Discover 5 opportunities in social science

This blog post is the third in a series of entries highlighting top think tanks around the globe. Last week we posted a list of top institutes in Europe, and yesterday we offered you a list of think tanks in the United States. Today we’ll focus on the Spanish-speaking world, with a list of top think tanks and research institutes in Spain and Latin America.

Following up on last week’s list of Top Think Tanks and Social Science Research Institutes in Europe, this post is dedicated to top institutions in the United States. Although the U.S. is home to hundreds of research institutes, focusing on a vast array of disciplines and issues, there is a certain degree of consensus regarding which are the most respected. In the list below, we chose to highlight top think tanks working in the broad areas of politics, economics and international relations.

Whether you’re looking for a summer internship, your first postgraduate job or a change in career, gaining experience in a think tank or research institute is always a good way to go. While some think tanks engage in highly specialized research on specific topics, many span a broad range of issues, particularly in the fields of politics, economics and international relations. We’ve decided to dedicate three distinct blog posts to top think tanks around the world, beginning with this list of European institutions. Keep an eye out for upcoming posts on U.S. and Latin American institutions.

The literature research students need to rely on throughout all of their thesis writing is diverse. Broadly categorized there are three types of literature useful for PhD students: research/topic literature, methods literature, and ‘how to do your PhD’ literature. A somewhat similar classification of PhD materials can, for example, be found in Chris Hart’s Doing a Literature Search: A Comprehensive Guide for the Social Sciences (2010, Sage, p.2), which I recommend immensely.