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.

Fellowship and award winners
 

Elif Gül, ViDSS student in science and technology studies, was awarded the Johanna-Dohnal-Förderpreis by the Johanna Dohnal Archive for her doctoral thesis project on the material-semiotics of obstetric violence. The award honours authors of outstanding dissertations that promote gender democracy and equality, and serve as role models for women in education. Congratulations!
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Fellowship and award winners
 

Michaela Forrai, Alexandra Wölfle, Thomas Kirchmair and Aleksandra Lazić won the Klaus Schönbach Award 2025 of the Department of Communication. The award aims to support doctoral candidates and postdoctoral researchers in pursuing, refining and enhancing their own international lines of research.

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Fellowship and award winners
 

We warmly welcome our new sowi:docs Fellows! Léa Dudouet (science and technology studies) will explore the sociotechnical meanings of fertility tracking and reproductive decision-making in Austria. Clara Lerch (communication) will investigate how political and media discourse influences public perception and policymaking in three European Member States.
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Blog
 

(by Alice Vadrot, Emil W. Hildebrand, Carolin Hirt, Wenwen Lyu, Felix Nütz, Hristina Talkova)

Kingston, Jamaica. July 2025. The tickets to Jamaica were already booked, the US transit visa secured, and a field note outline meticulously prepared. Then the news broke: academics and civil society actors would be barred from fully accessing this year’s Council Meeting of the ...
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Radio and podcast
 

Felix Maile and Dorota Vargová provide insights into their experiences with archives and data bases. Learn about the extraordinary lengths they had to go to chase primary sources, which ethical questions they have to deal with and why they are not using any AI tools for their analyses.
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Media articles and press releases
 

A recent publication by ViDSS Student Carolin Hirt (co-authored with Alina Brad, Etienne Schneider, Christian Dorninger, Willi Haas, Dominik Wiedenhofer and Simone Gingrich) reveals that climate policy in Austria focus on efficiency improvements and technological alternatives. Measures aimed at directly reducing emissions-intensive demand remain largely untapped. (In German)
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Fellowship and award winners
 

Communication scientist, ViDSS Alumna and former sowi:doc Fellow Selina Noetzel received one of the 40 Awards of Excellence (Staatspreise für die besten Dissertationen) for her doctoral thesis “Why am I seeing this? Cognitive, attitudinal, and behavioral effects of online political microtargeting”. Congratulations!
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Blog
 

(by Jule Kegel)

When asked about their views on politicians, the British public does not hold back. Eight in ten Britons agree that the gap between ordinary people and politicians is wider than the differences among ordinary people. The same proportion say that MPs in Parliament ...
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Media articles and press releases
 

Together with Ulrike Zartler and Lena Grabner, sociologist Vera Dafert presents the project “How 2 Survive A Pandemic” which investigates how the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdowns changed the daily lives of youth and the competencies they developed to overcome this crisis. (In German)
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New publications by ViDSS students

Showing entries 1 - 20 out of 156
The influence of green ads beyond brand outcomes: Environmental optimism, environmental knowledge, and support for green ad regulations. / Neureiter, Ariadne; Knupfer, Helena; Matthes, Jörg.
In: International Journal of Advertising , 28.01.2026.

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Digitize! Online Panel Survey (SUF edition): Version 10.0. Kritzinger, Sylvia (Editorial Journalist); Pfaff, Katharina (Editorial Journalist); Weitzel, Daniel (Editorial Journalist) et al.. 2026. AUSSDA.

Publications: Electronic/multimedia output › Web publication

Framing AI Legal and Ethical Frontiers in the European Film Industry. / Sarikakis, Katharine; Zogo, Yves Saint Clair; Arkoumanis, Grigorios et al.
The REBOOT Project (Reviving, Boosting, Optimising and Transforming European Film Competitiveness – REBOOT), funded by the European Union's Horizon Europe Research and Innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 101094769.. 2026.

Publications: Other publication › Other

Should they really see this? The depiction of alcohol in movies and series targeted at children. / Matthes, Jörg; Binder, Alice; Vranken, Sofie et al.
In: Mass Communication and Society , 14.01.2026.

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Polar Silk Worlding: Imagination, Infrastructure, and Anticipation in Chinese Arctic Tourism. / Adams, Ria-Maria; Bennett, Mia M.
Arctic Silk Roads: An Anthropology of the Unbuilt. Berghahn Books, 2026.

Publications: Contribution to book › Chapter › Peer Reviewed

AUTNES Automatic Content Analysis of the Media Coverage 2024 (SUF edition). / Bernhard-Harrer, Jana; Stecker, Marvin; Eberl, Jakob-Moritz et al.
2026.

Publications: Other publication › Other

Biographisches Erzählen über das Lebensende: Erzählcafés in Ausbildungen zu Gesundheits- und Krankenpflegeberufen. / Hutter, Evelyn; Pichler, Barbara; Dressel, Gert et al.
In: Bios: Zeitschrift für Biographieforschung, Oral History und Lebensverlaufsanalysen, 2026.

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Der institutionelle und wissenschaftliche Kontext der Studie Wege in die Zukunft. / Danner, Katharina; Duncan, Michael; 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. 11 - 30.

Publications: Contribution to book › Chapter › Peer Reviewed

Eine Mixed-Methods-Studie im Rückblick: forschungspraktische Erfahrungen qualitativer und quantitativer Panelerhebungen. / Malschinger, Paul; Danner, Katharina; Duncan, Michael 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. 31-54.

Publications: Contribution to book › Chapter › Peer Reviewed

Explaining Polarized News Media Trust: A Comparison of Italian Adults and Young Adults. / Garusi, Diego; Splendore, Sergio .
In: Mass Communication and Society , 2026, p. 1-16.

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

„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

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

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

Publications: Book › Special Issue › 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

Sexuelle und Sexualisierte Gewalt in der Geburtshilfe. Eine Frage der Intention? / Gül, Elif.
Handbuch für sexualisierte Gewalt.. Nomos Verlag, 2026.

Publications: Contribution to book › Chapter › Peer Reviewed

Child-Friendly Film Industry. / Sarikakis, Katharine; Chatziefraimidou, Angeliki; Haslauer, Simon et al.
The REBOOT Project (Reviving, Boosting, Optimising and Transforming European Film Competitiveness – REBOOT), funded by the European Union's Horizon Europe Research and Innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 101094769.. 2025.

Publications: Other publication › Other

Lifelines and Gateways: The Relational Affordances of Arctic Airports. / Meyer, Alexandra; Adams, Ria-Maria; Elixhauser, Sophie.
In: Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 31.12.2025.

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Showing entries 1 - 20 out of 156