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Department of Political and Social Sciences

We focus on contemporary challenges facing European politics and societies

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Doctoral Programme

The core mission of the EUI Department of Political and Social Sciences (SPS) is the recruitment, training, and placement of early career researchers from throughout Europe.

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People

Our Faculty, Doctoral Researchers and Postdocs come from a broad range of countries spanning all Europe and beyond.

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Research

We focus on the interplay of institutional dynamics with their behavioural context.

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Seminars & Teaching

We are one of Europe’s leading centres for research on comparative politics, political behaviour and political sociology, the sociology of inequality, analytic sociology, and international relations and security.

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About

We conceptualise institutions dynamically by studying the interactions between institutions – both formal and informal - and their behavioural context. This applies to the analysis of the impact of party competition on public policies, changing family structures and their consequences for inequalities, changing norms of governance and conflict and their implications for politics and geo-politics. 

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News

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SPS theses of the month: November

The Department of Political and Social Sciences is delighted to announce that during the month of November, 9 researchers have successfully defended their dissertations.

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Alba Bosch on the rhythm of time in life trajectories

In this #MyEUIResearch video, Alba Bosch from the Department of Political and Social Sciences explores how we balance present enjoyment with future planning. Drawing on her own experience of changing paths to pursue music, she examines how temporal horizons shape our life decisions.

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EUI confirmed world's 6th for political sciences in 2025 ShanghaiRanking

The EUI is once more ranked 6th in the world for political sciences and in the top 100 globally for sociology in the ShanghaiRanking Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2025. This result confirms the research excellence of the EUI community, and its Department of Political and Social Sciences in particular.

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Events

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4 December 2025

Seminar series

Department of Political and Social Sciences

Against the Machine

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Publications

The Department of Political and Social Sciences (SPS) specialises in comparative politics, sociology, political and social theory and international relations.

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Video Spotlight

#MyEUIResearch with Meret Stephan | Treading the protest path

The EUI PhD programme in Political and Social Sciences

A PhD at the EUI - Start the intellectual adventure of a lifetime

Department of Political and Social Sciences

Villa Sanfelice

Via dei Roccettini, 3
50014 San Domenico di Fiesole (FI)

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