SOCIUS – Research Centre in Economic and Organizational Sociology

What SOCIUS – Research Centre in Economic and Organizational Sociology does

SOCIUS – Centro de Investigação em Sociologia Económica e das Organizações is a non-profit academic research centre founded in 1991 and currently operating as a research group within ISEG Research in Economics and Management at the Lisbon School of Economics and Management (ISEG), University of Lisbon. Its functional focus is the advancement of knowledge in Economic and Organizational Sociology through dialogue between sociology, economics, and other social sciences, with research domains covering organizational studies, labor and employment relations, gender studies, social finance, cultural economy, science and technology studies, and migration. The centre's primary products are its three-year doctoral program in Economic and Organizational Sociology (A3ES-accredited), an active portfolio of EU- and FCT-funded research projects, language and methodology short courses, and academic publications including the SOCIUS Working Papers series and the Edições Socius book imprint.

SOCIUS operates under a public-university funding model with no commercial revenue stream, supported by FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) institutional evaluations, competitive public grants, EU framework-program funding, doctoral tuition, and short-course fees. It is governed by its own "Corpos Sociais" within the broader ISEG institutional structure. The centre has held an "Excellent" classification in FCT periodic evaluations in 1999, 2002, and 2007, and the integrating ISEG Research unit received an "Excellent" classification in 2024–2025. It is also a member of the CSG consortium alongside ADVANCE, CEsA, and GHES research centres.

The centre's core constituencies are doctoral students in sociology, economics, and management; collaborating academic researchers; and external partners including companies, social partners, NGOs, and government agencies engaged in collaborative research projects. SOCIUS maintains partnerships with sustainability-oriented organizations (2Adapt, Valorsul) under the TERRARE project and participates in pan-European projects (AGORARISK, PRO-MEL, BUILD, XR2ESILIENCE, MORFeuS). Headcount is modest at 13 listed employees, with the broader ISEG Research ecosystem comprising 200+ researchers across 12 groups.

Name

SOCIUS – Research Centre in Economic and Organizational Sociology

Legal name

SOCIUS – Centro de Investigação em Sociologia Económica e das Organizações

Website

https://socius.rc.iseg.ulisboa.pt

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

SOCIUS is a non-profit academic research centre founded in 1991, based at ISEG/University of Lisbon, dedicated to advancing Economic and Organizational Sociology through doctoral education, EU- and FCT-funded research projects, and academic publications. It serves researchers, PhD students, and institutional partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Research & Doctoral Education

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (611310), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Social Sciences & Public Policy Research Universities (EDAHABAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Public Research Universities with Multi-Campus Systems (EDAHAAAI), Scholarly Societies & Conference Proceedings Publishing (MPAJABAK), Social Sciences Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAD), Conference Proceedings & Research Reports Publishing (EDAGAFAL)

Keywords

• Academic sociology research
• Doctoral sociology programs
• Organizational studies research
• Economic sociology research
• Social science publications

Headquarters

HQ city

Lisbon

HQ country

Portugal

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

SOCIUS is a university research centre conducting academic research in Economic and Organizational Sociology and offering a 3-year doctoral program in the field. Its portfolio also includes short language courses (Japanese, Russian), research methodology workshops, summer schools, and academic publications (working papers and books under the Edições SOCIUS imprint). The centre's outputs target PhD students, researchers, and academic institutions.

