As a research and development centre dedicated to the promotion of sociological knowledge, the Institute of Sociology of the University of Porto gathers a body of highly qualified experts with an extensive experience in research.
To implement the strategic programme foreseen for the period 2015-2020, the Institute of Sociology is organised into two Research Groups, dedicated to studying the issues of Social Recompositions, Culture and Territory and Work, Family and Social Policies, which cover specific research challenges. The structure of activities of the Group Social Recompositions, Culture and Territory is based on the issues of Social Recompositions and Territories and Artistic Creation, Cultural Policies and Practices; moreover, the activities of the research Group Work, Family and Social Policies involve the fields of Work, Employment, Professions and Organisations and Family, Ageing and Gender. Earmarked with an intensive work programme, in terms of both projects and implementation indicators, the activities of the Research Groups of the Institute of Sociology are developed within the framework of very active national and international research networks.
With an extensive accumulated experience in scientific research on sociology, with a strong component for the development of multidisciplinary research, the activity of the Research Groups of the Institute of Sociology is geared to building leading sociological knowledge on the social reality, investing in the production of research on meaningful local and regional social processes. Since it promotes the acquisition of scientific knowledge from sociology's different theoretical traditions, the Unit supports research based on differentiated methodological approaches, from the more quantitative to the more qualitative ones, the latter including ethnography and socio-historic studies.
Since it significantly contributes to provide knowledge on national and regional realities, the Institute of Sociology of the University of Porto also plays a decisive role as a scientific infrastructure, providing access to sociological information on its Internet website and the website of the Open Repository of the University of Porto. In addition to these activities, the Institute of Sociology actively promotes national and international scientific debates on the discipline and the dissemination of leading sociological works done in the Unit - by supporting, among others, the edition of a collection of monographs in partnership with the renowned editors Edições Afrontamento, the edition of a series of working papers and by promoting, through the Unit's researchers, the publication of scientific journals, such as Sociologia: Revista da Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto, the Journal of the Department of Sociology of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Porto, and the journal Cadernos de Ciências Sociais, published by Edições Afrontamento.
In conjunction with the objectives relating to the promotion of innovative knowledge on sociology, the mission of the Institute of Sociology is also crucial in terms of advanced scientific training, coordinating its activities with the works of the Department of Sociology of FLUP, in particular with its Doctoral Course in Sociology, whose students are hosted by the Institute of Sociology.