About us
Bagru Sowi Dok is the abbreviation for "Basisgruppe Sowi-Doktorat". We represent the PhD students in the social sciences doctoral curriculum as part of the Austrian National Union of Students (ÖH), and we were elected in the 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2025 ÖH elections. Being a Basisgruppe means that not only the 5 elected members take care of the rep work but so do other motivated activists enrolled in the social sciences. Together, we represent PhD students' interests in various university committees. Our work is open to all PhD students, we make decisions at our monthly meetings. Everybody is invited to join our meetings, bring ideas, influence decisions and develop activities. As a Basisgruppe, we prefer consensual decision-making, i.e. decisions are agreed upon and supported by all activists.
The current elected student representatives (2025–2027) are:
Felix Lene Ihrig (Sociology) | Jule Kegel (Government) | Tarik Ndifi (Development Studies) | Azadeh Shamsi (Communication) | Zeynep Beyza Yildizdan (Government)
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Our values
- We believe education should be free and accessible to all interested individuals. We are critical towards elitist access to education based on presumed excellence and address such access barriers. Whenever possible, we try to minimize these.
- We value diversity and are against discriminatory systems. Unfortunately, the latter persist at the university and in society more broadly, and manifest in research policies as well. In our view, different approaches to science enrich academic fields. Difference can enhance knowledge production and can be key to improving social conditions.
- We prioritize directing our support to those who are in most urgent need.
Current and former elected student representatives
University committees
Part of our rep work are various university committees. In those, we are members besides the professors and other uni employees, and we try to contribute and emphasize the students' views.
ViDSS steering committee
The Vienna Doctoral School of Social Sciences (ViDSS) is governed by a speaker and a steering committee, comprising representatives of all research fields present at the Faculty of Social Sciences as well as two student representatives.
VISESS PhD Board
The Vienna International School of Earth and Space Sciences is home to the social sciences PhDs in the Anthroposphere branch. While not connected in an official/formal sense, the PhD board members of this branch are in contact with the PhD student representatives in Social Sciences and co-organise, e.g., the writing Fridays.
Studies conference
The studies conference is an advisory board to the Directorate of Doctoral Studies for Social Sciences and comprises six members from the group of teachers as well as six members from the group of students.
Faculty conference
The faculty conference is an advisory body of the Faculty of Social Sciences and consists of eight representatives of university professors, four representatives of associate professors as well as of other scientific staff in teaching or research, four representatives of students, one representative of administrative staff and their respective deputies. The faculty conference at the Faculty of Earth Sciences, Geography and Astronomy works in the same way. One doctoral student representative is appointed by the Social Sciences PhD student representatives to attend the conference.
Appointment committees
An appointment committee is established whenever a candidate selection process for a professorship or a habilitation procedure begins, and includes student members. Its role is to decide which candidate is selected.