The sixth edition of the SPS Summer Academy welcomed 27 master students from European countries who participated in a series of lectures, workshops, and informal presentations on crucial topics concerning contemporary Europe, including democracy, environmental sustainability, inequalities, and social issues. At the heart of this edition were the workshops led by EUI postgraduate fellows Alejandro López Peceño, Ana Macanovic, and Tamás Peragovics. In addition to showcasing EUI’s research rigour and excellence, Summer Academy facilitated a sense of belonging to an academic community through informal social gatherings such as the welcome lunch, farewell dinner, and guided tour of Florence, which became valuable opportunities that allowed participants to build relationships with one another and to learn more about the EUI in an engaging and interactive way.
People
- Prof. Arnout van de Rijt – Head of Department, Full-time Professor, Department of Political and Social Sciences
Research interests: collective action, social stratification, social networks, computational social science, mathematical sociology. - Prof. Filip Kostelka – Director of Graduate Studies, Full-time Professor, Department of Political and Social Sciences
Research interests: political behaviour, political parties, regime change and democratisation, Central and Eastern Europe, Western Europe, quantitative methods. - Prof. Jeffrey T. Checkel – Full-time Professor, Department of Political and Social Sciences
Research interests: international relations theory, conflict studies, European integration and identity, domestic–international linkages, qualitative and processual methods. - Prof. Juho Härkönen – Full-time Professor, Department of Political and Social Sciences
Research interests: life-course research, family dynamics and structure, divorce outcomes, social stratification and health, educational inequality. - Prof. Stefano Guzzini – Full-time Professor and SPS Summer Academy Convenor, Department of Political and Social Sciences
Research interests: social and political theories, international theory, critical geopolitics, foreign policy analysis, security studies, interpretivist methodologies. - Prof. Waltraud Schelkle – Full-time Professor – Joint Chair, Department of Political and Social Sciences; Joint Chair, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies
Research interests: European Monetary Union, European integration, risk sharing, financial markets, political economy of the euro, social policy, United Germany.
Keynote Speaker
- Valentina Di Stasio – Full-time Professor, Director of Research, Department of Political and Social Sciences
Professor Valentina Di Stasio delivered a keynote lecture titled “The cumulative impact of discrimination: a research agenda“.
Valentina Di Stasio is Professor of Sociology at the European University Institute. Before joining the EUI in 2024, she held positions as Assistant and Associate Professor at Utrecht University, with an affiliation to the European Research Centre on Migration and Ethnic Relations (ERCOMER). In Utrecht, she co-founded and co-led the Interuniversity Network on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Di Stasio earned her PhD from the University of Amsterdam in 2014 and was a postdoctoral researcher at Nuffield College (University of Oxford) and the WZB Berlin Social Science Centre.
Currently, Di Stasio is the PI of the ERC-funded project TARGETS and the co-PI of the Horizon Europe project EqualStrength. Her research has been published in, among others, Annual Review of Sociology, British Journal of Sociology, Sociology, Social Forces, European Sociological Review, Journal of European Social Policy, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Social Psychology Quarterly.
Testimonials
Participants of the Summer Academy 2025:
- “The Summer Academy was useful, interesting and pleasant. I believe it is a perfect way to get to know the institute and its faculty, and properly reflex on the possibility of pursuing doctoral studies. Meeting like-minded people from different backgrounds is always enriching.”
- “I had a great experience, I think it was a very important part in our decision to applying for a PhD programme. It gave us a chance to see what this experience would look like and whether we resonate with it.”
- “It was a great experience and I’m very happy that I applied. I would recommend it to anyone interested in research who is deliberating on whether they should pursue an academic career. I valued the organizational team, the general support in the application process and also during the Summer Academy. Further, I was impressed by how much I felt welcomed at the EUI.”
- “My overall impression of the Summer Academy is very positive. The programme was extremely well organized, the lectures were of high quality, and the international environment created great opportunities for learning and networking. It was a valuable academic and personal experience that I would highly recommend to other students.”
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