School of Social Sciences and Philosophy News

A new ESRI report authored by Trinity economist Dr Barra Roantree has shown that child poverty could be reduced by a quarter by introducing a means-tested second-tier of child benefit.

Jacqueline Hayden, Director of the Centre for European Studies and Professor in Political Science, was honored on Sunday for donating to the European Solidarity Center a rich collection of interviews with leading figures of "Solidarity" from the 1980s. The Medal is awarded to people from abroad who helped “Solidarity” and the Polish democratic opposition in the fight for freedom and human rights.

We are hiring for a Teaching Fellow for the Department of Economics, School of Social Sciences and Philosophy. If you are interested in teaching and have a flair for innovation in module design, apply here!

The National Economic Dialogue took place today at Dublin Castle, where various stakeholder groups and representative bodies outlined their Budget 2024 demands.

We are hiring a Research Fellow for PaCE: Patterns of Conflict Emergence. The successful post holder will contribute to a project that uses machine-learning methods to forecast interstate and civil wars.

Laura Acosta has received the Outstanding Published Article Award from the Peace, War, and Social Conflict Section of the American Sociological Association for her co-authored article "War Commemoration and Nationalism in Belgium, 1914–1945: The Role of Military Networks" published in Social Forces.

SSP staff attended a reception on Monday in the Provost’s garden to celebrate the School’s Athena SWAN Award. Trinity holds 17 bronze Athena SWAN awards, 14 of which were awarded between 2020 and 2022, meaning this is the first opportunity to celebrate these successes in person as a group.

Congratulations to the 2022/23 winners of the Dermot McAleese TA Awards! Pictured L-R are Marketa Odlova (Political Science), Peter Maher (Philosophy), Dermot McAleese, Michael McRae (Economics), and Suri Li (Sociology).

Professor Liam Kneafsey’s exceptional teaching efforts and achievements were recognised formally with a Trinity Excellence in Teaching Award. The prestige of the award reflects the value that Trinity places on promoting teaching as a scholarly activity.

Speaking at the Irish embassy in Belgravia in London on Wednesday evening, former UK prime minister Sir John Major said there is a case for asking the British government to set out the precise terms that would have to be met for it to call a Border poll in the North.

The School of Social Sciences and Philosophy is now hiring for the following posts:
- Teaching Fellow in International Relations
- Teaching Fellow in Applied Social Data Science
- Teaching Fellow in Philosophy

Congratulations to Sociology Professor Pablo Gracia who secured €2 million over a five-year period to examine the link between adolescent digital use and the reproduction of social inequalities.

Congratulations to Professor Martina Zanella, the 2023 winner of the Irish Society for Women in Economics Prize.

Irish Ambassador to the US Geraldine Byrne Nason spoke with Georgetown University Director of Global Irish Studies Cóilín Parsons at the Embassy of Ireland in the USA about President Biden’s visit to Ireland, the 25^th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, and the full breadth of US-Irish relations!

Congratulations to Sharyn O'Halloran, Constantine Boussalis, and Peter Stone from the School who were announced today as elected Fellows of Trinity College Dublin!

We are hiring for the following posts:
- Teaching Fellow in Applied Social Data Science
- Teaching Fellow in International Relations

Congratulations to Rachel Kane and her team on the launch of the 37^th edition of the SER. The Review provides a platform to showcase the exceptional work being undertaken by Trinity’s Economics students.

We are hiring for the following posts:
- Assistant Professor in Moral Philosophy
- Assistant Professor in Political Science
- Assistant Professor in Political Science and Data Science (2 Year Fixed Term contract)

We are hiring a Research Fellow for PaCE: Patterns of Conflict Emergence. The successful post holder will contribute to a project that uses machine-learning methods to forecast interstate and civil wars. Closing date April 27^th.

It was great to welcome ECB Chief Economist and alumnus Philip Lane back to campus this morning. Philip provided in-depth analysis on post-COVID inflation and hinted strongly at further rate hikes.

Naomi Panovka won the prize for best speaker at the debate series co-hosted by the Student Economic Review and the Phil. Trinity defeated Yale as proponents on the topic of breaking up Big Tech.

Minister for Public Expenditure, President of the Eurogroup, and School of SSP alumnus Paschal Donohoe (BESS, Political Science, 1996) returns to Trinity to examine leadership in an era of rolling crises.

TiLT is a training start-up focused on making organisations more inclusive through its suite of role-playing games. Sociology Professor Anne Holohan is the co-founder, along with Conor McNally.

The Trinity Excellence in Teaching Award is designed to recognise and celebrate those who have made an outstanding contribution in the pursuit of teaching excellence. The award reflects the value that Trinity places on promoting teaching as a scholarly activity and the importance placed on enriching the learning opportunities of its students.

