Aim
The Organization Studies Group was established in late 2024 by Dr. Ellen Nathues and Dr. Stina Rydell Brøgger to create a dedicated space at the University of Twente for scholars interested in organizational phenomena and organizing practices in the broadest sense. It brings together researchers from across the university who share an interest in understanding how organizational processes take shape, unfold, and transform over time across a broad range of settings, such as learning communities, DEI initiatives, platforms, or ecosystems. We meet every three to four weeks, for roughly 1.5 hours, with a range of activities (more details below).
The group currently includes PhD candidates, postdoctoral researchers, and assistant, associate, and full professors. While many members come from the PLT section (Professional Learning & Technology), participation extends across the university, including colleagues from Communication Science, Entrepreneurship, Technology & Management, Integrated Project Delivery, and other sections and faculties. This interdisciplinary composition reflects our aim to foster a broad community for organizational scholarship at UT. The Organization Studies Group is also connected to wider academic communities, including the international Organization Studies field (e.g., EGOS; EURAM, AoM), the Communicative Constitution of Organizations (CCO) community, and regional networks such as LOST (Leuphana Organization Studies). These connections help position the University of Twente within broader conversations in organization theory and practice.
Our goal is to build and sustain a collegial, engaged, and interdisciplinary hub for scholars who study organizations and organizing in all their forms. Colleagues from across the university who share this interest are warmly invited to join our meetings.
Activities
We engage in a variety of activities together, including, but not limited to:
- Reading sessions: Someone selects one or two readings; we all prepare them, then come together to discuss them in depth. Questions we address in our discussion include: what we liked about the paper, what remained unclear, what we are critical of, what we can learn from the paper, and how the paper can inspire our own work.
- Working Paper or Revise & Resubmit or Reject & Revise & Resubmit sessions: Someone brings a working paper (before or in the stage of R&R(&R)) and we collectively find ways to improve the paper, and if applicable, make sense of the related review comments. Typically, we assign one to two fixed discussants per paper to kick off the conversation, but everyone is expected to contribute to the session.
- Guest talks: We love having guests who share some of the exciting things they work on and how we can learn from them. We aim to host guests regularly to broaden our network and perspectives, and we welcome ideas for speakers. In the last year, we welcomed Isabelle Neufang (Copenhagen Business School) and Mitra Raappana (University of Jyväskylä) for research visits and presentations to our group, as well as Frithjof Wegener (Northumbria University). In 2026, we look forward to welcoming Monica Nadegger (LMU Munich & MCI Innsbruck) as well as other scholars with whom we are currently in conversation.
- Paper idea pitching & developing: Before a paper even begins to take shape, we love to pitch first ideas to each other to see how they resonate (or if it is sometimes better to drop them), how they could be moved forward, whether there is an option for co-authoring, and so forth. We find this format particularly valuable for developing and advancing conference paper ideas.
- Before-and-after conference session: In addition to discussing and collectively working on paper ideas for conferences, we find it important to get together to prepare for upcoming conferences (e.g., mock presentations, questions to more experienced conference goers, etc.) as well as to reflect afterwards around what we learned at the respective event, what we liked and disliked, how we plan to move our work further given the feedback we received, and so forth.
- Collective data sessions: From time to time, one of our members brings some of their (raw) data (e.g., snippets from ethnographic field notes, interview excerpts, or visual material) for us to collectively dive into what we see in the data and collectively map out potential conceptual angles and directions that might be valuable for subsequent steps.
- Full workshop days: Approximately twice a year, we get together for full workshop days around particular themes, often in relation to current projects, upcoming events and conferences, and the ideas we are all working on. The workshop days also offer us the opportunity to schedule some time for more informal exchanges over drinks, bites, and possibly creative activities as well as to collectively sketch out future plans for the group.
- … and more, and we are also open to your ideas!
How to join?
The hub is primarily driven by the PLT section, but open to anyone with an interest in phenomena and processes of organization and organizing, especially when a qualitative lens is applied to study these dynamics. We work with the idea of contributorship rather than membership, meaning we find it important for members (or contributors) to regularly participate in and contribute to sessions and the overall trajectory of the group (including co-designing it by bringing in ideas, suggestions for guest speakers, and so forth). To get to know the group, simply reach out to Ellen (e.nathues@utwente.nl) and/or Stina (stina.brogger@utwente.nl) so we can invite you to upcoming meetings and add you to our mailing list and Teams Channel.
Members
Coordinators
Ellen Nathues, Assistant Professor, PLT
Stina Rydell Brøgger, Postdoctoral Researcher, PLT
Marc van den Berg, Assistant Professor, IPD (ET)
Akvilė Bouwens, Postdoctoral Researcher, PLT
Tom Coenen, Assistant Professor, IPD (ET)
Annemarie Dedden, PhD Candidate, PLT
Maaike Endedijk, Professor, PLT
Valeria Farina, PhD Candidate, PLT
Eric Fath-Kolmes, Innovation Ecosystem Developer, PLT
Suzanne Janssen, Assistant Professor, CS
Amber Kornet, PhD Candidate, PLT
Barbara Kump, Associate Professor, ETM
Jeroen Meijerink, Associate Professor, PLT
Martin Pit, Postdoctoral Researcher, PLT
Mirelle Post-Hubers, Assistant Professor, PLT
Ruth Sloot, Assistant Professor, IPD (ET)
Britt Smulders, Postdoctoral Researcher, PLT
Anete Veidemane, Researcher, KiTeS
Stijn Visschedijk, PhD Candidate, Saxion
Leentje Volker, Professor, IPD (ET)
Lynn Vosman, PhD Candidate, IPD (ET)
Mark van Vuuren, Associate Professor, CS
Britt Wiefferink, PhD Candidate, PLT
Lisa Winkelman, PhD Candidate, PLT