BrainMap

Ionela Vlase

Associate professor - UNIVERSITATEA LUCIAN BLAGA

Researcher | Teaching staff | Scientific reviewer | PhD supervisor

Sociologist with thorough expertise in migration, feminism & gender studies, cultural heritage, social stratification and public health. I have conducted both field research as well as quantitative studies using survey data. I have published over 40 articles and book chapters in prestigious academic journals and collective volumes. I have acted as associated editor for „European Societies” (journal of the European Sociological Association- ESA) 2018-2022. I have coordinated several research projects among which an ERC-Like (750.000 Ron) funded by UEFISCDI and an Horizon Europe ERA Chair grant FERBOPO-101184092 (2.5 mil euro). I have contributed to the setup of a new research group on Church-State-Body Politics in Romania and I have collaborated with several international researchers from Canada, Switzerland, Finland, France, Germany, Czech Republic and others.

Web of Science ResearcherID: https://www.webofscience.com/wos/author/record/1095981

Expertise & keywords

Fostering Excellence in Research on State-Church-Body Politics _GRANT 101184092 Call name:
101184092 2024 - 2029

Role in this project: Project coordinator

Coordinating institution: UNIVERSITATEA LUCIAN BLAGA

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA LUCIAN BLAGA ()

Affiliation: UNIVERSITATEA LUCIAN BLAGA ()

Project website: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101184092

Abstract:

The FERBOPO proposal aims at building a new research group at Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu (LBUS) focused on the complex relationship between State, Church and Body Politics that would foster excellence in social sciences and better integrate LBUS in the European Research Area (ERA). To this end, LBUS will create a CHAIR position for Professor Lavinia STAN from St. Francis Xavier University (Canada), whose outstanding academic profile and thorough expertise in the cross-cutting fields of government, religion, economics and epistemology that foster (de)colonial feminist thinking (Lugones, 2010; Manning, 2021) and the institutionalisation of Gender Studies in Romania (Turcescu and Stan, 2005; Stan, 2010) will help increase the number of excellent research staff and improve their capability to attract competitive research funding with significant spill-over effects at societal level, while also assisting LBUS to implement institutional reforms that both align with ERA priorities and facilitate the implementation of the Gender Equality Plan (GEP).

Establishing a Laboratory of Cultural Heritage in Central Romania Call name: EC - Horizon Europe
Horizon-240420-101079282 2023 - 2025

Role in this project: Key expert

Coordinating institution: Institution

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA LUCIAN BLAGA DIN SIBIU (RO); UNIVERSITE DIJON BOURGOGNE (FR); JYVASKYLAN YLIOPISTO (FI)

Affiliation: UNIVERSITATEA LUCIAN BLAGA DIN SIBIU (RO)

Project website:

Abstract:

Hard-to-place or not: A multi-informant perspective on factors affecting adoptive family resilience Call name: P 1 - SP 1.1 - Proiecte de cercetare pentru stimularea tinerelor echipe independente - TE-2021
PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2021-0186 2022 - 2024

Role in this project: Key expert

Coordinating institution: UNIVERSITATEA LUCIAN BLAGA

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA LUCIAN BLAGA (RO)

Affiliation:

Project website: https://sites.google.com/a/ulbsibiu.ro/anca-bejenaru/greu-adoptabil-sau-nu

Abstract:

The academic literature supports the benefits of child adoption, especially when are considered the other protection alternatives. In Romania, are declared adoptable about 3.500 children annually. Of these, circa 75% are hard-to-place children (HtPC), having one or more of the following characteristics: are over the age of three, belong to a minority ethnic group, have a history of trauma and consequently have emotional or behavioral problems, have chronic illness or disabilities, belong to a sibling group. In 2016, to increase their chances of adoption was created within the National Adoption Register, a special section that contains their profiles. This section can be accessed directly by persons/couples holding a certificate of adoption. More and more people search in this section for their child/children to shorten the adoption process. The adoption of an HtPC by a certified person/family who does not receive pre- and post-adoption training and support could jeopardize the stability and success of the adoption. Thus, the study adopts a resilience-oriented approach to offer a clearer and complex understanding of the dynamic processes that promote or hinder the positive adaptation of adoptive families in the context of adversity and risk factors. This project implements, mainly, a qualitative approach, using semi-structured interviews complementary to document analysis and case-based surveillance.

