The Vienna Doctoral School of Social Sciences promotes innovative, excellent, problem-oriented research that aspires to contribute to societal debates and address key global challenges.

The cohorts trained and supported by the ViDSS are part of a vibrant research environment and international networks. The ViDSS encompasses and fosters connections between a broad range of disciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary perspectives. The ViDSS embraces the entire range of epistemological, methodological and theoretical approaches that are employed at the Faculty of Social Sciences. Doctoral candidates receive research training and write a doctoral thesis in the fields of communication, demography, development studies, nursing science, political science, science and technology studies, social and cultural anthropology, and sociology. The ViDSS aims for the highest standards in doctoral training and close supervision to ensure a mastery of social scientific debates and relevant theories and methods. As a result, ViDSS graduates are highly employable both within and outside academia.

News
 

We are deeply saddened by the passing of our cherished colleague Cornelia Staritz on 3 July 2025. Professor Staritz was part of ViDSS since its inception and her many contributions to the running of the doctoral school were pivotal in shaping its direction and profile.
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Media articles and press releases
 

A study conducted by ViDSS Student Rinat Meerson (co-authored with Kevin Koban and Jörg Matthes) examines how exposure to digital hate affects social media users. The findings show that frequent exposure to hate leads to more direct intervention such as commenting or countering but reduces the willingness to rely on moderation.
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Fellowship and award winners
 

Supported by a Marietta Blau Grant, Ali Heuser from the Department of Development Studies has completed research stays in Peru and the UK and will stay at the University of Kassel this summer. Ali's doctoral research project investigates the transformation of gender relations in social protest against large-scale mining extractivism in the southern Andes of Peru.
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Blog
 

(by Wenwen Lyu)

From 14–25 April 2025, states gathered at UN Headquarter in New York for the first meeting of the Preparatory Commission (Prep Com) under the international agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement). Nearly two years since the Agreement’s historic adoption ...
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Media articles and press releases
 

A recent study by Jeanne Marlier (co-authored with Matthias Kaltenegger and Laurenz Ennser-Jedenastik) investigates why people like technocrats despite their lack of responsiveness and accountability to voters. They show that voters perceive technocracy as a multi-dimensional phenomenon, associating distinct advantages and disadvantages with ministers’ expertise and their (non-)partisanship.

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Fellowship and award winners
 

Aleksandra Fila from the Department of Development Studies was awarded a GO.INVESTIGATIO Fellowship by the Austrian Academy of Sciences for her ethnographic and archival research in the Polish cities of Oleśnica and Warsaw. Aleksandra’s doctoral research project investigates the feminist political economy of creativity in the Polish neoliberal transformation in the 1990s. Congratulations!
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Fellowship and award winners
 

Communication scientist Andrea Stockinger was awarded the Top Student Best Paper Award 2025 of the Communication & Technology Division of the International Communication Association for her paper “Tackling online incivility and misinformation: A user-centric evaluation of different content moderation strategies”. Congratulations!
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Radio and podcast
 

What is a family? Why do parents separate? How much say should children have in a divorce? In the Podcast “Focus” of ORF Radio Vorarlberg, sociologist Viktoria Parisot presents a project in which divorce was researched through a participatory approach. (In German)
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Radio and podcast
 

Giorgia Zogu and Ying Liang Zhang talk with Jana Bernhard-Harrer and Nisa Iduna Kirchengast about their experiences with co-authorship. How have they dealt with challenges related to joint publications and how have they benefited from contributing to co-authored papers? Find out about disciplinary specifics and get practical advice on building productive research partnerships.
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New publications by ViDSS students

Showing entries 21 - 40 out of 107
Time to BeReal! Exploring users' well-being in relation to BeReal use duration. / Kanková, Jaroslava; Stevic, Anja; Binder, Alice et al.
In: New Media & Society, 19.02.2025.

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

A transdisciplinary, comparative analysis reveals key risks from Arctic permafrost thaw. / Gartler, Susanna (Corresponding author); Scheer, Johanna (Corresponding author); Meyer, Alexandra (Corresponding author) et al.
In: Communications Earth & Environment, Vol. 6, 21, 16.01.2025.

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Für eine dekoloniale Wende in der Wissenschaft: blog interdisziplinäre geschlechterforschung. Bauer, Dominique (Author); Paredes Grijalva, Daniela (Corresponding author). 2025.

Publications: Electronic/multimedia output › Web publication

Listen to me! Target perceptions of digital hate: A scoping review of recent research. / Khaleghipour, Maryam (Corresponding author); Koban, Kevin; Matthes, Jörg.
In: Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 04.01.2025.

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

LOCAL INITIATIVES IN SHRINKING CITIES: On Normative Framings and Hidden Aspirations in Scholarly Work. / Sandmann, Leona (Corresponding author); Gunko, Maria (Corresponding author); Shirobokova, Irina (Corresponding author) et al.
In: International Journal for Urban and Regional Research, Vol. 49, No. 1, 01.2025, p. 214-223.

