CEU PhD in Political Science

21/08/2026

PhD candidate Ana Pandal de la Peza and Dr. Julia Sachseder have a chapter in the open access Feminist Security Studies in the Americas, titled "The Coloniality of Non-knowledge: Toward a Conceptualization of Security Non-knowledge in the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda".

The authors say: "Despite seemingly progressive policies regarding for e.g. equality or gender-based violence, why do some insecurities persist?
In this contribution, we argue that this is not only because of inherently racialized and gendered global hierarchies in both knowledge production and implementation processes but also because of a coloniality of non-knowledge that strategically (Tuana 2004), selectively (McGoey 2012) and structurally (Martin Alcoff 2007) produces (non-)knowledge on certain insecurities - and thereby risks obscuring and reproducing the power structures that are among the main sources of violence in many regions of the world.
Thus, we aim to push feminist critiques of policies such as WomenPeaceSecurity further by arguing that the problem does not solely lie in what the agenda addresses, but also in what it does not address and what knowledges it does not produce."

The image used on this post is a section of the cover of the book. The book is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Priscyll Anctil Avoine 2026. Cover credit - Zulay Carolina Rueda, Instagram

21/07/2026

PhD candidate Kristina Vasić's article "Should Relational Egalitarians be Committed to Equal Power?" has been published in Res Publica - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11158-026-09771-0

Kristina's research focuses on the implications of unequal (political, economic) power for social equality and freedom. The unequal political power she is particularly interested in is one characteristic of representative democracy. The unequal economic power she focuses on is the economic, dominating power of capital over labor under capitalist mode of production.

20/07/2026

PhD candidate Irene Tello Arista has a new publication, co-authored with CEU Department of Public Policy's Mihaly Fazekas, and Antonina Volkotrub (Anti-Corruption Action Centre Центр Протидії Корупції ) on "Using Beneficial Ownership Data for Systematic Risk Assessment in Public procurement. The Example of 6 European Countries" - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10610-025-09654-9

Irene is a columnist for El Universal and a member of . She has more than ten years of experience working on anti-corruption efforts. In her current research she analyzes the use of beneficial ownership data for anti-corruption efforts. She is particularly interested in the intersection of corruption with gender-based violence, climate justice, and public service delivery.

13/07/2026

PhD candidate Ildar Daminov has published his article "Borrowed blueprints, broken systems: the moderating effect of state capacities on the diffusion of “digital authoritarianism” in Eurasia" in the East European Politics journal - https://doi.org/10.1080/21599165.2026.2684932

Ildar is in his last year of the PhD, his thematicresearch interests include domestic and foreign policies of authoritarian and hybrid regimes; socio-political impacts of digitalization and digital technologies; good/bad governance; migration; and social science methodologies. Regionally, he focuses on Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and East Asia (esp. Korea).

09/07/2026

PhD candidate Ana Pandal de la Peza co-authored the paper "Collective activism for an Illustrated Dictionary of La Búsqueda" with Técnicas Rudas México, Voz de los Desaparecidos Puebla, Regresando a Casa Morelos and Colectivo Las Rastreadoras del Fuerte Sinaloa - https://doi.org/10.1177/02610183261448714

Ana's doctoral research is a contemplative-participatory journey into the world-making practices of women searching for disappeared people in Mexico. Her fields of research are: feminist epistemologies, decolonial thought, pluriversal IR, relational IR and narrative praxis.

16/12/2025

PhD candidate Ildar Daminov's latest paper on information control strategies in Belarus is available online - https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2025.2601031

Ildar's thematic research interests include domestic and foreign policies of authoritarian and hybrid regimes; socio-political impacts of digitalization and digital technologies; good/bad governance; migration; and social science methodologies. Regionally, he focuses on Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and East Asia.

16/12/2025

Apply to the PhD in Political Science at CEU. Submit your application by Feb. 4th to be eligible for the CEU Doctoral Scholarship -

Find out below how to apply for a CEU’s doctoral degree program and what to do if you are admitted.

05/12/2024

The latest article of PhD candidate Bence Hamrak, co-written with CEU Political Science Department's Gabor Simonovits, and Central European University alumni Alex Rusnak (Comenius University) and Ferenc Szucs (Stockholm University), has been published by British Journal of Political Science - https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123424000292

26/11/2024

For all our current DSPS students who are POLS alumni, and alumni from the Doctoral School who were on CEU Political Science Department tracks (CP, PE, PT)

🌍 Attention CEU Political Science Department Alumni! 🌍

Join us for Alumni Day 2025 at CEU Vienna on January 16! Reconnect with peers, participate in workshops on global issues, share your career insights on our panel, and celebrate with fellow alumni at a reception.

🗓️ Date:January 16, 2025
📍 Location: CEU Vienna
ℹ More Info: https://bit.ly/4fW3Lkf
🔗 RSVP by December 5: https://forms.office.com/e/yDaQdFrfKm

Let’s reconnect, reflect, and inspire! ✨

22/11/2024

Vienna Dialogues: Coffee and IR is a new podcast from CEU Department of International Relations created and hosted by PhD candidates Adam, Letitia and Markus, and Prof. Erin K. Jenne. There are two episodes out, listen and follow on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4VlUg5X6i8Ju80DFKSDVMm