In cooperation with the Faculty of Arts at Comenius University in Bratislava, the Institute for Sociology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences provides a full time four year or an external part time five year study program. The program follows the regulation outlined in regulations of doctoral study (in Slovak) at the Faculty of Arts at Comenius University.

Prospective students can choose one of the topics offered for their PhD study (PhD topics for school year 2023 / 2024 are available here), which are typically announced in March. The deadline for applications is at the end of May each year. The thesis topics for the current year are announced on the webpage of the Institute. Topics are connected to current supervisors’ research areas and choosing one for your PhD study implies intense involvement in scientific work at the Institute.

Our doctoral students enjoy the opportunity to do their studies at a workplace which participates in international comparative research programmes such as the ISSP (International Social Survey Programme) and EVS (European Values Study), is a publisher of the flagship sociology journal in Slovakia Sociológia – Slovak Sociological Review indexed in the Current Contents database and operates the Slovak Archive of Social Data (SASD) which is the national service provider of CESSDA ERIC.

Hint: If you have a particular topic you would like to focus on, it is possible to get in touch with your prospective supervisor well ahead of the announcement of thesis topics. You supervisor can be any of the chief or senior research fellows. If you do not know who would be a suitable supervisor for your topic, feel free to contact the Scientific secretary of our Institute.

The Institute for Sociology of SAS actively participates in international collaborations and has signed various cooperation agreements with partner institutes abroad. A natural part of PhD study at our Institute is therefore a study stay at one of our partner institutes.

Besides courses at the Faculty of Arts Faculty of the Comenius University (offered in Slovak) the Institute offers monthly PhD seminars led by researchers from our Institute.

The Institute offers up to three fully funded full time PhD positions annually. The number of external part time positions is not limited. Full time students will receive a monthly stipend of 1,025.50 euros which increases to 1,194.00 euros after successfully defending the first part of their PhD thesis (usually at the end of the second year). The annual fee for external part time study is 700 euros. All figures are valid for 2023.

Application procedure in 2022. A complete application must include:
  • CV in Slovak language, signed
  • MA Diploma or Certificate of the highest degree obtained
  • List of publications or other academic achievements
  • Project proposal (no longer than 10 pages, signed by the applicant). Proposal should match one of the themes defined by the Slovak Academy of Sciences and Faculty of Philosophy of the Comenius University. The full list of topics is available here. We strongly encourage all candidates to discuss their topics with potential supervisor before applying.
  • Proof of the 20 Euro application fee transfer – payment information will be provided by the online system.
Above mentioned documents should be:
All three forms of delivery are compulsory!
Electronic application must be completed and emails sent no later then on the 31 May 2022.
Hard copies should be posted no later then on 31 May 2022.