Doctor of Social Science
Connect disciplines. Understand social complexity.
Contribute to the public good.
Examine the relationships between people, institutions and societies through rigorous interdisciplinary inquiry, ethical reflection and individual faculty mentorship.
Program Facts
The Doctor of Social Science (DSS) at Monarch Switzerland is a fully online, part-time doctoral programme offered through Monarch Global Research Institute, with a standard duration of 36 months. Designed for experienced professionals and aspiring researchers, it enables doctoral study alongside a career without the need to relocate.
- Institution
- Monarch Switzerland
- Department
- Monarch Global Research Institute
- Award
- Doctor of Social Science (DSS)
- Study Mode
- Fully Online
- Standard Duration
- 36 Months
- Study Format
- Part-Time
- Designed For
- Experienced Professionals and Aspiring Researchers
- Residency
- No Relocation Required
- Language
- English
- Institution Location
- Switzerland
An extended-duration pathway is available. Completion depends on research progress and fulfilment of the programme’s academic requirements.
Complex social questions
need more than one perspective.
The Doctor of Social Science (DSS) is a research doctorate devoted to complex social, organisational and policy phenomena.
Contemporary challenges rarely sit within a single academic field. The DSS connects perspectives across the social sciences, humanities and management, examining how economic, cultural, political and institutional forces interact to shape human systems.
Candidates integrate theory, method and ethical reflection in research that advances scholarship and informs practice. Inquiry may address inequality, governance, organisational life or social transformation, with attention to both lived experience and wider systemic relationships.
Scholarship with social purpose.
Aligned with Monarch’s values of social justice, equity and responsible governance, the programme encourages original contributions that deepen understanding and inform more inclusive, humane and resilient institutions. Research methods are chosen to fit the question, with qualitative, interpretive, comparative and mixed-method approaches available within an approved design.
Examine people, institutions and social change.
The DSS supports organisational, societal, cultural, behavioural, ethical and community-based inquiry. These indicative areas provide starting points; research questions are refined with faculty during proposal development.
Organisations and human systems
Explore organisational life, leadership and the social implications of institutional decision-making.
Governance and public policy
Examine how policies, institutions and leadership shape public value and societal outcomes.
Equity and social justice
Investigate inequality, inclusion and the ethical dimensions of social and institutional arrangements.
Culture and lived experience
Study meaning-making, human experience and cultural influences through context-sensitive inquiry.
Communities and social development
Explore community-based challenges and the relationships supporting responsible social change.
Interdisciplinary social thought
Bring theoretical traditions into dialogue to develop a coherent understanding of complex social phenomena.
Develop insight that connects
scholarship and social purpose.
Applied social research
Develop advanced qualitative and interpretive research capabilities for complex social, organisational and human-systems inquiry.
Contemporary social understanding
Examine societal challenges through multiple theoretical lenses and identify patterns, tensions and emerging dynamics.
Professional–scholarly integration
Connect professional experience with scholarly reflection to inform practice, leadership, social policy or institutional reform.
Reflexive analysis
Interpret human experience and social action through critical reasoning and sensitivity to context.
Academic and applied writing
Produce coherent scholarly work and communicate insights to academic, professional and policy audiences.
Original contribution
Generate an original contribution that advances understanding within a clearly defined domain of social inquiry.
Practitioner-scholar identity
Strengthen your scholarly voice through engagement with Monarch’s research community and opportunities such as the Monarch Research Paper Series.
From a social concern
to an interdisciplinary contribution.
Six research stages provide structure while allowing the flexibility required for interdisciplinary study. Faculty guidance and academic review support conceptual coherence, ethical conduct and independent inquiry.
Build foundations
Develop research skills, theoretical integration and critical synthesis across social science traditions, supported by the philosophy of interdisciplinary research.
Define the theme
Identify a social concern spanning disciplinary domains. Establish its boundaries, significance and ethical implications with faculty mentors.
Design the inquiry
Refine the research question, integrate relevant theoretical perspectives and select appropriate methods. Formal proposal approval precedes the principal research stage.
