Welcome to the Research School of Social Sciences. The RSSS was one of the four foundation research schools of the Institute of Advanced Studies at ANU. For decades it has been a forerunner in social sciences research.  It has a proud history and a wonderful depth of talent and outstanding scholarship.

The School is Australia’s major institution for theoretical and empirical research in the social sciences and has an international reputation for exceptional social science research and training.  It has both undergraduate and graduate teaching programs, and we are proud that we teach what we research.

As well as the disciplinary Schools of Demography, History, Philosophy, Political Science, and Sociology, we have several centres, all of which have a multidisciplinary quality that encourage collaboration among social scientists across disciplinary boundaries. These include the Centre for Indigenous Policy Research, Centre for Arab & Islamic Studies, POLIS: The Centre for Social Policy Research, Centre for European Studies, and the Australian National Centre for Latin and American Studies.

We contribute to public debates in Australia and internationally across the whole social sciences spectrum.  We convene workshops, public lectures, debates and roundtables that address issues of public and community importance, and these can be found in the websites of the individual schools and centres.

Our innovative research culture, strong disciplinary and interdisciplinary focus, supportive intellectual environment and experienced staff combine to ensure a quality learning and research intensive teaching environment.