Prof. Peter Stone, Head of the Political Science Department, attended a Youth Summit at which Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, spoke. The event was held on Friday, 3 February at the Smock Alley Theatre. Stone was accompanied by four of the department's postgraduate students.

Prof. Peter Stone, Head of the Political Science Department, recently attended a book presentation to President Michael D. Higgins. The event, held at Áras an Uachtaráin on Wednesday, 8 February, saw Peter Emerson present a copy of his book The Punter’s Guide to Democracy to the president.

Registration is now open for our CPD courses on Applied Behavioural Science, Data Science, Data Analysis, Ethics, R and Python.

CEPH, a new all-Ireland centre of excellence linking Trinity College Dublin and Queen's University Belfast, is seeking to appoint three Research Assistants, to start in September 2023. The closing date for receipt of completed applications is Wednesday, February 15^th, 2023.

New research from Pablo Gracia in Trinity and Tomás Cano in UNED Madrid, Spain found that mother-child time doubles, two-parent time declines threefold, and father-child time remains low after separation.

Nine Trinity researchers and members of staff were honoured in the ‘Research Ally’ category at this year’s Irish Research Council Researcher of the Year awards, which marks the crucial role played by higher education personnel in supporting the academic research community across all career levels.

CEPH, a new all-Ireland centre of excellence linking Trinity College Dublin and Queen's University Belfast, is seeking to appoint two Research Fellows (Post-Doctoral Researchers). The closing date for receipt of completed applications is Tuesday 20^th December 2022.

Trinity IMpact and Evaluation Unit (TIME) is hosting their annual keynote lecture on Monday, December 5^th in the Dargan Theatre from 6:30-8pm. Professor of Economics Dean Karlan of Northwestern University will deliver the lecture, entitled Empowering the Unempowered with Multi-Faceted Economic Inclusion Programs: Lessons from the Past, Ideas for the Future, which focuses on anti-poverty research in developmental economics.

The inaugural lecture of Sharyn O'Halloran, Chair of Political Economy (2020) took place on November 1st in the Robert Emmet Theatre. The lecture examined “How can Artificial Intelligence Improve Public Policy?”

Chair of Political Economy Sharyn O'Halloran asks “How can Artificial Intelligence Improve Public Policy?” on November 1^st at 18:30 in the Robert Emmett Theatre - register for free here.

Big congratulations to the winners of this years Harry Hartford Capstone Awards - Ronan Dunne, Martin Emsens, Tom Fleming, Yiming He, and Ellen McHugh. The Awards highlight the best capstone projects of the year.

Peter Stone, Head of Department in Political Science, spoke on September 7th at a public roundtable on “Four Fallacies of Deliberation: The Future of Democracy in Europe.” The event took place in Vienna in conjunction with a meeting of COST Action CA17135: “Constitution-Making & Deliberative Democracy.”

Professor Malešević of UCD will discuss his recently published book ‘Why Humans Fight: The Social Dynamics of Close-Range Violence’ this Wednesday, October 5th at 18:00 in the Mháirtin Ui Chadhain lecture theatre (2041B) in the Arts Building.

Registration is now open for our CPD courses on Applied Behavioural Science, Data Science, Data Analysis, Ethics, R and Python.

We are hiring for a Research and Policy Officer for the Centre for Economics, Policy, and History. CEPH is a new all-Ireland centre of excellence, linking TCD and Queen's University Belfast. This is a great opportunity to get in at the ground level!

The IMF presented the Financial Sector Assessment Program to the School on Tuesday, which examines the risks facing the Irish financial sector. The presentation culminated in a Q&A on their findings and recommendations.

The School of Social Sciences and Philosophy welcomed staff in the Departments of Economics, Political Science, Philosophy and Sociology in advance of the 22/23 academic year.

Prof. Peter Stone, Head of the Political Science Department, has won the Lee Eisler Service Award from the Bertrand Russell Society. The prize is awarded occasionally “to recognize distinguished service to the Society.”

Economics PhD student Laura Muñoz Blanco won the prestigious award for her paper Shifting Marriage Timing for Women: Natural Disasters and Forced Displacement, which examines early marriage and how best to tackle it from a policy perspective.

We are looking for an Executive Officer to join our team here in the School of Social Sciences and Philosophy. This is a flexible half-time role. Click the link to apply.

The Departments of Philosophy & Political Science have been ranked in the Top 100 by Subject in the 2022 edition of the QS World University Rankings. Trinity College also placed in the top 100 universities worldwide.

The School of Social Sciences and Philosophy is delighted to welcome Professor Sharyn O’Halloran as the new Chair of Political Economy, joint between Economics and Political Science. The Chair is funded by the HEA as part of the Senior Academic Leadership Initiative.

Professor Peter Stone recently published a review in Philosophy Now. Stone reviewed Why Does Inequality Matter? by leading political philosopher T.M. Scanlon. Stone unpacks Scanlon's complex account of the different reasons people might have for caring about equality.

The Trinity Impact Evaluation Unit (TIME) is collaborating with an international consortium of state bodies, IGO's and NGO's to hold a workshop in developmental economics. Follow the link to submit papers for consideration.

Professor Peter Stone was interviewed recently on the Finding Genius podcast. “Revolutionizing Democracy: The Benefits of Sortition and Selected Citizens Councils,” discussed the rise of randomly-selected citizen assemblies, with a focus on the Irish experience.

Congratulations to Economics PhD candidate Simone Arrigoni whose work on financial condition indices was published in the latest edition of the IMF Economic Review.

We are looking for an Executive Officer to join our team here in the School of Social Sciences and Philosophy. This is a permanent full-time role. Click the link to apply.

Congratulations to the winners of the Dermot McAleese TA Awards for 2021/2022! The winners are Anu Jose (Economics), Sadbh Dowling (Sociology), Victoria Iugai (Philosophy), and Audrey Plan (Political Science).

Congratulations to Eugenia Frezza for winning the new ISWE Prize for Best Paper by a Woman Economist! Eugenia's paper looks at the impact of fast internet on gender norms in sub-Saharan Africa.

The School extends congratulations to Dr. Gizem Arikan & Prof. Thomas Chadefaux (Political Science), Prof. John Divers (Philosophy), and Dr. Jan Skopek (Sociology), who have been named Fellows within the School.

The Department of Economics is introducing 2 new CPD courses - Introduction to Data Analytics and An Introduction to Statistical Thinking and Data Analysis - deadline to apply is April 20^th

The Trinity Impact Evaluation Research centre has launched the second iteration of its flagship online course. Applications are now open for the 6-week course commencing on May 9th 2022. Researchers and practitioners from research institutions, governments and NGO’s in fields of development are encouraged to apply. The Course is supported by Irish Aid and eight scholarships are on offer to citizens of Irish Aid Partner countries.

Trinity economists, in collaboration with colleagues in Queens University Belfast, have been awarded €3.8 million to establish an All-Ireland Centre of Excellence in Economics, History and Policy.

The School is delighted to announce a new summmer internship with Oxfam Ireland, focusing on the areas of policy and advocacy. The deadline to apply is April 8^th at 17:00.

Professor Linda Zagzebski, Kingfisher College Chair of the Philosophy of Religion and Ethics emerita at the University of Oklahoma, will be speaking in Trinity about the central theme of her latest book, The Two Greatest Ideas.

Professor John Divers took up the Chair of Moral Philosophy (1837) in June 2021. His inaugural lecture will take place on March 15^th in the Thomas Davis Lecture Theatre. Please register here.

The themes of the two 2022 John O’Hagan Grattan Scholarships have been announced and applications for PhD students are now open. The deadline to apply is April 1^st.

8 students recently completed an internship with Green Party Ireland under the guidance of Professor Liam Kneafsey - watch this short video to see how they got on.

The Provost, Dr. Linda Doyle hosted a reception in the Provost’s house, to celebrate 10 years of the Grattan Scholarship Programme and to honour Emiritus Professor John O’Hagan as the founding father of the Grattan Scholars.

The Trinity Impact Evaluation Research centre has launched an exciting new 5-week online course in Impact Evaluation Methods starting in November 2021. The course is interactive and collaborative and allows participants to develop an impact evaluation design for their organisations. The course is supported by Irish Aid. Eight scholarships are on offer to citizens of Irish Aid partner countries. 

The School of Social Sciences and Philosophy was delighted to host the inaugural Harry Hartford Capstone Project Awards virtually on Wednesday 6 October. The Awards were presented to the four best Capstone Projects in the disciplines of Economics, Political Science, Sociology and Philosophy. The awards have been made possible due to the vision and generosity of Harry Hartford, Economic and Social Studies Alum 1982 and long time supporter of the School.

On 23rd September the Ambassador of Ireland to the UK, Ambassador O’Neill hosted the annual Henry Grattan Lecture at the Embassy of Ireland in London. The lecture was delivered by Commissioner Mairead McGuinness on ‘The EU – COVID Impact and Facing up to Climate Change.

The School of Social Sciences and Philosophy is delighted to announce it has secured an Athena SWAN Bronze award in the latest round of awards. The Athena Swan (Scientific Women’s Academic Network) Charter is an international framework which is used to support and transform gender equality within higher education and research.

The 2021 TIME Annual Lecture will be delivered by Prof. Rohini Pande, Henry J. Heinz II Professor of Economics and Director of the Economic Growth Center at Yale University.Prof. Rohini Pande will present on Strengthening Opportunities for Women. Thursday, September 23rd at 14.00 Irish time.Click this article to register for zoom.

Applications are invited for an Assistant Professor (part-time, 50%) post funded under the Human Capital Initiative, Pillar 3, in The Department of Philosophy. Closing date: 12 noon on Monday, 9th August 2021.

