The PPPA programme trains experts who become a pivotal element in national and international social governance focused on making systems economically, financially and socially more sustainable. Therefore, the main objective of the programme is to create a critical mass of researchers, specialised in governance, social protection and social policy who are able to provide advice based on sound research. The School of Governance believes that the combination of knowledge and skills is essential for communicating research results. Therefore, we not only educate our PhD fellows to become highly qualified researchers but also teach them how to communicate their knowledge best.

The programme brings together scholars with various disciplinary backgrounds from leading institutes across the world and practitioners from policy oriented organisations in order to initiate new research, train young researchers and contribute to policy relevant research outcomes. Leading scholars in the field of governance and policy analysis from universities of Antwerp, Barcelona, Bath, Bremen, Liege, Maastricht, Southampton, Toulouse, Turin and Warsaw share their expertise and skills. In this way we are able to realise economies of scale and -scope in the new area of governance and policy analysis research and training by pooling the scholarly expertise of the participating institutes as well as capacity to teach and supervise young researchers.

Objectives
The programme is designed to provide advanced training in the knowledge and skills that are most relevant to policy analysis including policy design, policy monitoring and policy evaluation. The research fits into one of the seven research themes the school focuses on. The fellows participate in research communities with other fellows from different cohorts and academic scholars from the partners’ network. The thematic research groups guarantee both the establishment of a critical mass and the necessary focus to stimulate “complementarity” and “cumulativity” in results.

Student profile
The Maastricht Graduate School of Governance welcomes students from a variety of backgrounds and experiences to participate in the PhD programme. We are looking for students with a master’s degree, strong academic records, professional or volunteer experience, affiliation with academic research and a special interest in governance and social protection policy. The current fellows come from both within the EU as well as from other continents, and have a multidisciplinary background, such as master degrees in economic policy, social sciences and political science. The programme is adjusted to complement the various backgrounds.