Academic year 2026-2027
Our academic year starts with the September Programme (for 1st-year researchers) and is then divided into three terms:
First term: October- December 2026
Seminars resume on 28 September 2026 (unless otherwise specified). Registrations in Osiris open at the end of August and close end of September.
Second term: January - March 2027
Seminars resume on 7 January 2027 (unless otherwise specified). Registrations in Osiris open mid-October and close mid-December.
Third term: April - June 2027
* All workshops grant 10 credits - The registrations will open by the end of February
September Programme
The SPS September programme, which is intended for incoming 1st year researchers, consists of Accademia Fiesolana and three preparatory workshops.
Accademia Fiesolana is the SPS Department’s introductory department seminar. Its objective is for first-year researchers to become familiar with the research done in the SPS department. It consists of seminar meetings in which the faculty members of the department introduce their research. There is also a session showcasing the department’s pluralism, in which two very different theoretical and methodological approaches to the same topic – identity – are brought together.
The Preparatory workshops are voluntary but recommended. The objectives of the three workshops are to prepare researchers for courses offered later in the programme and to brush up on some basic skills that researchers may need during their studies. They are offered as intensive courses over one week.
Contact: Monika.Rzemieniecka@eui.eu
Block 1
Accademia Fiesolana (Compulsory for all first-year researchers). No credits.
Date: 11-18 September 2026
No registration required
Block 2
Dates: from 21-25 September 2026
9:00 – 11:00 Mathematics for Political and Social Scientists
11:00 – 13:00 Basics of Qualitative Research: Philosophy and Ethics, Interviews and Ethnography
14:00 – 16:00 Introduction to R
First term: October - December 2026
* Seminars resume on 28 September 2026 (unless otherwise specified). Registrations in Osiris open at the end of August and close end of September.
Seminar Outline / Syllabus: Comparative Politics
Professor: Filip Kostelka, Simon Hix
Contact: Jennifer.Dari@eui.eu / Liga.Livena@eui.eu
Seminar Outline / Syllabus: Public Policy and Institutions
Professor: Anton Hemerijck, Waltraud Schelkle
Contact: Claudia.Fanti@eui.eu
Seminar Outline / Syllabus: Sociology
Professor: Herman G. van de Werfhorst, Juho Härkönen
Contact: Monika.Rzemieniecka@eui.eu
Seminar Outline / Syllabus: International Relations
Professor: Raffaella A. Del Sarto, Stefano Guzzini
Contact: Sofia.Altesini@eui.eu
Seminar Outline / Syllabus: Introduction to Qualitative Methods
Professor: Tasha Fairfield, Llorenc Soler Buades (MWF / SPS part-time assistant professor) Contact: Sofia.Altesini@eui.eu
Seminar Outline / Syllabus: Intermediate Qualitative Methods
Professor: Jeffrey T. Checkel
Contact: Pia.Dittmar@eui.eu
Seminar Outline / Syllabus: Introduction to Quantitative Methods
Professor: Zeth Isaakson (MWF)
Contact: Olena.Shcherbatiuk@eui.eu / Pia.Dittmar@eui.eu
Seminar Outline / Syllabus: Intermediate Quantitative Methods
Professor: Kevin Munger, Sebastian Ramirez-Ruiz (MWF / SPS part-time assistant professor) Contact: Marco.Pistolesi@eui.eu
Prospectus Workshop
Dates tbc: January/February
Professor: Anton Hemerijck, Valentina Di Stasio
Second term: January - March 2027
Seminars resume on 7 January 2027 (unless otherwise specified). Registrations in Osiris open mid-October and close mid-December.
Seminar Outline / Syllabus: Causal Inference
Professor: Elias Dinas
Contact: Pia.Dittmar@eui.eu
Seminar Outline / Syllabus:Time-Series Cross-Section Data Analysis (five double sessions)
Professor: Filip Kostelka
Contact: Pia.Dittmar@eui.eu
Seminar Outline / Syllabus: AI Applications for Social Scientists
Professor: Roberto Valli, Filip Olsson
Contact: Liga.Livena@eui.eu / Jenni
Seminar Outline / Syllabus: Bayesian Inference
Professor: Tasha Fairfield
Contact: Sofia.Altesini@eui.eu
Seminar Outline / Syllabus: Changing Welfare States
Professor: Anton Hemerijck
Contact: Claudia.Fanti@eui.eu
Seminar Outline / Syllabus: Politics and IR of the Middle East
Professor: Raffaella A. Del Sarto
Contact: Liga.Livena@eui.eu
Seminar Outline / Syllabus: Recognition
Professor: Stefano Guzzini
Contact: Sofia.Altesini@eui.eu
Seminar Outline / Syllabus: Experimentation in the Social Sciences
Professor: Valentina Di Stasio
Contact: Monika.Rzemieniecka@eui.eu
Seminar Outline / Syllabus: Sociological Analysis
Professor: Herman G. van de Werfhorst, Juho Harkonen, Léa Pessin
Contact: Monika.Rzemieniecka@eui.eu
Seminar Outline / Syllabus: The Politics of Digital Media and AI
Professor: Kevin Munger
Contact: Marco.Pistolesi@eui.eu
Seminar Outline / Syllabus: Theoretical Models for Social and Political Science
Professor: Arnout van de Rijt
Contact: Claudia.Fanti@eui.eu
Seminar Outline / Syllabus: Big Structures, Large Processes, Huge Comparisons (biweekly)
Professor: Waltraud Schelkle
Contact: Olena.Shcherbatiuk@eui.eu
Seminar Outline / Syllabus: Professionalisation Seminar (once per month)
Professor: Waltraud Schelkle
Contact: Olena.Shcherbatiuk@eui.eu
Third term: April - June 2027
The registrations will be open by the end of January
Seminar Outline / Syllabus: Professionalisation Seminar (once per month)
Professor: Waltraud Schelkle
Contact: Olena.Shcherbatiuk@eui.eu
Useful information for researchers:
FIELD SEMINARS:
Field seminars - there are four: “Sociology”, “International Relations”, “Comparative Politics”, ”Public Policy and Institutions”. Each researcher must follow and pass at least one field seminar of their choice in the first year of studies.
METHODS SEMINARS
Methods seminars - Each researcher must attend and pass the following seminars during the first two years of the doctoral programme: 1) either "Introduction to Quantitative Methods", or "Intermediate Quantitative Methods", or "Statistics and Econometrics" 1 taught in the Economics department, and 2) either "Introduction to Qualitative Methods" or "Intermediate Qualitative Methods
RESEARCH SEMINARS:
Research seminars (=non-methods, non-field) are more focused on specific, cutting- edge topics within a given substantive research area.
WORKSHOPS
Workshops - are shorter in duration than seminars and are concentrated in a few days (typically, two or three days). They usually take place in the third term and are mostly devoted to research methods.
Full attendance in the seminars and workshops, together with any other requirements specified by the professor teaching the seminar, is necessary in order to be awarded credits. One full seminar or masterclass counts for 20 hours, Workshops give 10 (10-hour workshops) or 20 (20-hour workshop) credits
For any more information on the requirements please check the SPS researchers' guide.
You must take either Introduction to Quantitative Methods or Intermediate Quantitative Methods (depending on your previous quantitative methods training) during the first two years of the doctoral programme.
Likewise, you must take either Introduction to Qualitative Methods or Intermediate Qualitative Methods (depending on your previous quantitative methods training) during the first two years of the doctoral programme.
In addition, researchers must take one of the four field seminars ("Sociology”, “Comparative Politics”, “Public Policy and Institutions”, “International Relations”) during their first year First-year researchers must attend the monthly Professionalisation Seminar.