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Sociology Ph.D.

An integrated model comprising a Master and a doctoral thesis over five years

 The two years at Master level

The first two years at the Master’s level involves high-level study of the theoretical and methodological fundamentals of the discipline as well as a relevant specialisation in one of the areas of excellence in sociology at Sciences Po:

  • The first year imparts the fundamentals, a mastery of qualitative and quantitative methods and the beginning of a specialisation.
  • The second year is dedicated to deepening the knowledge acquired in first year and preparing a Master’s thesis, working closely with the laboratories. This thesis is crucial for evaluating students’ ability to continue with a doctoral thesis.

At the end of these two years, students holding the Master’s degree are sociology professionals capable of conducting qualitative and quantitative investigations and developing a major research project independently.

See the course guide for the 2 years of the Master

The three years of the doctoral thesis

Over the next three years, doctoral students are supervised and integrated into the research life of the laboratories and take three seminars:

  • “Actualités de la recherche en sociologie” provides a thematic panorama of contemporary sociological research, with major contemporary authors.
  • A specialist seminar organised by the research centre allows students to regularly present their work.
  • A range of advanced methodological ateliers.

Students will spend the years of the doctoral thesis at Sciences Po’s research centres or our international partner universities, which include the Max Planck Institute Cologne (DE), the Stockholm Centre for Organizational Research, Northwestern University (Chicago), Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca (IT) and Oxford University.

In addition to these partnerships, there are numerous opportunities for our students to receive invitations from prestigious institutions in Europe, North America (Harvard, Columbia, etc.), Brazil (IUPERJ : Instituto Universitário de Pesquisas do Rio de Janeiro (BR), China (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing) and more.

Doctoral students can also complete a double doctorate with the International Max Planck Research School.

At the end of these three years, the doctorate in sociology is awarded.

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