The VUB Data Lab is headed by prof. Vincent Ginis, prof. Sam Verboven and prof. Filip Van Droogenbroeck. It is a cross-disciplinary research lab at the Solvay Business School of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) in Belgium. It focusses on developing and adapting analytical tools and algorithms which retrieve valuable insights from data while taking into account the specific operational context, domain expertise, and business requirements of the application at hand. In addition, it exploits the connection between data analysis and the properties of complex systems.
SHOC (Social History of Capitalism) is one of the VUB’s recognized Large Research Groups. Its core objective is to study the social history of capitalism as a bottom-up process in the long run. SHOC conceptualizes capitalism as a social process that exponentially boosted material production but also generated structural inequalities throughout the medieval, early modern and modern world. It aims to study the interactions and negotiations which shaped these outcomes, incorporating non-human, technological, and subaltern perspectives.
Established in 2003, the Centre for Urban History at the University of Antwerp (CSG) examines urbanised societies from the Middle Ages to the present. Situated in the heart of the old, urbanized core of the Southern Netherlands and later Belgium, the Centre for Urban History analyses patterns of urbanization and what urban living does to people and the broader environment.
The Centre for Sociological Research (CeSO), founded 50 years ago, is a network of researchers studying social change from a sociological perspective. CeSO conducts research in a wide variety of sociological sub-disciplines, including social policy and social work, sociology of work and organization, political sociology, demography and family sociology, science and technology studies, sociology of culture and religion, theoretical sociology and research methodology. In doing so, CeSO members have the ambition to provide insights that help us to understand the key challenges for contemporary societies.