Community participation for reducing the burden of cancer: stakeholders’ involvement in facilitating the return to work of cancer patients Call name: Projects for Young Research Teams - RUTE -2014 call
PN-II-RU-TE-2014-4-0478 2015 - 2017

Role in this project:

Coordinating institution: UNIVERSITATEA LUCIAN BLAGA

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA LUCIAN BLAGA (RO)

Affiliation: UNIVERSITATEA LUCIAN BLAGA (RO)

Project website: https://sites.google.com/a/ulbsibiu.ro/adela-popa/pn-ii-ru-te-2014-4-0478

Abstract:

The goal of the project is to use the community participation approach for facilitating the return to work of cancer survivors. This problem is much studied in the European countries, but not so far in Romania. The current situation shows stakeholders are powerless in relation to this problem. The project will look not only to collect data from stakeholders, but also to empower them, by creating opportunities for accumulating information and knowledge. Three categories of stakeholders will be involved in the project: employees diagnosed with cancer that returned to work, representatives of employers (i.e. top and line managers) and human resources recruiters. We will use triangulation of data collection (policies, studies, databases, fieldwork) and methods (documentary analysis, secondary analysis, interview). The design will be exploratory, descriptive and cross-sectional. We propose three objectives: (1) To describe the state of the art regarding the relation between cancer and work in Romania; (2) To explore the perspectives of the employers, the employees diagnosed with cancer that returned to work, and the human resources recruiters about returning to work after cancer; (3) To draw synthetic documents for raising awareness of stakeholders in organisations and policy makers on issues regarding returning to work of cancer survivors. The synthetic documents will be disseminated in paper and electronically and in a dissemination conference.

A comparative perspective on precarious prosperity and household strategies in Romania and Switzerland in times of economic strain Call name:
IZERZO_141975 2013 - 2016

Role in this project: Key expert

Coordinating institution: Institut de sociologie, Université de Neuchâtel

Project partners: Institut de sociologie, Université de Neuchâtel (); INSTITUTUL DE CERCETARE A CALITATII VIETII ()

Affiliation: INSTITUTUL DE CERCETARE A CALITATII VIETII ()

Project website:

Abstract:

The project looks at “precarious prosperity”, a structural position situated in between poverty and secure material prosperity. It is characterized by a limited (yet non-poor) standard of living and (perceived) insecurity by individuals and households. The first objective of the project was to examine “precarious prosperity” in Romania and Switzerland in a comparative perspective. Second, the project examined strategies of households dealing with “precarious prosperity” in the two countries by means of quantitative and qualitative data. Third, we explored the policy implications of precarious prosperity, in particular for Romania.

Based on quantitative data, the research delineated the socio-economic positions situated in between poverty and secure prosperity and assessed how individuals in “precarious prosperity” experienced the recent economic crisis. The qualitative part consisted of in-depth interviews with households situated in “precarious prosperity”.

The relevance and originality of this comparative study is fourfold: Firstly, the project enabled refining the linkages between agency and structure by examining the strategies that households adopt in order to deal with various structural experiences (i.e. economic crisis, poverty, deprivation, welfare regime). Secondly, since Romania was rarely considered in such (qualitative) empirical cross-national studies, the project provided the opportunity to expand existing comparisons between Switzerland and other countries in order to reveal similarities and differences between East and West in the field of precarious prosperity. Thirdly, this study provided innovative results by mixing quantitative and qualitative approaches of social inequalities and “precarious prosperity”. Fourthly, our findings provided valuable insights into the mechanisms through which social policies may specifically target this social category situated in-between poverty and secure prosperity, often neglected by policy makers whose focus is on individuals and households in poverty or severe poverty.

Recasting Migrants’ Voices. Local Perspectives on Migration, Development, and Social Change in Romania Call name: Exploratory Research Projects - PCE-2011 call
PN-II-ID-PCE-2011-3-0602 2012 - 2016

Role in this project: Key expert

Coordinating institution: Universitatea Babeş Bolyai

Project partners: Universitatea Babeş Bolyai (RO)

Affiliation: Universitatea Babeş Bolyai (RO)

Project website: http://recastingmigrantsvoices.wordpress.com

Abstract:

The research on migration, transnationalism and development gained momentum in the past years, drove by the steep increase in migrants’ remittances around the world, globalization, and the unabated development of the transnationalism literature. Studies of transnationalism show how migrants today sustain simultaneous social relations between their origin and destination countries. They bring back to their origin communities financial remittances and social remittances, such as new practices and ideas. This produces a process of social change and may fuel economic development.

