All permanents members of the department, researchers at the CNRS or FNSP and university members belong as a main job to a Sciences Po research unit.

• The Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics (CEE) guest faculties
• The Center for the Sociology of Organisations (CSO) guest faculties
• The Centre for Research on social InequalitieS (CRIS) guest faculties

• The Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics (CEE) 
• The Centre for Research on social InequalitieS (CRIS) 
• The Centre for the Sociology of Organisations (CSO) 

• The Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics (CEE) 
• The Centre for Research on social InequalitieS (CRIS) 
• The Center for the Sociology of Organisations (CSO) 

Sciences Po’s undergraduate programme is now offered in seven campuses in France:

• Central and Eastern European campus in Dijon
• Europe-Asia campus in Le Havre
• Middle-East and Mediterranean campus in Menton
• French-German campus in Nancy
• Latin American campus in Poitiers
• Euro-american campus in Reims
• And a campus in Paris which offers a euro-african programme

These seven campuses cater for almost 4000 undergraduate students, of whom one-third are enrolled in the regional campuses.

Dijon, Le Havre, Menton, Nancy, Poitiers and Reims campuses are an integral part of Sciences Po. They offer the same core subjects as in Paris but take a new approach as regards the course organization, intensified language teaching and international diversity. They share some common characteristics: small structure, students from all over the world, which distinguish them from the Paris undergraduate campus. The undergraduate program is a three-year course of study, with a mandatory third year abroad: the training program is multidisciplinary (economics, law, history, sociology, political science), and provides a solid intellectual grounding with a strong emphasis on methodological approaches.

At Sciences Po, sociology is a problem-driven, theory-oriented and method-based discipline. Our two-year Master training is premised on the social relevance of research issues, a solid foundation in classical and contemporary social theory, and up-to-date analytical skills in both quantitative and qualitative techniques. From very early on, students are also required to engage in hands-on empirical research, through ethnographies, interviews, surveys, and exploration of large datasets. A huge emphasis is placed on the final dissertation (mémoire), which is expected to stem from students’ original fieldwork and/or data-based investigations of high academic standard. Subjects vary and reflect the wide spectrum of interests of the almost 50 researchers of the Sociology Department at Sciences Po.

Classes are taught in English and French. Students are entitled to use both languages in exams, papers and the final dissertation. To facilitate the integration of non-French speaking students, first year courses are prevailingly taught in English.

Holders of the Master Recherche in Sociology from Sciences Po are particularly well suited to pursue academic careers through PhD programs, join policy-making organizations and public institutions, and work for research institutes on a national and international scale.

Organization of the Master in Sociology

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.

A stimulating and rigorous environment

The Doctoral Programme in Sociology (Ph.D) is a high-level research qualification. It benefits from the expertise of an internationally-renowned team of sociologists and world-famous laboratories, which guarantee that students are taught and supervised in optimum conditions.  This set-up offers a stimulating and rigorous environment that ensures the training of excellent sociologists destined for high-level careers.

See below for the list of classes on offer as part of the Doctoral Programme (Ph.D).

Doctoral Seminar 2011-2012 (Doctoral School)

Marco Oberti and Alain Chenu

This seminar is aimed principally at doctoral students in sociology at Sciences Po Paris, but researchers and teacher-researchers are also welcome. It examines the most significant and important advances in sociology research. Sessions last for two hours and are organised around a guest speaker, with a short presentation followed by a discussion. This compulsory seminar entails 90 hours in all, which doctoral students must attend during the first three years of their thesis.

Grands enquêtes sociologiques (“Great sociological investigations”)

Denis Segrestin and Alain Chenu

Course description: this course provides an overview of the principal types of investigation in sociology, emphasising recent developments.

For each type of investigation, this course identifies the corresponding issues, methods of observation and analysis, social uses of the results, means of funding and organising the work of researchers and investigators and the possibilities for re-examining data sets and their corresponding documentation in the archives. This course also examines the respective merits, in terms of explaining social change, of three different modes of inter-temporal comparison: revisiting the field, panels of individuals or households, and pseudo-panels, before looking at the study of collective action.

The sessions, mainly comprising presentations by students, are dedicated to the study of a series of controversies that can arise from investigations. The choice of investigations studied is in keeping with the work carried out in Sciences Po’s sociology research centres.

The Doctoral Programme in Sociology (Ph.D.) provides a stimulating and rigorous framework for the training of excellent sociologists destined for the highest-level careers.

More information

The doctoral school web site