May 05, 2025
Julio Iturra-Sanhueza | Private Picture
We are thrilled to welcome Julio Iturra-Sanhueza to the PERGAP project at Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona for a two-month research stay from May to July 2025.
Julio is a PhD candidate at the Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS) at the University of Bremen and is co-supervised by PERGAP’s principal investigator, Prof. Simone Schneider. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the Universidad de Concepción and a Master’s in Sociology from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
His doctoral research, titled Ties Matter: The Role of Social Networks on Attitudes Towards the State, the Market and Society, explores how interpersonal relationships shape perceptions of justice, inequality, and institutional legitimacy. His work draws on economic sociology, social stratification research, and distributive justice theory, while employing advanced quantitative methods including multilevel modelling, longitudinal analysis, and causal inference.
Prior to his doctoral studies, Julio worked as a COES Fellow and research assistant at the Center for the Study of Conflict and Social Cohesion (COES), contributing to projects at the Laboratory for Open Social Research (LISA) and the Observatory of Social Cohesion (OCS) in Chile.
Julio’s scholarship has already made an impact, with publications in Estudios Sociológicos del Colegio de México, Social Justice Research, Frontiers in Sociology, and the International Journal of Sociology. His interdisciplinary approach makes him a perfect fit for PERGAP’s mission to understand how institutional contexts shape people’s perceptions of inequality and fairness.
During his stay, Julio will be actively involved in the PERGAP project at UPF’s Department of Political and Social Sciences at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, contributing to ongoing debates and research activities. He will present his current research at Second Doctoral Workshop on Comparative Social and Public Policy, hosted by UPF on May 8–9, 2025. We’re excited about the intellectual exchange and joint collaboration this visit will foster.
Welcome to Barcelona and the PERGAP team, Julio!
Learn more about Julio Iturra-Sanhueza’s research here