Connect perspectives
Implement the approved design through approaches such as comparative analysis, case study, ethnography or mixed methods, maintaining ethical and methodological coherence.
Develop the manuscript
Integrate findings into a coherent doctoral manuscript demonstrating original insight, theoretical synthesis and implications for scholarship or practice.
Defend the contribution
Present and defend the manuscript in a viva voce before the Review Committee, explaining the findings, originality and interdisciplinary significance.
Rigorous inquiry alongside professional life.
Interdisciplinary focus
Connect sociology, economics, political science, management, ethics and other relevant fields within a coherent research framework.
Faculty mentorship
Work with experienced scholars to develop theoretical clarity, methodological rigour and critical engagement.
Flexible research design
Use a milestone-based structure and methods suited to your question, including qualitative, quantitative or mixed approaches where appropriate.
Ethical engagement
Consider the social consequences of research and its contribution to equity, inclusion and responsible governance.
Flexible study
Study remotely and asynchronously from your home country, with standard and extended pathways for different professional commitments.
Global scholarly community
Engage with international researchers, digital resources and interdisciplinary exchange. Optional workshops in Switzerland offer additional research support and connection.
This doctoral program may be completed fully online, including the doctoral defence. No relocation is required. Candidates may select an in-person doctoral defence when offered by Monarch.
Recognise progress.
Maintain academic standards.
Master-in-passing
Candidates who successfully complete all doctoral requirements receive the Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) in Research in passing upon conferral of the DSS, recognising their research design, theoretical synthesis and analytical achievement.
Master-in-exit
Candidates concluding their studies before completion of the DSS may qualify for the M.Phil. in Research or M.Soc.Sci. in Social Research as a terminal award, subject to the applicable academic requirements. The pathways recognise theoretical and methodological inquiry or applied social analysis respectively.
Master’s recognition is subject to meeting the requirements of the relevant award; an exit qualification is not automatic.
Interdisciplinary insight
for public health and social development.
Dr. Jérémie Zoungrana
Burkina Faso / Rwanda · Public health systems and social development
Dr. Zoungrana’s doctoral research at Monarch examined maternal mortality reduction in low-resource settings through a case study of the Rwandan healthcare system. Drawing on extensive maternal and child health experience, he combined statistical analysis with stakeholder interviews to examine clinical and non-medical influences on health outcomes.
His work connected governance, leadership, cultural norms and system responsiveness, developing a conceptual model relevant to low-resource contexts. This interdisciplinary inquiry helped inform the later development of Monarch’s DSS programme.
Academic preparation. Intellectual maturity.
Research potential.
Applicants normally hold a recognised master’s degree or equivalent in a relevant discipline and demonstrate the capacity for critical, reflective and independent research.
- Research, teaching, policy-analysis or social-engagement experience is advantageous, but not required.
- Applicants with a bachelor’s degree and significant professional or research experience may be considered on the Dean’s recommendation where there is sufficient evidence of doctoral readiness.
- The Academic Board reviews the fit between proposed research interests and supervisory expertise.
- Applicants should demonstrate intellectual curiosity, ethical awareness and a commitment to interdisciplinary inquiry.
- Admissions are rolling, with programme starts on the first day of each month, subject to admission.
Who should apply?
Reflective public- and private-sector leaders, NGO and civic professionals, consultants, policy practitioners, educators and social innovators seeking to connect scholarship with responsible practice and public value.
Choose a pace that fits your commitments.
Standard pathway
A standard duration of 36 months provides a framework for supervised research and academic progression.
Extended pathway
A 60-month pathway provides a longer study schedule for candidates balancing doctoral research with professional and personal commitments.
Completion depends on research progress and fulfilment of academic requirements. Duration is not a guarantee of completion or a tuition cap. Tuition and continuation arrangements are governed by the current policy during active registration.
What social question
will you take further?
Bring your experience, intellectual curiosity and commitment to responsible scholarship. Explore how interdisciplinary research can deepen understanding and inform the public good.