The research is starting from the following question: given its normative charge, can sovereignism evolve into a useful concept for comparative research in political sociology? To answer, I use two strategies of conceptual innovation, namely the radial strategy and the synthetic strategy. From an applied point of view, the research aims to compare sovereignist movements in Central and Eastern Europe with those in Western Europe to observe whether the latter resort to a soft balancing tactic through which they simultaneously contest, negotiate and accept the emerging hegemony of the European Union.

   The project aims to answer the research question of whether the Bucharest Sociological School can be understood as an epistemological community that offered different public policy solutions and strategic thinking for Greater Romania, a state with low administrative capacity that was in a situation of simultaneously building both the state and the nation in a regional context dominated by revisionist empires. With the help of political sociology and a deductive methodology, the research explores the connection between the Bucharest Sociological School and the political field of the moment.

   Sovereignism is both a theoretical issue in the area of political philosophy and sociology, but also a constant of current political and geopolitical discourse. An academic research into the classical roots of sovereignism, starting with Jean Bodin and reaching the perimeter of 20th century modernity (Carl Schmitt), is not only useful, but also necessary to understand, on the one hand, what are the general-philosophical and sociological implications of this theme, and on the other hand, what are the effective possibilities for the manifestation of sovereignist political currents in the context of globalization.

   The project aims to analyze in depth the motivations, expectations and professional dynamics of young people from Generation Z in relation to the public service, both in its voluntary and mandatory form. Through a longitudinal approach, carried out over five years, the project aims to identify recruitment and retention trends, satisfaction factors and obstacles encountered, in order to substantiate modern public policies and strategies adapted to the needs of emerging generations. The results will provide a clear picture of the transformations of the labor market and the civic involvement of young people in Romania and in the European context.

   The research aims to contribute to the study of social morphology by deepening knowledge about two fundamental aspects for understanding social reality: the structure of community morphology and institutional-political morphological patterns. The project is a continuation of the research ”Theoretical-explanatory models on social morphology”, aiming to capitalize on the results obtained within it, by developing complex and applied analysis models.

   The research aims to measure migration quotas and study in depth the phenomena associated with demographic winter: social fatigue, the depopulation of human communities, from families to territorial communities, population aging, depopulation through the demographic scissors effect: combining the decline in fertility with the concomitant increase in average age and mortality rate, couple fatigue (the phenomenon of optional sterility), etc.

   The project aims to resume an old theme of national culture: Encyclopedia of repressed values. This theme will unfold the destiny of both the personalities and the ideas of these personalities who were "repressed", in some cases, "tolerated", in others, after the political events of August 23, 1944. In a first stage, the ban on interwar publications represented a programmatic break with our national history imposed by the new cultural leadership of the moment, and then it continued with the liquidation or removal from the public space of the national personalities who were the authors of these creations.

   The research aims to carry out a comparative analysis of the circulation of news and electoral messages broadcast by international press agencies in relation to the elections in Romania, the cartography of the dissemination of messages and different regions of the world through press agencies, the content analysis of the messages broadcast by international press agencies on the elections in Romania using the Maxqda method and the construction of a database based on it.

   The proposed project represents the fifth wave of a panel study initiated in December 2004, which aims to capture the way in which people relate to the Christmas celebration throughout their lives in order to obtain a deeper understanding of the mechanisms through which the meaning of Christmas is (re)constructed over time. The study aims to analyze the continuities, as well as the transformations of the meaning of Christmas in relation to significant turning points that occur along individual life trajectories in the transition to adulthood.

   While cyberbullying is one of the most studied and feared risks of the internet when it targets children, cyberhate as a specific risk targeting children in the digital space is not only less studied, but much less aware (both in prevalence and consequences) by stakeholders (e.g., parents, teachers, legislators). In this context, this study aims to map the involvement (as victim, aggressor or witness) of children in Romania in these forms of online violence, as well as to understand the risk factors for children's involvement in cyberbullying and cyberhate. For this, the Romanian database from the EU Kids Online 2020 study will be used.

   The research addresses the construction of political-media discourse in the context of the campaigns for the presidential elections in Romania (2024 and 2025) starting from the premise that the articulation of these discourses cannot be dissociated (1) from the existence of multiple crisis contexts and (2) from a hybrid, heterogeneous and spectacular communication sphere, including new forms of manifestation of active audiences. The main objective of the research is to highlight recurring conditions for the production of political discourses, considering the circulation and, accordingly, the recontextualization of these discourses via traditional and online media.

   The theme was foreshadowed by a research project initiated in 2023 ("ION, the first AI Advisor to the Government": what strategies for negotiating meaning in the Romanian political-media space? - Camelia Beciu, Angelica Marinescu) and the first research results were presented at the international conference XXVIe COLLOQUE FRANCO-ROUMANIN EN SCIENCES DE L'INFORMATION ET DE LA COMMUNICATION, Université Vasile Alecsandri de Bacău From 26 to 28 October 2023.