In this research we aim to analyze the effects of migration in Romania. We look at how social change occurs differently for different ethnic groups, a topic not often found in the literature. The research will be conducted in Romania, one of the main source-countries for migration towards the Western Europe. In this context, this research project fills a gap in the existing literature on migration and social change in Europe. The comparative focus will be on the Romanian and Roma migrants, but other ethnic groups will be taken into consideration, such as Hungarians or Germans. We thus aim to better grasp the relationship between migration, social change, ethnicity and development, and to further advance the research agenda in the field of migration studies.

Quality of life and social inequalities in Romania in a European comparative perspective: twenty years of social transformation Call name: Projects for Young Research Teams - TE-2011 call
PN-II-RU-TE-2011-3-0104 2011 - 2014

Role in this project: Key expert

Coordinating institution: Institutul de Cercetare a Calitatii Vietii, Academia Romana

Project partners: Institutul de Cercetare a Calitatii Vietii, Academia Romana (RO)

Affiliation:

Project website: http://www.iccv.ro/node/282

Abstract:

The general objective of the project is to analyse the quality of life in Romania over the entire transition period 1990-2010, in a European comparative perspective and with emphasis on highlighting the social inequalities that were born and deepened during the twenty year period. This would be the first attempt to understand such an extensive period in the social history of the country with the main use of quality of life data.

The specific objectives of the project will be:

1. To analyse each major domain of quality of life: standard of living, education, health, work, family, subjective well being, housing, leisure, quality of society.

2. To explain quality of life in relation to structural conditions of Romanian society: consolidation of democracy, corruption, institutional quality.

3. To compare quality of life in Romania to that in Eastern and Western European countries.

4. To analyse social inequalities in each domain of life (standard of living, education, health, work, family, subjective well being, housing, leisure, quality of society) and highlight vulnerable groups.

5. To analyse security/insecurity aspects of quality of life.

6. To create an index of global quality of life that makes possible comparisons over time.

The project will contribute to capacity building in the field of social research and to the more opening the Romanian tradition in the quality of life study to the international mainstream research.

EEA/NO Mobility Grant - IONELA VLASE Call name: NO - Proiecte de Mobilităţi - 2019
RO-NO-MG-2019-0208 2019 -

Role in this project:

Coordinating institution: Universitatea Lucian Blaga din Sibiu

Project partners: Universitatea Lucian Blaga din Sibiu (RO); OSLOMET University (NO)

Affiliation: Universitatea Lucian Blaga din Sibiu (RO)

Project website:

Abstract:

Migrants’ life courses: dealing with uncertain, highly destandardized biographies in Romania Call name: P 4 - Proiecte de cercetare "ERC - like"
PN-III-P4-ID-ERC-2016-0005 2016 -

Role in this project: Project coordinator

Coordinating institution: UNIVERSITATEA LUCIAN BLAGA

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA LUCIAN BLAGA (RO)

Affiliation: UNIVERSITATEA LUCIAN BLAGA (RO)

Project website:

Abstract:

During its postsocialist history, Romania witnessed successive waves of economic migration by its citizens, men and women, both from rural and urban areas, and with different social and ethnic backgrounds. The massive economic outmigration places Romanians among the most mobile Europeans and brings about important changes in migrants’ life courses, as well as in the socio-economic and cultural landscape of their home country which needs to design and implement institutional welfare responses to accommodate the growing diversity of migrants’ biographies. The project aims to raise awareness about the increasing necessity to document the changes affecting individuals’ biographies especially in postsocialist Romania where migration altered men’s and women’s life courses to a high extent, whereas social institutions changes do not reflect and adapt at the same pace. The discomfort, uncertainties and troubles migrants, men and women, of different ethnic belonging, may witness after a long period of living and working abroad, sometimes with undocumented interspersed spells, need to be thoroughly considered by researchers, in order to inform sound policies to deal with destandardized biographies and to cushion the effects of their ruptured work trajectories and surreptitious life transitions. The project will employ life course perspective and will take on gender as cross-cutting approach in seeking to explore the patterns of gendered life course patterns of migrants with at least 5 years of living experience outside their origin country. Qualitative and quantitative methods will be used in order to map the diversity of life course patterns occurring in migrants’ sample. Life stories of 40 sampled participants will be conducted in Romania with migrants and returnees from most important destination countries (e.g. Italy, U.K., Germany). The purposeful sampling will ensure a great variation with respect to characteristics such as education, age, gender and ethnicity.

FILE DESCRIPTION	DOCUMENT
List of research grants as project coordinator or partner team leader
Significant R&D projects for enterprises, as project manager
R&D activities in enterprises
Peer-review activity for international programs/projects