The Competence Centre for Labour, Welfare and Social Research was established 2019 in order to enhance and further develop the research experience acquired in previous decades. The origins date back to 1998, when the then Department of Social Work (DLS) set up a Social Work research unit. The Centre has a staff of researchers whose work is strongly anchored to locally-run organisations, while attentively monitoring events in Switzerland and abroad, and adopting a multi-disciplinary approach that has developed around the social sciences sector, embracing perspectives mainly of a socio-economic and socio-educational nature.

The Competence Centre implements qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods, also adopting a trans-disciplinary viewpoint, delivering descriptive and explanatory research work, providing measurement evaluations, interventions and tools, and executing action research studies in various areas of experience, particularly in the educational practice field. 

The Competence Centre aims to consolidate its role in terms of the construction of scientific knowledge, understanding and operational instruments, to transfer to real-life institutional and professional contexts by leveraging innovation and bachelor-level and continuing education programmes.

Full information about the Centre can be found at:
www.supsi.ch/lws (website in Italian)


The Competence Centre for Labour, Welfare and Social Research also encompasses the Centre for Documentation and Research on Migration.