Department of Political Science
The Department of Political Science of the University of Antwerp provides high quality education and research in the broad field of political science.
With two grant holders of the European Research Council, a steady stream of international publications, and a firm commitment towards research innovation, the Department of Political Science plays a leading role in research both nationally and internationally.
Our Ba.Sc of Political Science provides students with the strong basis of both political knowledge and social science research.Our Master of Political Science is the only Master in Political Science in Belgium that is taught in English. We focus on understanding the theory and practice of political decision making. Our master programs in Political Communication and International Relations and Diplomacy provide the opportunity of inter-disciplinary specialization.
Locally anchored and internationally oriented, the department attaches great importance to outreach to the wider community through media outlets, debates and lectures, and policy oriented research.
Do you want to find out more or get in touch with staff of the department? Then check the research groups' websites or take a look at the list of staff members.
We hope to welcome you soon!
Education
Politics is about shaping society: about ideals and action, conflict and power. The Political Science programme aims to train students to look at politics in a certain way, so that they can understand politics. We attempt to identify patterns and recurrences in (what appears to be) the chaos of everyday politics.
At the University of Antwerp, we study all levels of politics: local (Antwerp), regional (Flanders), national (Belgium), international (the European Union) and global (multilateral organisations). In addition to acquiring a solid scientific base and knowledge of methodology, the students also develop skills such as critical reading and writing, drawing up reports, negotiating, debating skills and much more.
We pay special attention to the quality of the education we provide, as is clear from the positive external reviews we have received from the NAVO (Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders), for example. Our lecturers and assistants invest time and energy in the lectures, seminars, debates and guidance they provide to their students, but this is not the only way we ensure quality in education. In addition, we welcome international guest lecturers regularly, thanks to initiatives such as the Erasmus Programme, invite practitioners to test our scientific knowledge in real contexts, and support our students with student assistants during intensive reading seminars.
The Department of Political Science offers the following programmes:
Research
The Department of Political Sciences sees itself as a true research department.
All the staff and personnel are actively involved in research and develop their own research programmes. Many of our lecturers also publish frequently in national and especially international scientific journals, books and research reports.
The department's research is currently divided into three research groups, which form the cornerstones of research in the department. The research groups are free to develop their own research and each one consists of one or more professors and several research staff members, assistants and/or doctoral assistants. For more information, please check the research groups' own webpages: