Rising Voices in Democracy and Human Rights

On 16 June 2026, the Vienna Doctoral School of Social Sciences and the Faculty of Social Sciences honoured exceptional doctoral research and marked the end of a successful academic year. 

In line with the semester’s University of Vienna theme, “Where is democracy heading?”, early career researchers brought their research projects on democracy and human rights to stage in a science slam. Sylvia Kritzinger, Speaker and Co-Director of the Research Network Democracy and Human Rights, discussed how the projects contribute to answering important questions of our time. The sowi:doc Awards from the last academic year were presented by Folker Hanusch, Vice Dean for Career Development and International Affairs at the Faculty of Social Sciences. Host Georg Bauer and the All Jazz Ambassadors guided us through an evening full of science, community, and inspiring conversations.