- Rafael Wittek
- Awards
- Honors and Fellowships
- Guest Professorships
- Major Grants
- Journal Editorships
- Curriculum Vitae
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Rafael Wittek
Professor of Theoretical Sociology at the University of Groningen, Department of Sociology. I am the Scientific Director of the Interdisciplinary Research and Training Center SCOOP: Sustainable Cooperation, Coordinating Principal Investigator of SOCION: Social Cohesion - Towards a New Fabric of Society, and national coordinator of the sectorplan theme Societal Transitions and Behavioral Change. I also serve as Board member of the Interuniversity Center for Social Science Theory and Methodology (ICS).
My research focuses on problems of sustainable cooperation and how to prevent and solve them. My areas of expertise are the sociology of organizations, economic sociology, social network analysis, and social theory.
I currently teach mainly in the Research Master Behavioral and Social Sciences of the Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the University of Groningen and in the Transdisciplinary PhD-Training Program Sustainable Cooperation (SCOOP).
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Awards
- Best Book Award 2014
American Sociological Association, Rationality and Society Section - Best Book Award 2013
Outstanding Academic Title, Choice Magazine - Best Conference Paper Award 2012
Latin American and European Meeting on Organization Studies - Best Journal Paper Award 2012
Group and Organization Management - Best Student Paper Award 2011
International Network for Social Network Analysis - Best Conference Paper Award 2005
Academy of Management, Organization Development and Change Division - Best Conference Paper Award 2004
Irish Academy of Management, Strategic Management Track - Best Dissertation Award 2000
SNS-Bank and University of Groningen - Best Article Selection 2000
Handboek Interne Organisatie
- Best Book Award 2014
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Honors and Fellowships
- European Academy of Sociology (EAS)
Elected member since 2010 - Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies (NIAS)
Fellow 2001-2002
Member of the Selection Committee (since 2006)
- European Academy of Sociology (EAS)
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Guest Professorships
- Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome (KNIR, Italy)
Visiting professor KNIR Visiting Professorship Program (May-July, 2022) - Universita della Svizzera Italiana (USI Lugano, Zwitserland)
Guest professor in the Humanitarian Management and Logistics Executive Master Program (2009-2014) - Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zürich, Zwitserland)
Guest professor at the Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences (2008-2009) - Cornell University
Visiting Lecturer at the Department of Sociology (1998)
- Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome (KNIR, Italy)
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Major Grants
- Social Cohesion - Towards a New Fabric of Society (SOCION)
Main Applicant.
Co-Applicants: Naomi Ellemers, Lisa Herzog, Helga de Valk, Martin van Hees, Russell Spears, Elise van Nederveen
Amount: 30.6 MEuro
From: NWO (SUMMIT Grant SUMMIT.1.036)
Year: 2024
- Teaching Transdisciplinarity: The TETRA-Initiative
Main Applicant.
Co-Applicants: Russell Spears, Ellen Janssen.
Amount: ca. 350.000 Euro (Assistant Professor position,1 fte, four years)
From: Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Groningen (Teaching Innovation Fund)
Year: 2017
- Jongeren in een veerkrachtige samenleving. Naar nieuwe arrangementen voor inclusiviteit en participatie (JOIN)
Member core team.
Main Applicant: Bas van Bavel.
Amount: 2.500.000 Euro
From: NWO (Startimpuls National Science Agenda, Route Veerkrachtige en Zinvolle Samenlevingen)
Year: 2017
- Sustainable Cooperation - Roadmaps to Resilient Societies (SCOOP)
Main Applicant.
Co-Applicants: Naomi Ellemers, Russell Spears, Bas van Bavel, Martin van Hees, Tanja van der Lippe
Amount: 18.800.000 Euro
From: NWO (Gravitation Grant 024.003.025)
Year: 2017
- Sustainable Labor Market Integration of First Generation Migrant Groups
Co-Applicant.
Main Applicants: Nina Hansen, Liesbet Heyse
Amount: ca. 220.000 Euro (4-year PhD-position)
From: Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Groningen
Year: 2017
- Resilience at a Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Coping with Social Devaluation
Co-Applicant
Other Co-Applicants: Russell Spears, Monicque Lorist, Jolien van Breen
Amount: ca. 150.000 Euro (2 year Postdoc position)
From: Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Groningen
Year: 2017
- Cross-border network governance for sustainable training in health care
Co-Applicant.
Other Co-Applicants: Liesbet Heyse, Francesca Giardini
Amount: ca. 110.000 Euro (50% of 4 year PhD-position)
From: NetwerkZon
Year: 2017
- Urban Collective Living Arrangements – Golden Key to Sustainable Communities?
Main Applicant.
Co-Applicant: Louisa Firnenburg
Amount: ca. 200.000 Euro (4 year bursary PhD-position)
From: PhD-fund, Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Groningen
Year: 2017
- Informal Social Networks and Organizational Inclusion: The Invisible Minority’s Dilemma
Main Applicant.
Co-Applicants: Sabine Otten, Julian Rengers
Amount: ca. 200.000 (4 year bursary PhD-position)
From: PhD-fund, Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Groningen
Year: 2017
- Sustainable Collaborative Networks. Design, Dynamics, and Decay of Cooperation in a Multilevel Organizational Field
Co-Applicant
Other Co-Applicant: Liesbet Heyse
Amount: ca. 110.000 Euro (50% of 4 year PhD-position)
From: NetwerkZon
Year: 2016
- Warsaw School of Data Analysis
Co-Applicant.
