Established in 1997 [History], the Swiss Summer School is open to all who need to use Social Science methods for their work and is best suited for those who are encountering - within a research project/(PhD) thesis - the need to deepen and widen their methodological knowledge and skills.
The Summer School runs for two weeks, preceded by a two day preparatory workshop taught on Friday and Saturday, preceding the first week of regular workshops. During each of the two weeks of the Summer School, there will be several parallel workshops on both quantitative and qualitative methods. [Click here for the workshop programme].
Each workshop runs from Monday through Friday, full time (roughly from 8 h 30 through 18 h) an average effective teaching time of 7½ to 8 hours per day, i.e. a total of up to 35-40 hours per week. Past experience shows, that quite often students ask for more, as they are highly motivated by their project work.
All workshops will be oriented towards practical applications and spend roughly half of their time on applied work and exercises (many workshops will make heavy use of computer software); there will be ample time to discuss and try to solve problems related to your personal research with the instructors and your fellow participants. Participants are strongly encouraged to work on their own data and research problems to get the most out of the Summer School experience.
Faculty members are renowned specialists and experienced teachers in their respective fields. Depending upon the number of participants in their workshop, they will bring a teaching assistant, in order to optimize opportunities for help and advice during the workshops.
The optional Preparatory Workshop will be held at the beginning of the Summer School before the other workshops starts (Friday and Saturday). It is a refresh/upgrade workshop, centered around skills in data preparation, data management and basic to intermediate statistics. This workshop is highly recommended for all those who need to strengthen or refresh their skills with SPSS and basic to intermediate statistics. This preparatory workshop will only be held if at least 10 participants have registered by mid-June.
Methodology is clearly the corner stone of good scientific practice and a sound training in methodology will be essential for your professional future. There are however many different philosophies, approaches and techniques, many of them highly specialized.
Therefore you should carefully consider your choices of workshops in a wider perspective, i.e. your training in the field of methodology for the years to come. We recommend that you discuss your choices of workshops with your PhD supervisor or seek advice from another experienced person in your field of research or work.
For a number of workshops you are expected to have some methodological background, namely knowledge, skills and some experience with empirical analyses in the social sciences. When selecting a workshop, please read carefully the prerequisites listed with the workshops description before registering.
Register by filling-in the on-line registration form bnhjki (this is the only form of registration). Registration is conditional until you have paid the invoice (within four weeks of reception). If you applied for the reduced (student) fee a recommendation letter/copy of an official document stating your student status is required to make your registration final. Registration is on a frist-come first-serve basis.
To guarantee optimal learning conditions, the number of available places per workshop is limited (typically 10-12 for a workshops taught by the instructor alone, 20-25 when taught by an instructor and his/her assistant or co-teacher).
Registration for a particular workshop is on a first come/first serve basis. Registrants beyond the maximal number of participants will be placed on a waiting list, and will be informed as soon as a place becomes available. If the waiting list grows too long, registration for that workshop will be closed.
The language in all workshops and lectures will be English, therefore active and passive command of English is expected.
The Swiss Summer School is funded through participant's fees.[Details]
The Summer School is financed through participant's fees and cannot offer any scholarship, grant or financial aid.
For PhD students from Swiss universities, a limited number of scholarships will be available from the National Science Foundation covering tuition fees only. [Details]
Students from foreign universities should seek financial assistance in their home country. [Some advice]
At the end of the successful completion of a workshop, a Certificate of participation will be delivered, attesting the active presence of the participant during the 5 days of each workshop. Partial presence will be noted on the Certificate. Furthermore no certificate will be delivered for a workshop a participant has attended less than three days. For the two-day Preliminary Workshop a Certificate of Participation is only delivered on request.
If you consider using the Summer School workshops to obtain credits (ECTS), you will have to investigate at your home institution to find out whether they recognize the Summer School, how many credits can be earned for a workshop/course with roughly 35 hours of teaching, no graded work and no exams. (We only deliver a Certificate of Participation, i.e. we certify your presence). Make sure to investigate this matter before registering, if this is important to you.
If you need to reserve accommodation, see here for further information and advice on how to find a hotel or pension.
There are no specific deadlines for application. However consider: