Graduate

Welcome! Thank you for your interest in graduate education in political science at the University of Pittsburgh. This website provides information for both current and potential graduate students, and you should be able to find answers to all of your questions here. Of course, if you don't see the information you need, please contact the Director of Graduate Studies, Kristin Kanthak, at kanthak@pitt.edu for more information.

The department fosters an active, vibrant community of scholars. We are both proud of our achievements and eager to accomplish even more in the years to come. We have a great deal to offer our students in their graduate studies. You can find just a partial list of those benefits below.

• We foster a culture of collaboration. Our faculty work closely with graduate students on their research, and that collaboration has led to at least 40 co-authored articles over the past six years, 11 of which have been in the “top 3” journals in the discipline.

• We have quite possibly the most generous financial support structure in the discipline. In fact, our top students can spend five years getting a degree here, and work for only two of those years. All of our first-year students receive a fellowship with no work obligation, so they can focus on their studies. But beyond that, the Social Science Dissertation Development fellowship means that five of our students ALSO receive a fellowship with no work obligation in their FOURTH year, so they can concentrate fully on dissertation work. Similarly, the Mellon fellowship program means that a number of our students (usually two or three) receive a fellowship with no work obligation in their FIFTH year as well. Furthermore, the Gutierrez and FLAS fellowships can translate to even more years of essentially free money. Few other departments can offer so much.

• We offer synergies with the University Center for International Studies (UCIS), the university’s path-breaking multidisciplinary institute that houses centers for area studies and centers on topical specializations in international studies.  These centers include, but are not limited to, one of only ten European Union Centers of Excellence in the United States, the Center for Latin American Studies, the Center for Russian and East European Studies, and more.

• We provide assistance with academic placement, and consistently place our students in top department in the US and abroad. Recent placements include UC-Davis, Louisiana State University, Iowa State University, CIDE (Mexico City), and Gonzaga University.

• Our NRC ranking is between 20 and 30, a huge rise over the last ten years.

• We have a number of active speakers’ series and workshops in the department, and graduate students are encouraged to participate fully.

• We provide funds to conduct original research, attend conferences, enroll in special educational opportunities (ICPSR, etc.), and join professional associations.

• We offer socialization to the discipline, via departmental workshops and symposia.