The Graduate School of Social Sciences (GSSS) is an educational institute of the University of Amsterdam. Founded in January 2009, it has been built upon existing institutional structures. The Graduate School has about 1000 registered Master’s students of various nationalities.

Our ambition

Our ambition is to be a dynamic, multifaceted institution marked by high academic standards, an open intellectual international atmosphere, and a vibrant ‘academic commons' with multiple public events, where Dutch and international students and faculty engage in debates, in seminars and in the class rooms.

Diversity and excellence

At the Graduate School of Social Sciences we stand for diversity and excellence of social science graduate programmes in the areas of

• human geography
• planning
• international development studies
• political science
• sociology
• and anthropology.

We offer research oriented

• in-depth one-year disciplinary programmes, with the option for thematic tracks within the discipline;
• thematic one-year interdisciplinary programmes;
• two-year research Master’s programmes linked to our top-research programmes;
• tailor-made PhD education in cooperation with the AISSR;
• summer schools with a strong academic orientation.

All our programmes are firmly-rooted in the related research programmes at the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR).

Good education

Good education to us means

• challenging and engaging teaching at the cutting edge of academic research
• guided, but independent study
• critical and obligatory participation
• pro-active student counseling
• strict thesis guidance
• transparent and fair rules & guidelines.

We aim at providing high quality administrative services to faculty and students alike. We seek to improve consistency of processes and standards across the graduate programmes and continuous review and improvement of education in order to maintain rigorous academic standards.

About the University of Amsterdam

A modern university with a rich history, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) traces its roots back to 1632, when the Golden Age school Athenaeum Illustre was established to train students in trade and philosophy. Today, with over 30,000 students, 6,000 staff and a budget of €850 million, it is one of the larger comprehensive universities in Europe. The UvA has a broad academic curriculum. The university’s academic research is at the top of the international league in many respects. UvA staff publishes around 8,000 academic articles each year. The UvA is a member of the League of European Research Universities.