterprises and many more. Further the COMAC Career Research Unit seeks to organize participatory research processes via COMAC LAB; methods currently being investigated in the LAB are: Research Circles and Practice Portraits.
Dr. Rie Thomsen from SDU is coordinating a research unit named ‘Career Research Unit’.
Rie Thomsen. Associate professor at COMAC, University of Southern Denmark. Her research revolves around lifelong career guidance practices and policies with a special interest on the role of communities and in organizational, leadership and management aspects of career guidance provision. Furthermore she has a strong interest in creating an inspiring environment for interdisciplinary research in Lifelong Learning and Lifelong Guidance. Rie Thomsen is an experienced partner of several international research projects and member of steering committees in NICE, VALA and ECADOC. She has long term working relations with Institute of Employment Research at Warwick University. In 2012 she published the book Career Guidance in Communities. And in 2013 she was awarded with the Danish National Guidance Award for her research. Her goals for the future are to lead researchers nationally and internationally in developing prosperous research on management, leadership and organisation in the field of career guidance and development.
Associates and collaborators
Associate Professor Rie Thomsen
Associate Professor Torben Andersen
Associate Professor Erin Beatty
SDU Erhverv ved Jacob Krummes
ARTS Career Maria Solhøj
Associate professor, University College and PhD student Randi Skovhus
Associate professor University College and PhD student Bo Klint Poulsen
PhD student Ida Weidner (currently on maternity leave)
PhD student Ana Maria Gonzales (AU)
Current research projects include:
‘Career Competences’ including consultancy, workshops and research collaboration for instance like the research project ‘Udsyn i Udskolingen’
Doctoral supervision
We support and supervise doctoral research in Careers.
European Doctoral School of Career Guidance and Counseling
Individual doctoral research projects
Randi Skovhus
Bo Klindt Poulsen
Ida Weidner (currently on maternity leave)
Ana Maria Gonzales (AU)
Networks
Network for innovation in Career Guidance and Counseling (NICE)
Co-Founder and Host of the Danish Network of Career Researchers
We are open to collaboration for private as well as public partners please contact Dr. Rie Thomsen at rietho@sdu.dk