São Paulo School of Advanced Science

Founded in 2010, the IPSA-USP Summer School in Concepts, Methods and Techniques in Political Science and International Relations seeks to provide scholars of the social sciences with access to high-quality, cutting edge, advanced training in qualitative and quantitative social science methods.

A partnership between the International Political Science Association (IPSA), the Department of Political Science (DCP) and the Institute for International Relations (IRI) at the University of São Paulo, the School was the first of a global network of methods schools to be established by IPSA in the Global South. Now in its 9th year, the IPSA-USP Summer School has become a global point of reference synonymous with excellence and rigorous training in methods. It is the oldest and largest of the IPSA methods summer schools, which have been held at the University of Stellenbosch, Middle East Technical University and the National University of Singapore.

The IPSA-USP Summer School schedule is partitioned into three one-week courses. The curriculum includes special information sessions that provide practical training on specific skills and seminars that provide participants with opportunities to examine the impact of various methodologies on specific substantive issues.

Participants to the IPSA-USP Summer School generally represent high-potential, upper-level scholars of political science, international relations, and related disciplines. While the largest number of participants are current faculty members, post-doctoral and doctoral students, there also an increasing number of truly exceptional masters’ students who have successfully completed courses in the School. IPSA-USP Summer School participants also represent a diverse number of countries and methodological backgrounds. In 2013, for example, participants who attended the school came from 30 different countries and 33 different universities and institutions.