Professor Bénétrix will act as Senior Editor for the new and fully open access journal by Oxford University Press, Oxford Open Economics. He will be looking after publications in the areas of Macroeconomics and International Macroeconomics/Finance.

Applications are invited for a Teaching Fellow (part-time, 50%) post in Applied Behavioural Science in The Department of Sociology.  Closing date: 12 noon on Friday, 30th July 2021.

Finance Minister Pascal Donohue Launched the Department’s New MSc in Economic Policy. The first-ever MSc in economic policy specifically for people working in the public sector which combines the Department’s expertise and the policy-focused research at the ESRI. Commencing in January 2022, now accepting applications.

The School of Social Sciences and Philosophy is proud to announce the election of BESS students Nicole Hennessy, Caoimhe Johnson and Conor O’Brien, PPES students Kate Hyland, Conor Maher, Ella McGill and Finn McGrath to Scholarship on 26th April 2021. The School wishes the Scholars every success in the future

Congratulations to Dr Kenneth L. Pearce, Head of the Department of Philosophy and Ussher Assistant Professor in Berkeley Studies (Early Modern Philosophy) who has been elected to fellowship.

Trinity College Dublin is launching a new Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Social Data Science. Run by the Department of Political Science, with support from the School of Computer Science and Statistics. This postgraduate programme commencing in 2021 is supported by the Human Capital Initiatives.

To celebrate International Women’s Day 2021, we are delighted to invite you to join Prof. Selim Gulesci, Economics, and Prof. Ivana Bacik, Law, on their talk on "New Insights in Social Sciences", part of the "Cross-Faculty International Women’s Day - Visibility of Role Models" event.

Professor Eleanor Denny is the Director of the Department’s New MSc in Economic Policy. A unique collaboration between the Economics Department at TCD and the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).  This exciting new MSc commences in January 2022 and is now accepting applications.

The Department of Political Science is seeking to appoint two Assistant Professors in Political Science and Data Science, to commence on 1st September 2021. Closing date for receipt of completed applications is no later than 12 Noon GMT on Wednesday 20 January 2021.

Professor Alejandra Ramos’s exceptional teaching efforts and achievements were recognised formally with a Trinity Excellence in Teaching Award. The prestige of the award reflects the value that Trinity places on promoting teaching as a scholarly activity .

The IMTCD hosted their third successful workshop on International Capital Flows and Financial Globalisation, featuring key scholars in the field. The half-day virtual event took place on Thursday, 17 of December 2020.

TIME is hosting a two day international conference this week on the latest research on multi-faceted anti-poverty programmes for the ultra-poor, known as Graduation Programmes. (December 4th and 5th). With 270 registered participants it looks like our biggest event to date

Professor Divers, who joins Trinity from Leeds University, is a world-renowned expert in the theory of possibility and necessity. He is the author of Possible Worlds (Routledge, 2002) and a recent past president of the Mind Association.

Dr Phil Mullen has been appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology to lead the new Trinity Elective module in Black Studies.

Annual newsletter gives an update on student, academic and alumni news in the disciplines of economics, philosophy, political science and sociology.

Dr Skopek’s recently published study focuses on the educational reproduction of East and West German men and women born between 1930 and 1950 by considering both mobility and fertility pathways.

The Department of Economics, School of Social Sciences and Philosophy, is seeking to appoint an Assistant Professor in Economics (Applied Social Data Analysis and Big Data), to commence on 1st August 2021.

The new UNICEF report Worlds of Influence: Understanding what shapes child well-being in rich countries uses pre-COVID-19 data to rank EU and OECD countries according to children’s mental and physical health and academic and social skillset.

Marcus Goldstein, Director of the Gender Innovation Lab (GIL) at the World Bank and Lead Economist in the Office of the Chief Economist for Africa spoke on "Gender and Development: (R)evolution of our Understanding" at the TIME Annual Keynote Lecture, November 19th at 14:00

Professor in Economics, Carol Newman received a Walsh Scholarship for undertaking her PhD which she completed in 2001. The Alum Award celebrates achievements of an exceptional nature by a member of the Walsh Scholars Alumni of which there are 1,200 globally.

The Department of Sociology invites applications for an Assistant Professorship in Sociology in the area of Black Studies. Deadline: October 14th 2020.

The study, by Ms Melissa Bohnert and Dr Pablo Gracia and published in the Child Indicators Research journal, is the first to look at two cohorts of children to form a comparative analysis on effects. The research is part of the EU-funded Digymatex project.

The award, which recognises outstanding research by authors who are no more than three years past their PhD defence, was presented to Dr Mastrorocco, and his co-author Dr Arianna Ornaghi (University of Warwick), for their research project: "Who Watches the Watchmen? Local News and Police Behaviour in the United States".