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. Link

Outreach
 

Why do democracies decline even when most people claim to support them? ViDSS alumna Marta Vukovic explains why citizens are not always unconditional defenders of liberal democracy. Under certain circumstances, people may tolerate or even support democratic violations – especially when political elites justify them in ways that appear legitimate.
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Outreach
 

Together with Ana Mijić, sociologist and ViDSS student member Slađana Adamović held a workshop on the topic of identity in the context of war and displacement with 5th grade students in Vienna. Through the OeAD initiative “Science Ambassadors”, cutting-edge research is brought directly into the daily lives of students in schools, kindergartens, and libraries.
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Fellowships and awards
 

Communication scientist and ViDSS Alumna Jaroslava Kaňková was awarded the Abby Prestin Dissertation of the Year Award for her dissertation “With great power comes great responsibility: Misleading health messaging by social media influencers – characteristics, effects, and countering strategies”. Congratulations!
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Fellowships and awards
 

Communication scientists Vanja Bojanic, Diego Garusi, Maryam Khaleghipour, Birte Leonhardt and Daniel Wiesner have received awards for their (co-authored) papers and posters from a variety of divisions and interest groups during the annual conference of the International Communication Association in Cape Town. Congratulations!
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Outreach
 

Amid fake news, social media, and an information overload, it is becoming increasingly unclear what still counts as journalism today. Together with Folker Hanusch and Phoebe Maares, ViDSS student member Kim Löhmann presents the project “Vom Kern zur Peripherie: Grenzen des Journalismus” which investigated where this line is drawn in the digital age. (In German)
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Outreach
 

At this year’s Pint of Science Festival, ViDSS student member Elena Engel offered insights into the world of supplement advertising on social media at WerkzeugH in Vienna. Under the title “Between #ad and #health: What influencers say about supplements – and what they leave out”, the interactive session focused on the strategies influencers use to market supplements in particularly persuasive ways.
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Outreach
 

Together with Markus Wagner and Isabella Rebasso, ViDSS students Alexander Dalheimer and Elena Heinz present the project “Partisan Prejudice”, which analyses political prejudices and their effects. Using quantitative surveys, online experiments, and a field experiment, the team aims to identify patterns of political prejudice and empirically test their effects on interpersonal conflicts.
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Media coverage
 

The Austrian government is planning to reduce the value-added tax on a number of staple foods. As Elias Weiss, ViDSS student in political science, argues, this happens out of a misguided sense of solidarity. While the government is foregoing revenue, thereby suggesting that taxes are to blame for high prices, it would be better to address the high market concentration among supermarkets.
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Radio and podcast
 

Olga Malashkina and Beate Krapfenbauer shine the spotlight on self-funded PhD candidates who are in full-time employment. Our guest Ricarda Götz-Preisner discusses the challenges she faces, her goals and motivations, and how the skills she has developed in her professional life will help her reach the end of her PhD journey.
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New publications by ViDSS students

Showing entries 61 - 75 out of 75
Forschungsbewertungen neu denken: Chancen für eine transformative sozial-ökologische Forschung in Österreich? / Bohunovsky, Lisa; Brad, Alina; Brand, Ulrich et al.
In: GAIA - Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, Vol. 35, No. 2, 2026, p. 72-77.

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

From Crisis Governance to Electoral Normality and the Longest Coalition Negotiations: The 2024 Austrian Parliamentary Election. / Scharrer, Manuel; Gahn, Christina; Bernhard-Harrer, Jana et al.
In: West European Politics, Vol. 49, No. 2, 2026, p. 570–589.

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

From data rationales to data infrastructure: Implications for the BBNJ clearing-house mechanism. / Lyu, Wenwen; Langlet-Uranüs, Arne; Vadrot, Alice.
In: Marine Policy, 2026.

