Research Group

Prof. Tomasz Dorożyński, Ph.D. (dr hab.)
Faculty of Economics and Sociology,
University of Lodz, Poland

He is a member of several prestigious international organisations of researchers in international economics and business (e.g. AIB, EIBA, EAMSA, Management Geography (ManGeo) Research Group). His research focuses, among other things, on internationalisation, FDI, MNEs, investment incentives, location determinants, investment attractiveness, special economic zones and business environment organisations. So far, he has been involved in 17 research projects, also as project manager. 6 of them were co-financed by the EU. On top of that, he received three grants for young researchers. His research achievements include more than 120 peer-reviewed publications.

Piotr Marciniak, Ph.D.
Institute of Law Studies,
Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland

He focuses on chambers of commerce worldwide in the context of economic, administrative and constitutional law combined with an interdisciplinary approach. Former leader of a business environment organizations. Entrepreneur and telecommunications market expert. Head or member of several government expert teams. Author or co-author of over 100 publications and analyses.

Kamil Brzeziński, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Faculty of Economics and Sociology,
University of Lodz, Poland

He focuses on participation, deliberation and social consultations as well as social research methods. Author of several dozen scientific publications in the field of participation, urban sociology and urban studies. Participant of many domestic and foreign scientific conferences. Implementer and co-implementer of many scientific and social projects.

Karol Dąbrowski, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Faculty of Law and Administration,
Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Poland

He focuses on the history of chambers of trade and industry, agricultural and craft chambers, self-regulatory institutions, business organizations, legal and economic institutions. He is one of the best Polish researchers in the field of archival sources (German, Jewish, Polish, Ukrainian) concerning World War II and the General Government. He is a member of the European Society for the History of Law. He collaborates with foreign researchers as a reviewer, co-investigator. He helps to organize visits to Poland for work in libraries and archives. He has undertaken many research stays in Polish and German research institutions, sharing his knowledge and experience.

Agnieszka Kretek-Kamińska, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Faculty of Economics and Sociology,
University of Lodz, Poland

She focuses on the methodology and methods of social research, issues of civil society and the sociology of science, knowledge and education. As a researcher, she carried out numerous research projects using quantitative and qualitative information acquisition techniques, serving as a research expert, author of the research concept and research methodology, author of research tools and co-author of the research report, but also as a direct implementer of the field part of the research.

Prof. Robert Bennett, MA, PhD, FBA
Emeritus Professor of Geography, University of Cambridge; Senior Associate, Cambridge Judge Business School; Visiting Professor in Economic History, London School of Economics, United Kingdom

Prof. Robert Bennett is an expert on small businesses and entrepreneurship, local economic development and public finance. He was commissioned to produce the 1991 Development Strategy for the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) national association, and its update in 2002. This forms the foundation for the BCC Accreditation process for local chambers. In 2005 he initiated a project on chamber of commerce history in the Atlantic world. The main outputs of this were published in two monographs: Local Business Voice: The history of Chambers of Commerce in Britain, Ireland and Revolutionary America, 1760-2011, Oxford University Press, 2011 (also available as an e-book; it contains a major appendix listing the location of all local and national chamber archival sources); The Voice of Liverpool Business: The first chamber of commerce and the Atlantic economy, 1774-c.1796, Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, 2010.  The key background archival materials for these books are reproduced in The Documents of the first Chambers of Commerce in Britain and Ireland, 1767-1839, British Academy and Oxford University Press, Records of Social and Economic History, 2017. Much other data on UK chambers is contained in the website: https://www.geog.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/chambersofcommerce/

Prof. Dr. Habil. Gratiela Georgiana Noja
Faculty of Economics and Business Administration,
West University of Timisoara, Romania

Prof. Dr. Habil. Gratiela Georgiana Noja, BEc, MSc, and PhD in Economics (West University of Timișoara, Romania), is a Full Professor and Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at West University of Timișoara, Romania. Her research focuses on European economic integration, international migration, digital transformation, and sustainable development, with over 100 papers published in top academic journals and volumes. She also contributed to multiple books published by Emerald, including Digital Transformation (2023) and Green Wealth (forthcoming 2024). Dr. Noja has managed numerous national and international projects, including the Erasmus+ project “Coordinated Higher Education Institutions Responses to Digitalisation” (2019–2021). She regularly serves as a reviewer and co-editor for several international journals. In addition, she is actively involved in academic networks, including the International Strategic Management Association. Also, dr. Noja serves on the Steering Committee of the East-European Centre for Research in Economics and Business.

Prof. Dr. Detlef Sack
Department of “Democratic Theory and Government System Research” Head of the Institute for Democracy and Participation Research (IDPF), Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, Institute of Political Science, Bergische University Wuppertal, Germany

Prof. Dr. Detlef Sack is professor for political science, democratic theory and governance at Bergische University Wuppertal, Germany. His areas of research cover chambers of commerce and chambers of craft, business associations, democratic innovations, and public policy. He conducted research about the chambers of commerce in Germany and France and edited “Chambers of Commerce in Europe“, which contains comparative research about the institutional change of chambers of commerce in Austria, France, Germany, France, Hungary and the United Kingdom. Publications and data from recent research on the German chambers of craft are listed here. More publications can be found in the Resources / Research tab.

Péter Krisztián Zachar, PhD, habil.
Head of Department of International Relations and Diplomacy,
Faculty of Public Governance and International Studies
Ludovika – University of Public Service, Hungary

Péter Krisztián Zachar, PhD, habil. is a Vice-Dean for International Affairs an Associate Professor at Faculty of Public Governance and International Studies. He specialises in political history and ideas of the 19th and 20th centuries, Franco-German relations, European interest representation and advocacy organisations, the historical roots of the (European) social partnership. He publishes in Hungarian, German and English and is an author of over 20 studies on chambers of commerce.

Wouter Van Gulck
General Manager of the Federation of Belgian Chambers of Commerce, Belgium

Wouter Van Gulck is General Manager at the Federation of Belgian Chambers of Commerce since 2007. Through his mandates in international chamber organisations he has acquired an extensive knowledge about the chamber system, both in private law and public law settings. His fields of expertise are in chamber management and business development and the role of chambers in sustainable entrepreneurship and international trade.
Master of Laws at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Business Management at the Vlerick Management School. Trade Commissioner for Flanders Investment & Trade in Johannesburg and New York between 1995 and 2004.
Passionate about foreign countries, cultures, people.