9th Berlin Summer School on Social Sciences

Linking Theory and Empirical Research
Berlin, July 15 – 25, 2019

The Berlin Graduate School of Social Sciences (BGSS) and the WZB Berlin Social Science Center are receiving applications for the 9th Berlin Summer School in Social Sciences. The summer school, on the theme ‘Linking Theory and Empirical Research’, will take place in Berlin from 15th July to 25th July 2019.

The summer school aims at supporting young researchers by strengthening their ability in linking theory and empirical research. The two-week program creates an excellent basis for the development of their current research designs.

In the first week, the BGSS addresses the key methodological challenges of concept-building, causation/explanation, and micro-macro linkage that occur in almost all research efforts. It strives for a clarification of the epistemological foundations underlying methodological paradigms. In the second week, these methodological considerations are applied to central empirical fields of research in political science, sociology, and other related disciplines. In this second part of the program, participants are assigned to four thematic groups according to their own research topic. The thematic areas covered are: “External Governance, Interregionalism, and Domestic Change”, “Citizenship, Migration, and Identities”, “Social Struggle and Globalization”, and “Democracy at the Crossroads”.

The school brings together a faculty of renowned international and Berlin-based scholars. Among the confirmed international lecturers are Phillip M. Ayoub (Occidental College), John Gerring (The University of Texas at Austin), Hendrik Wagenaar (University of Sheffield), Anita Gohdes (Hertie School of Governance), Felix Berenskoetter (SOAS University of London) and Peter Hedström (Linköping University).

Details on the location and tuition fees can be found on our webpage www.berlinsummerschool.de.

The international summer school is open to up to 60 PhD candidates, advanced master students, and young postdocs. The call for applications is currently open. Applications can be submitted online via the application form on the summer school webpage until April 15, 2019.

The decisions of the selection committee will be announced to the applicants in April. If you have any further questions, please contact the organizing team at summerschool.bgss@hu-berlin.de