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

„Ich will Immos, ich will Dollars“ – oder doch meinen Interessen folgen? Berufsbiographische Orientierung von Wiener Jugendlichen am Ende der Mittelschule. / Duncan, Michael.
Lebenswege junger Menschen in Wien.: Analysen zu Berufswahl, Engagement und Wohlbefinden. ed. / Katharina Danner; Michael Duncan; Jörg Flecker; Paul Malschinger; Veronika Wöhrer. 1. ed. Göttingen: V&R unipress, Vienna University Press, 2026. p. 57-80.

Publications: Contribution to book › Chapter › Peer Reviewed

Jenseits von Integration: Eine intersektionale Analyse institutioneller Barrieren für Bildungs- und Teilhabechancen von Schüler*innen. / Wolter, Stella.
Intersektionalität. Vol. Volume XXXXII Issue 1. ed. Journal für Entwicklungsforschung, 2026. p. 120-145.

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.
1 ed. Göttingen: V&R unipress, 2026. 278 p.

Publications: Book › Collection › Peer Reviewed

Lebenswege junger Menschen und soziale Ungleichheit: Verortungen in der interdisziplinären Jugendforschung. / Duncan, Michael; Danner, Katharina; Flecker, Jörg et al.
Lebenswege junger Menschen in Wien: Analysen zu Berufswahl, Engagement und Wohlbefinden. ed. / Katharina Danner; Michael Duncan; Jörg Flecker; Paul Malschinger; Veronika Wöhrer. 1. ed. Göttingen: V&R unipress, Vienna University Press, 2026. p. 259-274.

Publications: Contribution to book › Chapter › Peer Reviewed

Medizinische Versorgungszentren in kommunaler Trägerschaft: Erste Ergebnisse einer empirischen Analyse. / Gerlinger, Thomas; Ertel, Mascha; Hämel, Kerstin et al.
Bielefeld: Universität Bielefeld, Fakultät für Gesundheitswissenschaften, 2026.

Publications: Working paper

Multilingual Challenges: Empirical Social Research in Migration Societies, Transnational Spaces, and International Contexts. / Holzinger, Clara (Editor); Draxl, Anna-Katharina (Editor).
Social Inclusion, 2026.

Publications: Book › Special Issue › Peer Reviewed

Navigating the In-Between: Immigrant Children’s School Integration in Vienna. / Wolter, Stella; Arendas, Zsusanna (Corresponding author); Keller, Judit.
Navigating Diaspora: Migrant Perspectives on Race, Ethnicity, and Identity. Palgrave Macmillan, 2026. p. Pages 217-240.

Publications: Contribution to book › Chapter › Peer Reviewed

Politische Partizipation von jungen Menschen in Wien: Ungleichheiten nach Geschlecht, familiärem Hintergrund und (Aus-)Bildungsweg. / Malschinger, Paul.
Lebenswege junger Menschen in Wien. Analysen zu Berufswahl, Engagement und Wohlbefinden. ed. / Katharina Danner; Michael Duncan; Jörg Flecker; Paul Malschinger; Veronika Wöhrer. 1. ed. Göttingen: V&R unipress, Vienna University Press, 2026. p. 149-170.

Publications: Contribution to book › Chapter › Peer Reviewed

Politische Selbstbildungen als Artikulationen. / Schuller, Maida.
Citizen Self-formation. : Politische Selbstbildung von unten. 2026.

Publications: Contribution to book › Chapter

Researching in Multilingual Spaces: Addressing Methodological, Ethical, and Epistemological Implications. / Holzinger, Clara.
In: Social Inclusion, Vol. 14, 2026.

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Should they really see this? The depiction of alcohol in movies and series targeted at children. / Matthes, Jörg; Binder, Alice; Vranken, Sofie (Corresponding author) et al.
In: Mass Communication and Society , Vol. 29, No. 2, 2026, p. 326-340.

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Zwischen Interesse und Engagement: Demokratiebildung Jugendlicher im Fokus. / Straub, Sarah; Metz, Corinna; Kierot, Lara Rebecca et al.
In: Außerschulische Bildung. Zeitschrift der politischen Jugend- und Erwachsenenbildung, Vol. 2/2026, 2026, p. 48-52.

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Showing entries 61 - 75 out of 75