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Betonieren, Versiegeln, Verbauen - über ein Straßenbauprojekt mitten in der Klimakrise. / Kolb, Petra.
In: Politix : Zeitschrift des Instituts für Politikwissenschaft, Vol. 53, 2025, p. 38-42.

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Fem-vertised and fem-washed advertising on Instagram: How do they affect the attitude towards the brand and purchase intention? / Noronha dos Reis, Iara; Harm, Katharina; Saumer, Melanie et al.
Advances in advertising research XIII: Frontiers of advertising: Re-considering its shapes and forms. ed. / Daria Gunina; Martin K. J. Waiguny. 1. ed. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2025. p. 145-159.

Publications: Contribution to book › Chapter

Gleichheit als Prinzip – Gleichheit als Kritik. / Kolb, Petra.
In: Magazin erwachsenenbildung.at. Das Fachmedium für Forschung, Praxis und Diskurs., 2025.

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

“I don't attribute that to the fact that I'm a foreigner”: Female CEE migrants in Austria and their perspectives on deskilling experiences. / Holzinger, Clara; Draxl, Anna-Katharina.
In: Zeitschrift für Politik (ZfP), Vol. Special Issue 12, 2025, p. 197.

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Inclusive Citizenship Education in Germany, Austria and Australia. A Comparative Analysis. / Wolf, Christoph; Straub, Sarah; Lange, Dirk.
Inclusive Citizenship: Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven auf Bürgerschaft und politische Bildung. ed. / Steve Kenner; Malte Kleinschmidt; Dirk Lange; Frank Reichert; Christiane Schröder. Wiesbaden: Springer VS, 2025. p. 389-397 (Citizenship - Studien zur politischen Bildung).

Publications: Contribution to book › Chapter › Peer Reviewed

Inclusive Citizenship Education in Teacher Education through Interaction and Active Relationship Building. / Straub, Sarah.
Inclusive Citizenship: Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven auf Bürgerschaft und politische Bildung. ed. / Steve Kenner; Malte Kleinschmidt; Dirk Lange; Frank Reichert; Christiane Schröder. Wiesbaden: Springer VS, 2025. p. 413-422 (Citizenship - Studien zur politischen Bildung).

Publications: Contribution to book › Chapter › Peer Reviewed

Lebenswege junger Menschen in Wien – Analysen zu Berufswahl, Engagement und Wohlbefinden. / Danner, Katharina (Editor); Duncan, Michael (Editor); Flecker, Jörg (Editor) et al.
Göttingen: V&R unipress, 2025.

Publications: Book › Collection › Peer Reviewed

Mehr Klarheit beim Thema Impfen. Über den gesellschaftlichen Stellenwert von Impfungen. / Hansl, Nora (Interviewee); Paul, Katharina Theresa (Interviewee).
In: Kurier, 2025.

Publications: Other contribution to periodical › Newspaper/Magazine article

Oltre le redazioni. Come il giornalismo locale esce dalle redazioni per incontrare il suo pubblico. / Garusi, Diego.
In: Problemi dell'Informazione, 2025, p. 113-132.

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Pacing Space: Futuring Practices and Temporal Ownership in the European Space Sector. / Klimburg-Witjes, Nina; Kürten, Philipp.
In: Science and Public Policy, 2025.

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Proteste als radikale Demokratiebildung. / Kolb, Petra.
Radikale Demokratiebildung: Postfundamentale Streifzüge. ed. / Werner Friedrichs; Lara Kierot; Dirk Lange; Oliver Marchart. SpringerVS, 2025. p. 239-249 (Citizenship - Studien zur politischen Bildung).

Publications: Contribution to book › Chapter › Peer Reviewed

Rassismuskritische und Dekoloniale Bildung. / Schuller, Maida; Heinemann, Alisha.
Handbuch Bildung zu nachhaltiger Entwicklung. Wochenschau, 2025.

Publications: Contribution to book › Chapter

Stadtproteste. Eine gegenhegemoniale Intervention in der neoliberalen Stadt? / Kolb, Petra.
In: Momentum Quaterly, Vol. 13, No. 3, 2025, p. 99-156.

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

“That’s a tricky question”: perceptions of mandatory vaccination among parents and paediatricians in Austria. / Hansl, Nora; Paul, Katharina Theresa (Corresponding author).
In: Health Policy, Vol. 157, 2025.

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

"Und ist ganz einfach eingeschlafen": Eine Geschichte aus der ehrenamtlichen Tätigkeit in einem Pflegewohnheim. / Dressel, Gert; Heimerl, Katharina; Hutter, Evelyn et al.
In: Fachzeitschrift für Palliative Geriatrie, Vol. 1, No. 1/2025, 2025, p. 35-37.

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Showing entries 21 - 40 out of 107