Vienna Doctoral School of Social Sciences

ViDSS

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

Background: derknopfdruecker.com; left: Eva Kössner; center: Christian Lendl; right: Eva Kössner

Committed to the highest standards of doctoral education

The cohorts trained and supported by the Vienna Doctoral School of Social Sciences / ViDSS are embedded in a vibrant research environment with strong international networks. ViDSS connects a wide spectrum of disciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary perspectives and embraces the full range of epistemological, methodological, and theoretical approaches pursued at the Faculty of Social Sciences. Doctoral candidates receive research training and write theses in the fields of communication, demography, development studies, nursing science, political science, science and technology studies, social and cultural anthropology, and sociology. 

Committed to the highest standards of doctoral education and close, attentive supervision, ViDSS equips candidates to master key debates, theories, and methods in the social sciences. As a result, ViDSS graduates are highly sought after by employers in academia and beyond.

PhD in the spotlight

PhD in the spotlight
Barbara Mair

ViDSS in numbers (≈)

  • 8
    Research fields
  • 320
    Doctoral candidates
  • 90
    Supervisors
  • 5,4 years
    Average time to degree

Recent publications by ViDSS student members

Wiesner D, Eberl JM, Lecheler S. Science on the political stage: analysing representations of science in Austrian parliamentary debates. JCOM. 2026 Oct 5;25(6). doi: 10.22323/385320260718153107

Lazic A, Khaleghipour M, Matthes J. Whose voices and which effects? A scoping review of migration and social media effects. Information, Communication & Society. 2026 Oct 4. Epub 2026 Oct 4. doi: 10.1080/1369118X.2026.2733513

Heuser A, Preiser A. Governing bodies, controlling territories: gendered extractivist biopolitics in Peru’s Southern Mining Corridor. Geoforum. 2026 Oct;175:104710. doi: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2026.104710

www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105040786844

Forrai M, Balaban DC, Schmuck D. Disclosures and literacy as determinants of AI-influencer recognition and well-being. Computers in Human Behavior. 2026 Sept;182:108978. Epub 2026 Mar 19. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2026.108978

www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105034618067

Moser S, Bührer S, Kostikova D, Matthes J. From hostile feedback to withdrawal: Emotional exhaustion as a barrier to social media misinformation correction. Computers in Human Behavior. 2027;187:109179. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2026.109179

Hagelstein JPW, Huber J, Wahl I, Einwiller S. Psychological safety and internal communication: Employees' perceptions of psychologically safe communication settings in the workplace. International Journal of Business Communication. 2026 Aug 26. Epub 2026 Aug 26. doi: 10.1177/23294884261472059

Sarikakis K, Chatziefraimidou A, Haslauer S, Ramadani G, Zogo YSC. Youth in the Global Film Industry: Charting Patterns Across Hollywood, Bollywood, Nollywood and Europe. In Vlassis A, Dâmaso M, Sarikakis K, Ranaivoson H, Rossato Fernandes M, editors, The European Union as a Global Film Enabler: Rethinking Power, Competitiveness and Identity. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. 2026. p. 211-237. (REBOOT). Epub 2026 Aug 22. doi: 10.1007/978-3-032-25320-0_9

Pistrol F, Weithaler A. Derrida, deconstruction and political theory. Contemporary Political Theory. 2026 Aug 19;2026(25). doi: 10.1057/s41296-026-00840-w

Weiss E. Death by Design: Wie schlechte Politik tötet: Plötzlich hat jede Flasche einen kleinen Geldwert, der irgendwo im öffentlichen Raum "herumliegt". Wer wenig bis gar kein Einkommen hat, soll diesen Wert offenbar "heben". derStandard.at. 2026 Aug 18.

Nguyen PQG, Bührer S, Koban K, Matthes J. Where digital hate finds its home: Perpetrators' preferred affordances and their experiences with content moderation and user intervention. Information, Communication & Society. 2026 Aug 15. Epub 2026 Aug 15. doi: 10.1080/1369118X.2026.2663190

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