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

ÖAW GO.INVESTIGATIO Fellowship for Aleksandra Fila

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!

Fellowship and award winners

Best Paper Award for Andrea Stockinger

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!

Media articles and press releases

More clarity on vaccinations

Together with Katharina T. Paul, political scientist Nora Hansl presents the project “Valuing Vaccination” which investigates the importance that different stakeholder groups attach to vaccinations. In her doctoral thesis, Nora focuses on valuation practices of parents and health care workers concerning childhood vaccination and primary care. (In German)

Radio and podcast

The youth of today?

What does “Generation Z” think about politics, work and social cohesion? How does society consider their perspectives and how can communication between generations be improved? In Ö1 “Punkt eins”, sociologist Paul Malschinger presents his research about young people, their goals, perspectives and participation in society. (In German)

Radio and podcast

Divorce from the perspective of children

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)

Media articles and press releases

The net of misinformation

Together with Annie Waldherr, communication scientist Jula Lühring presents the project “Emotional Misinformation”. Based on the analysis of large data sets and computer simulations, an interdisciplinary team explores how misinformation spreads in social media and which psychological interventions prevent users from trusting false information and spreading it further. (In German)

Video

Health risk: influencers

The perfect protein shake, the five signs of ADHD, the optimal workout routine? Communication scientists and ViDSS Students Elena Engel and Sascha Gell were interviewed for the science communication initiative FÄKT. Together with Kathrin Karsay and Raffael Heiss, they explain how we can distinguish between genuine health tips and hidden advertising. (In German)

Media articles and press releases

“Zwidemu”: A place for youth protest

Political scientist Petra Kolb explains how the Maria-Theresien-Platz, the square between the Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Art History in Vienna, has developed from a space where youth protested against pressures to consume and perform in society into a brand used by political parties. (In German)

Radio and podcast

Episode 18 – Balancing co-authorship

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.

New publications by ViDSS students

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Bürger*innenräte. Eine neue Möglichkeit der Partizipation? / Kolb, Petra; Bredl, Patrick.
In: Zeitschrift für Didaktik der Gesellschaftswissenschaften (ZDG), Vol. 1, 2024.

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Concept Cartoons. Methodische Grundlagen und Umsetzung in der Familienforschung. / Zartler, Ulrike ; Erben-Harter, Sabine ; Parisot, Viktoria et al.
1 ed. Beltz Juventa, 2024.

Publications: Book

Decolonization. / Jasser, Marie Theresa; Cuellar, Claudia; Grimaldo-Rodríguez, Christian.
The Encyclopedia of Human Geography . ed. / Barney Warf. Cham: Springer Nature, 2024. p. 1-4.

Publications: Contribution to book › Chapter › Peer Reviewed

Der Ton spielt die Musik – Jung und Alt erzählen einander Geschichten vom Lebensende. / Hutter, Evelyn; Lutz, Martin.
In: Fachzeitschrift für Palliative Geriatrie, 2024, p. 13-15.

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Die Stadt als umkämpftes Terrain. Zwischen Prozessen der Neoliberalisierung und dem Recht auf Stadt. / Kolb, Petra.
In: SWS-Rundschau, Vol. 64, No. 2, 2024, p. 109-122.

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Doctor it! Episode 16 - Creating impact: Podcast. Hansl, Nora (Interviewee). 2024. Wissenschafts Podcasts.

Publications: Electronic/multimedia output › Multimedia output

Ein rassismuskritischer Blick auf sprachbezogene Diskriminierung beim Zugang zu wohlfahrtsstaatlichen Leistungen und am Arbeitsmarkt. / Holzinger, Clara ; Draxl, Anna-Katharina.
In: Momentum Quarterly, 2024.

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Einblicke in die interdisziplinäre Praxis: Wie wir die disziplinäre Hegemonie der Rechtswissenschaften überwinden. / Henne, Theresa ; Kaltenbrunner, Saskia.
In: Juridikum : die Zeitschrift für Kritik - Recht - Gesellschaft, 2024.

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article

Erzählen in Bewertungskontexten. / Dressel, Gert ; Hutter, Evelyn ; Pichler, Barbara et al.
Soziale Teilhabe - wie >schwer erreichbare< Gruppen miteinbeziehen. ed. / Elisabeth Reitinger; Gert Dressel; Katharina Heimerl. hospizverlag, 2024.

Publications: Contribution to book › Chapter