Doctoral Programme
The four-year doctoral programme in the Department of Political and Social Sciences (SPS) covers political science, sociology, international relations and social and political theory.
The Department does not make rigid distinctions between these disciplines but focusses on research themes , some of which intersect the main social science disciplines.
There is, however, a concentration on politics and society in Europe in its widest sense, including the external relations of Europe and comparative studies of European and non-European countries.
The Department does not adhere to any one approach and researchers complete the programme with a broad knowledge of debates and approaches across the social sciences, and with the specific skills needed to complete their own theses.
Training in social science methodology is given in the first two years with an emphasis on methodological pluralism and debate. First-years take the core seminar based on the Department's jointly authored book Approaches and Methodologies in the Social Sciences (CUP, 2008). They then select at least one seminar in research design.
There are also specialized seminars in quantitative and qualitative methods. Some are offered regularly and others are organized according to demand.
The teaching programme is completed with seminars in substantive fields, many offered on a two-year cycle to allow all researchers to take them.
In the first and second terms seminars are weekly for around ten weeks. In the third term there are two-day workshops to explore specific questions and with the participation of guest professors from universities in Europe and elsewhere.
Work on the thesis starts the moment researchers arrive at the EUI, when they are assigned a supervisor, with whom they work closely over the four years. At the end of the first year researchers submit a substantial research proposal (June Paper).
In the second and third years researchers carry out research, and funds are available for field work. Some researchers spend six months at another university. The EUI has exchange agreements with universities in Europe and North America.
Funding is available for attending summer schools, often at the end of the first year, including the Essex Summer School in Social Science Data Analysis and Collection and the ECPR Summer School in Methods and Techniques in Ljubljana.
The fourth-year grant is conditional on making satisfactory progress with the thesis. Researchers defending before the end of the fourth year still receive the full grant, giving them time to prepare work for publication or to obtain teaching or postdoctoral research experience.
The Department has a very high Ph.D. completion rate and most SPS graduates go on to work in academia, in government, international organizations or the private sector.
Researchers are encouraged to join the SPS working groups , to collaborate with the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies , and to publish their work in the Department working papers or academic journals.
The Department emphasises the importance of language skills for research and encourages its researchers to make use of the Language Centre .