Main Applicant: Michal Bojanowski
Amount: 510.000 Euro
From: European Social Fund
Year: 2014
- Good Governance and Corruption of Public Leaders in Indonesia
Co-Applicant.
Other Co-Applicant: Mala Sondang Silitonga
Amount: ca. 260.000 Euro (4 year PhD-position with tuition)
From: World Bank Spirit Program, Bappenas Indonesia
Year: 2013
- Organizational Governance and Sustainable Health Care in Indonesia
Co-Applicant.
Other Co-Applicant: Suwatin Miharti
Amount: ca. 260.000 Euro (4 year PhD-position with tuition)
From: World Bank Spirit Program, Bappenas Indonesia
Year: 2013
- The Education Divide in Indonesia: Determinants of Unequal Access to and Quality of Education
Co-Applicant.
Other Co-Applicant: Tatang Muttaqin
Amount: ca. 260.000 Euro (4 year PhD-position with tuition)
From: World Bank Spirit Program, Bappenas Indonesia
Year: 2012
- Gossip and the Management of Reputation
Co-Applicant.
Other Co-Applicant: Francesca Giardini
Amount: 13.000 Euro
Amount: NIAS-Lorentz Program
Year: 2012
- Self-Improvement Interventions in Organizations
Co-Applicant.
Other Co-Applicant: Gabriël Anthonio
Amount: 150.000 Euro
From: FranklinCovey bv and Stenden University of Applied Science
Year: 2010
- Healthy Aging: Population and Society (HAPS)
Co-Applicant.
Other Co-Applicants: Inge Hutter and Ronald Stolk
Amount: 4.200.000 Euro
From: Board of the University of Groningen
Year: 2009
- Graduate Program
Main Applicant.
Co-Applicant: Werner Raub
Amount: 800.000 Euro
From: NWO
Year: 2009
- Gendered Humanitarian Careers
Co-Applicant.
Other Co-Applicants: Liesbet Heyse and Melinda Mills
Amount: 45.000 Euro
From: Board of the University of Groningen
Year: 2007
- Handbook of Rational Choice Social Research
Main Applicant.
Co-Applicants: Tom Snijders and Victor Nee
Amount: 100.000 Dollar
From: Russell Sage Foundation, New York
Year: 2006
- Network Dynamics in Organizations
Main Applicant.
Amount: 100.000 Euro (Postdoc Position, 1 fte, 4 years)
From: Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Strategic Fund
Year: 2006
- Reorganizations and Workplace Transformations in the Netherlands
Main Applicant.
Amount: 45.000 Euro
From: NWO (Replacement Grant 400-05-704)
Year: 2006
- Solidarity at work and informal networks within semi-virtual teams
Main Applicant.
Amount: 51.000 Euro
From: NWO (MES 014-43-722)
Year: 2003
- Governance by Reorganization
Main Applicant.
Amount: 1.500.000 Hfl (750.000 Euro)
From: NWO (VIDI-Scheme 016.005.052)
Year: 2000
- Time Competition, Flexible Contracts, and Intrahousehold Negotiation
Main Applicant.
Co-Applicants: Tanja van der Lippe and Arie Glebbeek (Aandachtsgebied Time Competition)
Amount: 225.000 Hfl (112.500 Euro)
From: NWO (490-24-060-C)
Year: 2006
- Social Cohesion - Towards a New Fabric of Society (SOCION)
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Journal Editorships
- Rationality and Society
Member of the Editorial Board (since 2023) - International Sociology
Member of the Editorial Board (since 2004) - Social Network Analysis and Mining
Associate Editor (2011-2021) - Sage Studies in International Sociology
Member of the Editorial Board (2003-2006) - Netherlands Journal of Social Sciences
Member of the Editorial Board (2003-2004)
- Rationality and Society
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Curriculum Vitae
Updated May, 2024
RAFAEL WITTEK
Curriculum VitaeMay 2024
University of Groningen • Department of Sociology
Grote Rozenstraat 31, 9712 TG Groningen, The Netherlands
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. • Work +31 50 3636282 • www.rafaelwittek.euRafael Wittek holds a PhD (cum laude) in Behavioral and Social Sciences (University of Groningen, 1999), and an M.A. (cum laude) in Sociology and Cultural Anthropology (University of Tübingen, 1991). Since 2001, he is a full professor of Theoretical Sociology at the Department of Sociology (University of Groningen), which he chaired until 2014. He held teaching appointments at Cornell University (U.S.A.), the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zürich (Switzerland), the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg (Germany), and the Università della Svizzera Italiana (Lugano, Switzerland).
He is the Scientific Director and principle investigator of the trans-disciplinary and inter-university research and training program Sustainable Cooperation – Roadmaps to Resilient Societies (SCOOP). In 2017 this initiative was awarded a ten year grant (18.8 M€) in the context of the Dutch government’s prestigious Gravitation Program.
Rafael Wittek’s research interests are in the fields of cooperation science, organization studies, economic sociology and social network research. He is an elected member of the European Academy of Sociology (EAS), has successfully supervised 18 PhD students and is involved in 8 ongoing PhD projects.
He has (co-)authored more than 100 scientific articles and book chapters, and (co-)edited four Handbooks. Recent contributions appeared in Network Science, European Societies, Disasters, and Public Administration Review. His publications received multiple awards.