Product overview

SOCIUS – Centro de Investigação em Sociologia Económica e das Organizações is a university research center created in 1991, currently integrated within ISEG Research at the Lisbon School of Economics and Management, University of Lisbon. The center's primary offering is the PhD program in Economic and Organizational Sociology, complemented by short courses (language courses in Japanese and Russian), research methodology workshops, summer schools, and publications including working papers and books under the SOCIUS Editions imprint. The center focuses on research in economic sociology, organizational studies, labor relations, and related social sciences.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• PhD in Economic and Organizational Sociology (Doutoramento em Sociologia Económica e das Organizações) A 3-year doctoral program focusing on economic sociology and organizational studies, covering organizational studies, science and technology studies, social finance, cultural economy, migration, gender studies, social networks, labor relations, public policy, and sustainable development. Targeted at prospective PhD candidates.
• Curso de Língua e Cultura Japonesa (Japanese Language and Culture Course) A language and culture course structured in independent 42-hour modules (A1 to C2 levels), introducing Japanese language, culture, customs, vocabulary, and Hiragana alphabet. Targeted at students and the general public interested in Japanese studies.
• Curso de Língua e Cultura Russa (Russian Language and Culture Course) A language and culture course structured in independent 60-hour modules (A1 to C2 levels), covering Russian history, geography, culture, Cyrillic alphabet, and communication topics. Targeted at students and the general public interested in Russian studies.
• Workshops em Metodologias de Investigação (Research Methodology Workshops) A cycle of workshops covering research methodology including SPSS initiation, qualitative methods, multivariate data analysis, online questionnaire construction, research and scientific writing, sampling techniques, and content analysis with software support. Targeted at researchers and doctoral students.
• Summer School: Concepts, methods and tools to engage in participatory research and governance processes A summer course aimed at improving understanding of challenges related to participation in research and governance processes, including planning participatory processes, innovative methods and tools, and reflexive capacity development. Targeted at researchers and practitioners.
• SOCIUS Working Papers Academic working paper series published by SOCIUS, featuring research outputs from investigators on topics related to economic sociology, organizations, and labor. Targeted at the academic community.
• Livros – Edições SOCIUS (SOCIUS Editions Books) Book publications under the SOCIUS Editions imprint, including academic works such as 'COVID-19, Vírus das desigualdades sociais' by José Maria Carvalho Ferreira. Targeted at the academic community and general readers.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ISEG ResearchcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 February 2024SOCIUS is now represented in ISEG Research in Economics and Management through the research group Sociologia Económica, Organizações e Trabalho. This new unit received Excellent classification from FCT.
• 2AdaptminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on the TERRARE project, specifically for the Mini-Floresta (Mini-Forest) project at ISEG. António Alexandre from 2Adapt collaborated with SOCIUS researcher Oriana Rainho Brás on implementing the Miyawaki forest method.
• ValorsulminorOthersValorsul provided compost for the Mini-Floresta project conducted under the TERRARE project at SOCIUS/CSG.
• CSG – Centro de Investigação em Gestão e Ciências SociaiscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSOCIUS is part of the CSG consortium along with ADVANCE, CEsA, and GHES research centers, formed in 2013 for FCT Strategic Project funding 2015-2020.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (MPIfG): MPIfG is a leading non-profit research institute in Cologne dedicated to studying socio-economic issues including the interrelation between economic and social processes. It is the closest international analogue to SOCIUS in scale of mission and academic positioning.
• Centre for Social Studies (CES) – University of Coimbra: CES is a Portuguese public research center at the University of Coimbra conducting interdisciplinary social science research. As a fellow Portuguese institution with overlapping themes in economic and organizational sociology, it is a direct domestic peer.
• Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation (CSI) – Mines Paris – PSL: CSI is a French CNRS-affiliated research laboratory studying innovation, organizations, and socio-economic dynamics. Its interdisciplinary approach and sociology of economic life focus make it a strong functional peer to SOCIUS.
• WZB Berlin Social Science Center: WZB is a large German public social science research institute conducting interdisciplinary research on labor markets, organizations, and political economy. It mirrors SOCIUS's role as a non-university research center producing doctoral and postdoctoral research.
• Centre d'études de l'emploi et du travail (CEET): CEET is a French research center focused on employment, labor relations, and work organization — themes directly aligned with SOCIUS's research areas in labor and organizational sociology.
• SCORE (Stockholm Center for Organizational Research): SCORE is a Swedish interdisciplinary research center focused on organizational studies, work, and economic sociology, jointly hosted by Stockholm University and SSE. It directly overlaps with SOCIUS's economic and organizational sociology focus.
• CSG – Centro de Investigação em Gestão e Ciências Sociais: CSG is SOCIUS's consortium partner formed in 2013 along with ADVANCE, CEsA, and GHES for FCT Strategic Project funding. It is co-located with SOCIUS at ISEG and shares research themes in management and social sciences.

Emerging players

• ADVANCE – Center for Research in Economics, Management and Information Technologies: ADVANCE is a CSG consortium partner also based at ISEG, focusing on economics, management, and IT. It shares the institutional ecosystem with SOCIUS but operates in a more quantitatively oriented domain.
• CEsA – Centro de Estudos sobre África e Desenvolvimento: CEsA is a CSG consortium partner at ISEG focused on development studies and Africa. It is partially comparable to SOCIUS as a fellow consortium member but has a distinct geographic and thematic focus.

Broad incumbents

• Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) – University of Essex: ISER is a UK-based research institute producing empirical social and economic research. It is comparable to SOCIUS as a university-affiliated social science research unit with similar methods and policy orientation, though it is broader in scope.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses3 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/iseglisbon
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/DMREISEG?feature=watch
• Facebookfacebook.com/iseg.pt
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/socius-research-centre-in-economic-and-organizational-sociology
• Instagraminstagram.com/iseglisbon

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SOCIUS – Research Centre in Economic and Organizational Sociology