Vienna Doctoral School of Social Sciences

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.

PhD in the spotlight

Fellowship and award winners

GAIN Gender & Agency Prize and Förderpreis of the Dr. Maria Schaumayer Stiftung for Ilona Grabmaier

Social and cultural anthropologist and ViDSS Alumna Ilona Grabmaier was awarded the GAIN Gender & Agency Prize and the Förderpreis of the Dr. Maria Schaumayer Stiftung for her doctoral thesis entitled “Stayed at home. (Re)Configurations of care in rural Ukraine”. Congratulations!

Fellowship and award winners

Danubius Young Scientist Award for Clara Holzinger

Sociologist and ViDSS Alumna Clara Holzinger won the Danubius Young Scientist Award 2024. The Award aims at honouring the scientific contribution to addressing challenges of the region and at strengthening the networking between the talents in the region. 14 young scientists were granted this award, one for each country that is part of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region. Congratulations!

Video

How to better birth care

Childbirth is often associated with joy, family, and new beginnings, but what happens when it becomes a source of harm? Elif Gül, ViDSS student in science and technology studies, delves into obstetric violence and reproductive justice, specifically birth justice, a concept introduced by Black feminist activists in the 1990s.

Fellowship and award winners

Best Paper Award for Sophie Mayen

Communication scientist Sophie Mayen was awarded the Best Paper Award of the Fachgruppe Gesundheitskommunikation during the DGPuK Health Communication Conference 2024 in Lucerne (2nd place) for her paper “Parental mediation trajectories and their associations with adolescents’ mental health” (co-authored with Anne-Linda Camerini). Congratulations!

Video

What does participation mean?

Political scientist Jule Kegel explains in a short video class for children what participation means and why it is important for democracy. The initiative is part of the project “Nachgefragt” organised by the Kinderbüro of the University of Vienna. (In German)

Fellowship and award winners

ÖAW DOC-team Fellowships for two ViDSS students

Political scientists Carolin Brodtmann and Tobias Doppelbauer were awarded a DOC-team Fellowship by the Austrian Academy of Sciences for their doctoral thesis projects on transformative political education in civil society engagement against far-right ideologies (Brodtmann) and in self-organised learning communities in alternative agri-food systems (Doppelbauer). Congratulations!

Media articles and press releases

New tool helped voters make their decision

Election orientation tools are designed to help voters gain an overview of the substantive positions of various campaigning parties. ViDSS students Franziska Windisch, Manuel Scharrer, Jakob Meinel und Benedikt Seisl (in a team around Matthias Kaltenegger) helped to introduce the Swiss tool smartvote in Austria ahead of the 2024 National Council Elections. (In German)

Fellowship and award winners

sowi:doc Awards 2024

The sowi:doc Awards for the academic year 2023/2024 are awarded to Hannah Greber (“Immersive journalism – The future of the news?”), Ina Tessnow-von Wysocki (“Science-policy interfaces for ocean protection”) and Teresa Weikmann (“Getting real with fakes: Characteristics and consequences of ‘deepfakes’ in democracies”). Congratulations!

Fellowship and award winners

Award of Excellence for Ina Tessnow-von Wysocki

Political scientist and ViDSS alumna Ina Tessnow-von Wysocki was awarded the Award of Excellence (Staatspreis für die besten Dissertationen) for her doctoral thesis about science-policy interfaces for ocean protection. Congratulations!