Program Goals

The program aims to allow outstanding doctoral students studying at the University of Haifa to be enrolled, at the same time, in the international program. Acceptance into the program and participation in the program will provide the student with a variety of benefits: students will become acquainted and make contacts with foreign students in the European community and have access to academic cooperation with professors and researchers in the international community. The students’ doctoral research will also receive exposure in the European community and finally the student will receive a European doctoral degree in addition to the Israeli degree.

General

In the month of May 2009, the University of Haifa signed an agreement promoting academic cooperation between our University and a European doctoral program – namely – The European PhD in Socio-economic and Statistical Studies. The University of Haifa became a full partner in the program allowing doctoral students with an authorized research proposal (research students stage 2) in relevant fields in the University of Haifa to submit their candidacy for acceptance in both the University of Haifa and the European program. If accepted to the European program, the student will be required to spend at least one semester in one of the European Universities affiliated with the program, in the department most relevant to their field of expertise. During this semester, the student will be expected to receive guidance from instructors/scholars at the host department, to actively participate in doctoral seminars and to present their research and if necessary to participate in other frameworks such as research seminars, etc.

Requirements for Candidate Admission and Academic Tracks

Students who wish to apply for the doctoral program, must have a masters (MA) degree in Sociology from a certified university in Israel or abroad and they must have an average of at least 85 and they must have received at least an 86 on their BA thesis/final research project. Graduates of certified universities abroad or those who received their degree from branches of foreign universities located in Israel will be asked to submit GRE scores.
Students will be asked to submit a resume in Hebrew and in English, final grades, and recommendations. Candidates should contact a faculty member who might potentially act as advisor. Together with the advisor, the candidate should discuss and formulate their intended topic of research so that the candidate might write a document outlining their intentions. The doctoral committee will then evaluate the candidates ‘letter of intentions’ and in some cases the student will be invited for an interview. 

Required Preliminary Courses for Graduates in other Fields

We will consider the candidacy of a limited number of doctoral students who did not complete undergraduate studies in the fields of Sociology. Graduates in other fields must have a Masters degree and final empirical BA thesis as well as an average grade in their MA program of at least 90. These students must meet all the requirements as listed above including recommendation letters and the selection of an advisor. If they are accepted, we will custom design a program of preliminary courses to suit the student’s background coordinated with both the advisor and the doctoral committee. The letter of intentions will be formulated and submitted only after their year-long preliminary course load has been successfully completed.