   The theme focuses on the commemoration of the Second World War in Romania, after the fall of communism, from a European and international perspective. The project aims to develop a commemorative calendar of the war in contemporary Romania, taking into account both the national, European (after Romania's accession to the EU), and international (after Romania's accession to NATO) dimensions, starting from dominant contemporary discourses in the public space and investigating dominant discourses about the Second World War within the framework of commemorations in contemporary Romania.

   The research proposes a theoretical and empirical investigation, from a sociological perspective, of recent history and the history of Romanian art, on what the phenomenon of virtualization of works of art and digitization of cultural heritage signifies, in the new context that is defined between technology, heritage conservation institutions (museums, archives, collections) and the world of contemporary art. Starting from the observation that the digital environment modifies the way in which cultural resources are created, disseminated, preserved and (re)used, the research takes into account the role of new technologies in redefining social, cultural, educational policies and practices, the representation of art in public space and the technological mediation of the relationship/interaction with beneficiaries/users.

   The general objective established within this research theme is that of recovering, valorizing and putting into the scientific circuit some lesser-known texts, but relevant for what represented the role of monographic research in the foundation of the sociology of religions in our country: Dochia Ioanovici's study dedicated to magical practices and the studies signed by Gh. Focșa regarding the religious mentality of the Romanian people). This approach will be expanded and finalized by identifying and selecting the entire set of texts produced within the Sociological School of Bucharest (Bernea, Ștefania Cristescu-Golopentția, Vulcănescu, Stahl, Ionică, Iosif, etc.), with the aim of compiling a chrestomath.

   Until now, in the Romanian scientific literature in the field of family there is no treatise on the family and the married couple. Also, at the European level, the last Treatise on the sociology of the family was published in 1993 (A Treatise on the Family – Gary S. Becker). The work is extensive and develops issues such as the universality of the family, the functional structure, education, solidarity, relational individualism, monogamy, polygamy, stability and conflict in the couple, etc.

   The theme aims to analyze press articles from the late 19th and early 20th centuries that have as their subject/s aspects related to the social, economic, cultural, etc. condition of the village and its inhabitants with the aim of carrying out a comparative analysis between the academic discourse captured in the specialized articles and the journalistic narratives closer to the collective imagination of the time. The project aims to contribute to the completion of a methodology dedicated to the systematization of available statistical data relevant to the "peasant problem".

   The research aims to: define and operationalize the concept of democratic resilience; identify indicators of democratic resilience and measure them at the international/regional level and at the level of each country; analyze the factors that threaten democratic resilience: disinformation, erosion of the rule of law, political polarization, external influences; measure the level of trust that citizens have in the electoral process, including trust in political institutions, international institutions and political personalities; assess the level of civic involvement beyond voting, including participation in community organizations, volunteering and advocacy related to societal resilience; propose practical solutions.

   The relationship between religion and society is one of the fundamental themes of sociology. At this stage, the theoretical foundations of the religious community and the existing types of religious structures are clarified. The central objective of this analysis is to evaluate the social role of the religious community.

   Ion Conea, trained as a geographer, was a specialist in historical geography and toponymy, and also one of the first Romanian geopoliticians. He established himself as a scientific personality in close connection with the Bucharest Sociological School. This study is dedicated to him within the framework of the Institute of Sociology’s project aimed at compiling an Encyclopedia of the School. The research highlights the main landmarks of his activity: biographical data, scientific contributions (books, articles, conferences, participation in monographic campaigns), thematic orientations (rural sociology, geopolitics, interdisciplinarity), the social issues he addressed, as well as the theories and innovative concepts he formulated.

   The aim of the research program is to analyze the peculiarities and specific risk factors of lethal violence, especially of femicides committed in Romania, in order to develop proposals for intervention measures aimed at preventing femicides and reducing the impact of acts of violence at the individual, relational, community and societal level. The research program is structured in three sub-programs: 1) Femicide in Romania – media representations; 2) Femicide in Romania - risk factors and 3) Femicide in Romania (component of the "Femicide in Europe" program developed in collaboration with the European Observatory on Femicide).

   Proiect approved within the academic exchanges of the Romanian Academy with partner Academies. Implemented in partnership by the Institute of Sociology - Romanian Academy and the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

   The research represents ORAPO's contribution to the development of the activities provided in the Collaboration Protocol between the Institute of Sociology, the National Administration of Penitentiaries (Republic of Moldova), the Public Association "Involvement, Rehabilitation, Integration, Support" - IRIS (Republic of Moldova) and the Romanian Group Association for the Defense of Human Rights Romania - GRADO. The purpose of the research is the evaluation of the "educational communities" in four prisons in the Republic of Moldova: Penitentiary no. 4-Cricova, Penitentiary no. 9-Pruncul, Penitentiary no. 15-Cricova and Penitentiary no. 18-Brănești.