Doctorate in Sociology

Presentation

The doctoral programme in sociology, with major support from Sciences Po's two leading sociology laboratories - the Centre for the Sociology of Organizations (CSO) and the Centre for Research on social InequalitieS (CRIS, ex: OSC) - and two other centres that host sociologists, the Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics (CEE) and the médialab, is designed to provide:

• the theoretical foundations and latest developments in international sociological analysis;
• opportunities for specialisation in promising fields of sociology: public action, consumption, culture, education, employment, exclusion, markets, risks and health, segregation, stratification, social uses of time, cities, digital worlds, work, etc.;
• high-level methodological training in both quantitative and qualitative methods, based on fieldwork and data, with the support of leading specialists;
• training in international sociology and comparative sociology;
• personalised support within research centres by highly committed and internationally recognised academic staff.

Objectives

The doctoral program in sociology trains excellent sociologists for both academic and university careers, as well as careers as experts in major public and private organizations and NGOs.

Skills targeted

The program provides both theoretical and practical sociological research and analytical skills, as well as high-level expertise in various methodological tools.

Research centre support

The programme draws on support from Sciences Po's two sociology research centres, which host PhD students:

• Centre for the Sociology of Organisations (CSO): the centre is key to the French school of sociology of organisations, developing creative thought on private, public, market and non-market regulations from research on organisations, markets and occupational groups.  The centre was founded by Michel Crozier and is headed by Christine Musselin, research director at CNRS.  
• Centre for Research on social InequalitieS (CRIS, ex: OSC): researchers here study transformations in contemporary societies, such as social stratification, intergenerational relations, migrations, the spatial dimension of inequalities, lifestyles, socialisation and deviance, and educational policies and dynamics.  The centre was founded by Henri Mendras and is headed by Carlo Barone, Professor at Sciences Po.

PhD students interested in political sociology or public policies can also join the Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics (CEE), a Sciences Po research centre that uses a multidisciplinary approach to explore political issues such as European integration and the relationships between policy and politics.  The centre is headed by Renaud Dehousse, Professor at Sciences Po.

Programme structure

The PhD in sociology is open to students from Sciences Po Masters in Sociology as other students with a master's level degree (for more details, see admission conditions).

The three thesis years

During the following three years, doctoral students are supervised and integrated into the laboratories by participating in research activities:

• by attending a doctoral seminar organised within each research centre, which provides an opportunity to present their work on a regular basis;
• by being integrated into a doctoral programme specific to each centre;
• by having the opportunity to take specialised courses during the inter-semester periods;

The years spent working on the thesis are spent in research centres or at international partner universities. These include partnerships with Copenhagen Business School, MPIfG, Oxford, Cambridge and CIVICA partner universities.

Beyond these agreements, there are numerous opportunities to be invited to renowned institutions in other European countries, North America (Harvard, Columbia, etc.), Brazil (IUPERJ: Instituto Universitário de Pesquisas do Rio de Janeiro) and China (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing), etc.

Admissions

See Admission to a PhD

Tuition fees

Mobility grants are available to doctoral students to enable them to take part in conferences and to carry out fieldwork and study trips abroad.

• See the page ‘Funding’
• See the page ‘International PHD Exchange Programmes’

Teaching staff

All members of the sociology department and its 4 affiliated research centers can supervise or co-supervise a PhD in sociology at Sciences Po. Please note that in France, PhD supervision must include a teacher-researcher holding a "habilitation à diriger les recherches" (HDR). Check the page for each researcher available on the website of the research centers concerned (CEE, Cris, CSO or medialab) to make sure that the prospective thesis supervisor has an HDR - or one of the two co-supervisors if you are planning to co-supervise.

PhD Students

• Consult the list of CSO doctoral students
• Consult the list of CRIS (ex: OSC) doctoral students
• Consult the list of CEE doctoral students
• Consult the list of Medialab doctoral students
• Consult the list of CERI doctoral students

Contacts

• Jérôme Pélisse, 
  Head of doctoral studies in Sociology,
  Full Professor at Sciences Po,
  Researcher at the CSO
   
• Carine Boutillier
  Administrative Officer
  Ph.: +33 (0)1 45 49 59 82