Jorge Vala was elected Director of the ICS, holding, simultaneously, the office of President of the Scientific Council. A PhD graduate of the University of Louvain, Vala is a social psychologist, specialising in racism issues, migrations, political attitudes, and social justice who has taught in several national and international universities. In 2010, Vala received the Codol Prize of the European Association of Social Psychology and, in 2013, a Career Prize form the Portuguese Association of Psychology.
During this period, the ICS expanded its doctoral programmes and started the project of a Doctoral School in Social Sciences. The ICS offered several doctoral programmes in the fields of Anthropology, Geography, History, Political Science, Social Psychology, and Sociology, including interuniversity programmes such as the Interuniversity PhD Programme in History: Change and Continuity in a Global World (PIUDHist) and the PhD Programme in Climate Change and Sustainable Development Politics. Additionally, several Summer Schools were launched.