The Doctoral Programme in Social Sciences covers a very wide range of social science research, from the most abstract and qualitative to the most concrete and quantitative, and many mixtures in between. It also covers everything from research carried out purely because of academic or scientific interest, all the way to research that mostly has an applied purpose. In all the research we do, we aim to have an impact: either on the understanding of a particular topic or theme, and/or on a non-academic area, policy or topic, particularly in social and cultural fields.
The Doctoral Programme in Social Sciences has over 300 members.
Each year, the programme hosts a range of courses, seminars, and master classes organized by the disciplines, which are open to all doctoral researchers registered in the programme. Many courses are held by distinguished international scholars invited to Helsinki for the purpose; others are designed by our own expert staff. These courses involve:
- training in research methodologies and theoretical approaches;
- specialist themes or topics in the social sciences taught by an expert in the field (e.g. globalization; inequality; political demography; social media; cultural difference);
- doctoral skills and techniques (e.g. writing skills, publishing articles, time management, etc);
- regular constructive critique of doctoral candidates’ work - where students present their work and they receive feedback on it. One of the advantages of having a cross-disciplinary programme is that students not only receive feedback from within their own discipline, but also hear the views of others, from other disciplines.
In addition, the programme holds an annual conference, which is an opportunity for doctoral students across all the disciplines to meet together in a large event and share their diverse approaches towards the study of social science.
The Doctoral Programme in Social Sciences has a strong commitment to providing the best conditions for doctoral students to carry out their research in the pursuit of this aim, whether their work is purely conceptual or scientific, or whether it has more of an applied purpose. We welcome dialogue and debate; that is at the heart of developing a strong research environment.