AISSR and the University of Amsterdam

Since January 2010, research in the social sciences at the University of Amsterdam is united in a single institute: the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR). The AISSR results from a merger of the Amsterdam School for Social Science Research (ASSR), the Amsterdam Institute for Metropolitan & International Development Studies (AMIDSt) and the Institute for Migration & Ethnic Studies (IMES).

The AISSR is the largest research institute on social sciences in the Netherlands and maybe even in Europe.

The AISSR is located in one faculty, the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FMG), and three departments:

• Department of Political Science
• Department of Human Geography, Planning & International Development
• Department of Sociology & Anthropology 

Since the merger Social Sciences at the UvA encompasses three institutes:

• The College Sociale Wetenschappen, responsible for the Bachelor programme
• The Graduate School of Social Sciences (GSSS), responsible for Master’s and research Master’s programmes and (co-responsible with AISSR) for the PhD training programme.
• The Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR), responsible for research and PhD supervision and co-responsible (with GSSS) for PhD education.

Programme groups: units of research

The research programme is organised into twelve groups anchored in the four disciplines of 1) sociology, 2) political science, 3) anthropology, and 4) geography, planning & international development studies.

Each programme group is led by a Programme Director. The programme groups are the primary units for academic staff in terms of research and teaching activities; they are relatively autonomous, with practical responsibility for both research strategy and teaching curriculum content being assigned within the relevant discipline or sub-discipline.

Each programme falls under the general responsibility of the Academic Director (Prof. Dr. Anita Hardon), and is represented on the AISSR Programmes Council.

Interdisciplinary centres: cooperation across the programme groups

Cooperation across these programme groups is institutionalised in five interdisciplinary centres: Urban Studies; Global Health; Inequality Studies; Migration & Ethnic Studies and Gender and Sexuality.

These centres foster activity across programme boundaries and are organised around research priority areas (universitaire onderzoekszwaartepunten) and research focus points (facultaire onderzoeksspeerpunten), as selected and subsidised by the UvA and the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FMG).

They are composed of AISSR staff from the programme groups and external guests. Directors of these centres hold a seat in the AISSR Programmes Council.

AISSR Bureau: support staff

The AISSR Academic Director and Programme Directors are supported by the AISSR Bureau. The bureau encompasses an Executive Director (who is deputy to the Academic Director and head of the bureau), a Communication and Policy Officer (overseeing internal and external communication, liaising with the PhD training programme, and helping secure funding), an Administrative Officer (in charge of financial administration), two Secretaries, an Office Manager (head of the secretariat and secretary to the Programmes Council and the PhD Sounding Board) and five Programme Managers (supporting academic activities, acquisition of indirect and contract funding, financial management, and reporting and communication).

Organisation chart

View the organisation chart.