The Foundation for International Studies on Social Security (FISS)
Photos 2025 edition
In Memoriam: Han Emanuel
The FISS community mourns the passing of Han Emanuel, the key founding member of FISS, whose vision and dedication laid the foundation for our organisation. His leadership and tireless commitment helped shape FISS into a respected platform for international dialogue on social security.
Han’s efforts brought together leading scholars and practitioners from around the world, fostering collaboration and producing a remarkable series of conference publications. Han was instrumental in securing the exceptional venue that has hosted our conferences over the years. He will be remembered not only for his professional contributions but also for his warmth, energy, and unwavering dedication to advancing social security research.
We honour his legacy and extend our deepest condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues.
The 32nd
International FISS Conference
Sigtuna, Sweden
1st – 3rd June, 2026
FISS
The Foundation for International Studies on Social Security (FISS) is an independent, non-profit association that aims to promote international, multidisciplinary research on social security. It is overseen by an international board of established social policy scholars currently chaired by professor Bea Cantillon. The daily management of FISS is in the hands of the Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy (University of Antwerp)
Conference
FISS is most known for its yearly International FISS conference. The aim of this conference is to bring together academics, researchers and policy-makers to discuss social security and related topics in an international or comparative context. The presentations given at the conference are based on research or scholarship and presented with a multi-disciplinary, international audience in mind.
Board of Governors
The Foundation for International Studies on Social Security is overseen by an international board of Governors.
Bea Cantillon
FISS Secretary General
Professor of Sociology at the Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp, Belgium.
Kenneth Nelson
Barnett Professor of Social Policy at the Department of Social Policy and Intervention (DSPI), University of Oxford, United Kingdom.
Aya K. Abe
Professor of Social Policy, School of Humanities & Social Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Japan.
Wim Van Lancker
FISS Treasurer
Assistant Professor of Social Work and Social Policy at the Centre for Sociological Research, University of Leuven, Belgium.
Hung Wong
Associate Professor, Department of Social Work, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.
Agnieszka Chłoń-Domińczak
Vice-Rector for Science and Director of the Institute of Statistics and Demography of the Warsaw School of Economics, Poland.
Koen Caminada
Professor of Empirical Analysis of Tax and Social Policy Law School at Leiden University, the Netherlands.
Julia Shu-Huah Wang
Associate Professor Social Policy, Department of Social Work, National Taiwan University.
Zachary Parolin
Assistant Professor in the Department of Social and Political Sciences at Bocconi University in Milan and a Senior Fellow at Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy.
Agnieszka Nelson
Sir Roland Wilson Foundation PhD Scholar
Australian National University (ANU), Canberra, Australia.
Inhoe Ku
Department of Social Welfare, Seoul National University, Korea.
Janet Gornick
Professor of Political Science and Sociology
Director of the Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality, Graduate Center of the City University of New York, USA.
Rense Nieuwenhuis
Associate Professor in Sociology at the Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI) at Stockholm University, Sweden.
Peter Saunders
Research Professor in Social Policy
Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.