PhD Programme Social Sciences

The Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR) is dedicated to providing supervision and support to post-graduate students pursuing a PhD in social sciences at the University of Amsterdam. The goal is to ensure that PhD candidates have a stimulating and high-quality experience, leading to the timely completion of their research projects.

Programme Overview

• PhD Application
• PhD Training & Support
• Overview dissertations

Project & Activities

During the PhD appointment, which typically lasts three to four years, the primary focus will be on conducting research for the doctoral dissertation. Additionally, PhD students are encouraged to engage in other activities such as:

• Taking courses offered by the PhD Training Programme
• Teaching undergraduate courses in the Departments of Social Sciences
• Actively participating in the research community, both within AISSR and at national and international levels

Close-knit Community

As a PhD student at AISSR, you will be part of a vibrant community that values your growth and development. The institute offers:

• Coaching
• Training
• A strong PhD Community to support you throughout your doctoral journey PhD students are encouraged to publish their research early in their careers, enhancing their academic profiles and fostering their future career prospects.

Programme Groups

You will be assigned to an AISSR programme group where you will conduct your research and be immersed in a supportive and collaborative environment. The programme groups include:

Sociology

• Cultural Sociology: This programme questions how social meanings and expressions associate culture. It explores how people create status differences and maintain boundaries between groups, and how international beauty standards are (re)produced.
• Institutions, Inequalities and Life courses: This programme examines institutions in a broad way as the formal and informal rules and arrangements in society that govern individual behavior and social relationships.
• Political Sociology: This programme researches evolving relations of conflict and cohesion in various national and international settings, with a focus on citizenship, politics, policies, social movements, and the state.

Geography, Planning and International Development Studies (GPIO)

• Governance and Inclusive Development: This programme scrutinizes development dynamics at various geographical, jurisdictional, and temporal scales, analyzing and rethinking dominant development paradigms.
• Political and Economic Geographies: This programme investigates the role of multi-scalar relationships in understanding contemporary economic and political geographies.
• Urban Geographies: This programme studies the socio-spatial processes that shape cities and urban life across the world, focusing on the formation of urban difference and inequality.
• Urban Planning: This programme focuses on the relationships between the social, spatial, and environmental dimensions of urban processes, and on ways of purposefully and positively impacting them.

Political Science

• Challenges to Democratic Representation: This research program studies the consequences of current political developments and their historical roots for democratic governance.
• Political Economy and Transnational Governance: This programme focuses on the drivers, dynamics, and consequences of transnational integration of markets and economic transactions.
• Transnational Configurations, Conflict and Governance: This programme seeks to re-examine established notions of identities, categorizations, and boundaries defined by classical political science concepts through different forms of empirical investigation.

Anthropology

• Exploring Diversity: Critical ethnographies of belonging and exclusion: This programme investigates the manifold ways gender, race, class, citizenship, religion, and sexuality are made and unmade in everyday life.
• Health, Care and the Body: This programme aims to analyze evolving health experiences, sexual identities, body practices, and social/cultural influences on scientific knowledge utilization in clinical settings.
• Moving Matters: People, Goods, Power and Ideas: This programme explores the social consequences of the mobility of people, goods, power, and ideas, and the shifting networks that result from such practices.

University of Amsterdam

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Overview:

The University of Amsterdam (UvA) is a renowned research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is one of Europe's leading universities, boasting over 40,000 students, 6,000 staff members, and 3,000 PhD candidates. The UvA is a hub for academic research and education, known for its commitment to connecting scientific research with societal challenges.

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Academic Programs:

The UvA offers a wide range of academic programs, including:

Bachelor's:

Over 20 English-taught programs are available.

Master's:

Over 150 English-taught programs are offered.

For Professionals:

Short-term and long-term programs for those seeking to continue their education alongside their careers.

Summer School:

The UvA Summer School provides a variety of courses for international students.

Open Programs:

The UvA offers open programs for those interested in exploring specific topics.

Exchange:

The UvA participates in various exchange programs, allowing students to study abroad.

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Other:

The UvA is known for its strong research focus, particularly in the fields of artificial intelligence, social sciences, and natural sciences. The university also has a strong commitment to internationalization, with a diverse student body and faculty.