Prof. Michał Tomczak awarded CEEMAN Researcher of the Year

Prof. Michał Tomczak, Vice-Dean for Cooperation and Development at the Faculty of Management and Economics, was honored by The International Association for Management Development in Dynamic Societies. The award justification emphasized that Prof. Tomczak's scientific activity contributes to the development of inclusive human resources management. The researcher develops evidence-based solutions that help organizations better design the work environment and more effectively support neurodivergent employees.

Neurodiversity Changes the Way We Think About Work

Modern organizations increasingly redefine the concepts of talent, efficiency, and productivity. At the center of this change is neurodiversity, the natural variation in how the human brain functions. Neurodivergent individuals may process information, communicate, focus attention, or respond to stimuli differently. These differences should not be seen solely as challenges but also as sources of unique competencies and perspectives.

The condition for harnessing this potential, however, is a properly prepared work environment. This means not only declaring openness and equality but above all implementing specific solutions: adapting task organization, communication methods, spaces, and recruitment and management processes.

Pioneering Research in Central and Eastern Europe

Prof. Michał Tomczak is the first researcher in the field of management and quality sciences in Central and Eastern Europe to undertake systematic studies on neurodiversity in the workplace. He is a co-creator of pioneering scientific projects dedicated to this topic and the principal investigator of three research projects funded by the National Science Centre. His interests focus, among others, on organizational maturity in neurodiversity inclusion, mental models of neurodiverse teams, and inclusive work design.

Within his activities, he has developed a series of solutions that help employers improve human resource management practices and tailor the work environment to the needs of people on the autism spectrum.

Prof. Tomczak is the author and co-author of over 60 scientific publications in the field of human resource management. He has also completed internships and research visits as a Visiting Scholar at universities in the United States, Australia, Norway, and India.

International Recognition

The CEEMAN Champion Awards are granted to individuals who make a special contribution to the development of management and management education through scientific, educational, and organizational activities. The Researcher of the Year award recognizes researchers whose work has not only high scientific value but also significant practical and social relevance.

CEEMAN is an international association established in 1993 to support the development of management and management education in Central and Eastern Europe. Today, the organization operates on a much broader scale and includes over 200 member institutions in more than 50 countries across Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Among the association's members are business schools, universities, management development centers, industry organizations, corporations, and individual experts.

The award for Prof. Michał Tomczak confirms the international significance of his research and simultaneously draws attention to a subject that is becoming one of the most important challenges of the contemporary labor market.