Work Research Centre  (Työelämän tutkimuskeskus)

Work Research Centre (WRC) was founded in 1988 as a unit of the University of Tampere Research Institute for Social Sciences (RISS). Today it belongs to the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, which was founded in 2011 as part of the reorganization of the university. WRC  was set up with the aim of promoting research in various aspects of work and working life as well as to support post-graduate training and extension studies in its special fields. A wide range of disciplines are represented in work research, including sociology, social psychology, social policy, administrative science, psychology, and education

Most of Work Research Centre's research activities are funded externally by the Academy of Finland, the Finnish Work Environment Fund and various ministries among others but also through the European Commission. Some of its projects are also financially supported by several companies, labour market organizations and local councils. Its current and future research concerns include the following themes:

• Societal Change, Work Organizations and Networks

• Labour Markets and Labour Policy

• Wellbeing, Social Relationships and Gender in Working Life

• Organizational Practices and Changes in Working Life

Work Research Centre has a solid tradition in applied research mostly on the qualitative aspects of working life. Its specific aim is to promote interaction between academic research and long-term contractual research, which serves the actual needs for information and knowledge society. Many of the research projects are action and intervention studies, in which the researchers get involved in the development of the work organization.

 Work Research Centre hosts a yearly Work Research Conference in cooperation with the Finnish Association of Work Life Research (FAWORE), various international seminars and meetings and has taken part in many joint projects, which helps the centre to establish and to sustain extensive international contacts. In recent years, the centre has devoted increasing resources to participation in comparative research projects in a European context as well as in broader international research networks and will continue to do so in the future.