Since our establishment in 1991, the Division has pursued academic excellence through both rigorous research and comprehensive training for students in an interdisciplinary environment. Our faculty are recruited through competitive international searches; and at present, the 30 divisional faculty members are spread across six disciplines: Economics; Sociology; Political Science; Psychology; Geogra
phy; and Science, Technology and Society. In 2013 and 2014, the Times Higher Education Rankings determined that our division was #1 in Citations in Social Science among all Asian Universities. These achievements reflect our commitment to providing outstanding training programs in qualitative and quantitative social science research, typically with reference to China. The postgraduate research programs equip students with the sophisticated skills required to conduct primary research in complex settings, coupled with a broad spectrum of analytical perspectives for critical understanding of pressing issues and phenomena in the contemporary world. In addition to the theoretical and methodological insights from coursework, our students are closely mentored in learning how to select significant and timely research topics, and how to identify and deploy valuable sources in their particular research areas. Our PhD graduates now hold academic positions at prominent institutions such as Academia Sinica, Peking University, Renmin University, Zhongshan University, the National University of Singapore, and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Meanwhile, our MPhil graduates have successfully pursued doctoral training in competitive PhD programs abroad, including Australia National University, Cornell University, George Mason University, Stanford University, UCLA, and Yale University. Starting from fall 2017, we also offer an undergraduate major, Quantitative Social Analysis which offers a combined training in social science and the quantitative analysis of social data.
