Sociology Doctoral Program

The Sociology Doctoral Program at the Corvinus University of Budapest aims to assist motivated students to carry out problem-oriented, theoretically grounded and methodologically sound empirical social research. The Doctoral Program prepares its students for the international labor market. In order to develop the careers of our students, the organized doctoral training is conducted in English. The training program is full-time and lasts eight semesters. In addition to the continuous research work, course work must also be carried out in the first two years. The first two academic years end with the comprehensive exam focusing on the defence of the research plan. In the second phase of the training – also four semesters – students work exclusively on their research and dissertation. The dissertation must be submitted for defense within three years after passing the comprehensive exam. The language of the dissertation must be English.

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Why the sociology doctoral program?

Given our vast experiences on the progress of doctoral students, the key feature of the sociology doctoral program is a strong focus on supporting the doctoral research and minimizing coursework in the usual sense. All courses focus on developing research skills.

The mandatory courses include

• the series of research seminars (one course per semester) devoted to reviewing the literature, formulating research questions and developing the research plan.

• one course discussing good and questionable practices of theorizing and empirical research

Students should take at least three elective classes. We offer courses in both quantitative and qualitative research and data analysis methods. Students are free to select other courses from the offers of other doctoral programs and even summer schools instead.

Continuous work on the doctoral research is a must. Students are expected to

• meet the supervisor(s) on a weekly basis

• submit a progress report at the end of every semester, which includes a workplan for the prospective semester

• present their progress before their supervisors and peers at the doctoral research forum held each semester

• present at conferences and work on and publish papers

Admissions

General information

• Applicants are required to submit a research plan in the English language. The oral interviews are conducted in English.

• The expected length of the research plan to be submitted during application: a minimum of 10,000, but not more than 20,000 characters including references.

• If an applicant selects both tracks, the Head of the DS and the Admission Boards shall decide which track is competent to conduct the admission procedure. If both tracks are deemed competent, the applicant may participate in both admission procedures. In that case the applicant may submit two research plans.

The Admission Board of each track shall:

• review and evaluate past achievements documented in the application materials (educational achievements, research experience, publication output, whether the completed education matches the track);

• review and evaluate the submitted research plan (maturity, relevance of research topic, whether it matches the doctoral track’s professional profile);

• conduct face-to-face or online interviews as means to assess the language skills, communication skills and professional competence of each applicant.

Evaluation criteria of the admission exam

Criteria	Maximum points
Prior achievement
Masters education / professional experience consistent with knowledge and competence expected by the Doctoral School	10
Former research experience, publications	10
Research plan
Quality and elaborateness / detailedness of document	20
Appropriateness of research concept in regard to the announced subjects and researches of the Doctoral School	10
Feasibility and relevance of research	10
Interview
English language and professional communication skills	20
Performance during oral examination (competence, debating skills, independence, flexibility)	20

Supervisors

Dr. Tamás Bartus
Dr. Zsuzsanna Elekes
Dr. Borbála Göncz
Dr. György Lengyel
Dr. László Letényi
László Lőrincz
Dr. Attila Meleg
Prof. Dr. Beáta Nagy
Dr. Adél Pásztor
Ivett Szalma
Prof. Dr. Zoltán Oszkár Szántó
Dr. Lilla Mária Vicsek

Külső oktatók, témavezetők

Andrew Ryder (egyetemi docens, ELTE TK)

Bozsonyi Károly (egyetemi docens, KRE BTK)

Durst Judit (tudományos munkatárs, Társadalomtudományi Kutatóközpont)

Géring Zsuzsanna (tudományos főmunkatárs, BGE)

Hegedűs József (ügyvezető igazgató, Városkutatás Kft)

Kaló Zsuzsanna (egyetemi docens, ELTE PPK)

Messing Vera (tudományos főmunkatárs, Társadalomtudományi Kutatóközpont)

Pulay Gergely (tudományos munkatárs, Társadalomtudományi Kutatóközpont)

Takács Judit (kutatóprofesszor, Társadalomtudományi Kutatóközpont)

Research topics

Culture matters: Cultural components in social stratification – Luca KRISTÓF
Why do elites fail? Empirical studies of local and national political, economic and cultural elites – Luca KRISTÓF
Should I Stay or Should I Go? Elite grammar school students’ choosing between elite universities at home or abroad – Adél PÁSZTOR
Post-doctorates: Another Stage in the Academic Pipeline? – Adél PÁSZTOR
Moving up or moving away? East-European PhD holders in the European academic workforce – Adél PÁSZTOR
Current social trends in Europe. Lessons from the European Social Survey (ESS) – Bence SÁGVÁRI
Computational Social Science in action: exploring human behavior from digital traces – Bence SÁGVÁRI
Social perception of the new digital world: attitudes and expectations towards artificial intelligence and related technologies – Bence SÁGVÁRI
Expectations around artificial intelligence and robotics and the role of these projections in the present – Lilla VICSEK
Framing, Identity and Social Attitudes – Béla JANKY
Adolescents at risk: Nature and reasons of risk behaviours, leisure time activities, health consciousness of young people – Zsuzsanna ELEKES
Gender, organization and management – Beáta NAGY
Gender and academia: Is gender equality in science being achieved? – Beáta NAGY
Do educational hierarchies shape parenting strategies and fertility intentions? – Tamás BARTUS
How do social norms and reputation support cooperation? – Károly TAKÁCS and Szabolcs SZÁMADÓ
Educational hierarchies, family practices and fertility – Tamás BARTUS

Research topics

Cultural production/cultural labour and society – Róza Emília Barna
Culture matters: Cultural components in social stratification – Luca KRISTÓF
Why do elites fail? Empirical studies of local and national political, economic and cultural elites – Luca KRISTÓF
Should I Stay or Should I Go? Elite grammar school students’ choosing between elite universities at home or abroad – Adél PÁSZTOR
Post-doctorates: Another Stage in the Academic Pipeline? – Adél PÁSZTOR
Moving up or moving away? East-European PhD holders in the European academic workforce – Adél PÁSZTOR
Current social trends in Europe. Lessons from the European Social Survey (ESS) – Bence SÁGVÁRI
Computational Social Science in action: exploring human behavior from digital traces – Bence SÁGVÁRI
Social perception of the new digital world: attitudes and expectations towards artificial intelligence and related technologies – Bence SÁGVÁRI
Expectations around artificial intelligence and robotics and the role of these projections in the present – Lilla VICSEK
Framing, Identity and Social Attitudes – Béla JANKY
Adolescents at risk: Nature and reasons of risk behaviours, leisure time activities, health consciousness of young people – Zsuzsanna ELEKES
Gender, organization and management – Beáta NAGY
Gender and academia: Is gender equality in science being achieved? – Beáta NAGY
Do educational hierarchies shape parenting strategies and fertility intentions? – Tamás BARTUS
How do social norms and reputation support cooperation? – Károly TAKÁCS and Szabolcs SZÁMADÓ
Educational hierarchies, family practices and fertility – Tamás BARTUS