Masters Degrees in Development Studies, Netherlands

MSc International Development Studies

If development aid is just a waste of money, how can we find a better way to improve the livelihoods of people? With regions and countries fighting for land, water, and resources, how can we help people recover from conflict and war? How can we transform the right to food, water, and a clean environment into reality? These are just a few examples of issues relating to development studies.

The International Development Studies programme allows you to develop a critical understanding of development theories. You will learn to plan and conduct research. You acquire the skills to translate your finding into development policies, intervention strategies and institutional innovations. You will learn to include the diverging views of various stakeholders and to work in multidisciplinary teams.

Programme summary

This programme deals with worldwide processes of development and change related to livelihoods, agro-food networks and the environment in a dynamic international context. Special attention is given to exclusion processes, equity, unequal access to resources and sustainability. Social, economic, political, technological, and environmental change is studied from various perspectives and at different levels. You will develop a critical understanding of recent development theories, learn to plan and conduct research, and acquire skills to translate research findings into recommendations for policies and intervention strategies. You will learn to include the diverging views of various stakeholders and to work in multidisciplinary teams. Depending on your previous education, you can follow one of the specialisations. .

Specialisations

Students can choose one of the following three specialisations after consultation with the study advisor. The selected specialisation mainly depends on your academic background.

Sociology of Development
This specialisation focuses on social transformation processes, especially the local consequences of globalisation and environmental change, and the way people cope with uncertain circumstances. Themes studied include natural resource degradation, refugees, migration, post-disaster reconstruction, social unrest, poverty, and lack of access to resources crucial to the livelihoods of people. This specialisation applies sociological and anthropological perspectives to development problems with special attention given to understanding the differing interests and views of numerous actors. You can choose a major in Disaster Studies, Environmental Policy, Sociology of Development and Change, or Rural Sociology.

Economics of Development
The central themes in this specialisation are the role of agriculture in development, food security and the global food crisis, regional economic issues, sustainable use of natural resources, rural-urban income disparities, and issues related to poverty and the role of institutions. These themes are examined from a microeconomic perspective to gain insight into the behaviour of individuals and institutions, as well as from a macroeconomic perspective to obtain insight into development processes at regional and national levels. You can major in Agricultural Economics and Rural Policy, Development Economics, Environmental Economics and Natural Resources, or Regional Economics.

Communication, Technology and Policy
In this specialisation, social transformation and sustainable development are examined with a specific focus on communication, technological innovations, and policy processes. An important theme is how technologies and policies are developed in the interaction between various parties (e.g. governments, social organisations, and citizens) and the role of communication in these processes. Another theme is the relationship between technological change (in the agricultural and food sectors), institutional processes and social transformation. You can choose a major in Knowledge, Technology and Innovation, Law and Governance, or Strategic Communication.

Your future career

Graduates are employed in various (inter-) national organisations as a programme/ project coordinator, trainer, consultant, advisor, policymaker or researcher. You could work, for example, as policymaker in a government or semi-governmental institute, as programme coordinator or advisor in an international (non-)governmentalorganisation or (consultancy) company, or as researcher and/or teacher at a university or research institute. Examples of organisations include: FAO, World Bank, European Union, UTZ Certified, Oxfam Novib, Rabobank Foundation, CARE, Sustainalytics and UNICEF.

Alumnus Luckmore Jalisi.
“I have really benefitted from what I learnt during my studies. This master has opened doors for me." Luckmore did the specialisation Sociology of Development and conducted both his internship and thesis research in a refugee camp in Uganda. These experiences were important in getting him his job as Youth and Governance Advisor at ActionAid in Liberia. “I support postconflict youth development programmes based on a human rights approach, and develop monitoring & evaluation tools for governance and youth development work. I draw on the knowledge and skills acquired during my studies and my classmates from Wageningen remain valuable contacts in my network.”

Related programmes:
MSc Development and Rural Innovation
Health and Society (specialisation)
MSc Applied Communication Science
MSc International Land and Water Management
MSc Leisure, Tourism and Environment
MSc Management, Economics and Consumer Studies

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Overview

A multidisciplinary perspective on the most relevant local and global issues regarding solidarity, including citizenship, poverty, sustainability, migration, welfare reform, social movements and private initiatives.
Solidarity is one of today’s main challenges. Highly volatile flows of people, goods and ideas, as well as the restructuring of markets and governing institutions have led to a high degree of globalization. Global links crisscross national borders and challenge established conceptions and structures. In addition, neoliberal reforms of state and society across the globe rewrite social contracts between people and states. How is solidarity imagined and practiced in this contemporary context?
The Master’s programme in Anthropology and Development Studies – with the theme of Shifting Solidarities – is at the cutting-edge of both social and cultural anthropology and development studies. The issue of solidarity in a neoliberal, postcolonial world encompasses a wide array of anthropological and development questions. By developing your own research questions, you'll be encouraged to delve deeper into the most relevant local and global challenges of solidarity.

See the website http://www.ru.nl/masters/ads

Why study Anthropology and Development Studies at Radboud University?

- This programme is at the cutting edge of both social and cultural anthropology and development studies. Joint classes with students from anthropology and development studies will give you a great opportunity to see all the global challenges from the other discipline as well as your own.
- Using a multidisciplinary perspective this programme also draws on knowledge from other disciplines including sociology, political sciences, economics and geography.
- This programme will prepare you for a wide array of jobs. From policy officer in the public sector or at (international) aid organisations to consultant at an engineering or consultancy firm.
- You can choose to go abroad for the research for your Master's programme.
- The Master's programme is run by the chair of Anthropology and the chair of Development Studies, both of whom have a wide network of international contacts that extends from China to Chile and from South Africa to the Pacific . This means you’ll have plenty of opportunities for arranging internships internationally.
- Radboud University offers a unique one-year Advanced Master in International Development (AMID) that you could apply for after completing your Master's. During this postgraduate programme, you'll combine real-life work at an aid organisation or a government department with practice-based instruction at the university.

Quality label

This programme was recently rated number one in the Netherlands in the Keuzegids Masters 2015 (Guide to Master's programmes).

Current programme (2015-2016)

The programme (including courses, reading requirements and course schedule) for the current academic year 2015-2016 can be found in the online prospectus http://www.studiegids.science.ru.nl/2015/en/socsci/prospectus/caos2

Career prospects

Studying Anthropology and Development Studies constitutes excellent preparation for a wide range of jobs. You're not limited to the career-path of becoming an aid worker, but are also trained for research and policy-making jobs. Many of our students therefore find work in the public sector or at international organisations, as well as in in education. After studying Anthropology and Development Studies at Radboud University, you'll have a broad array of options in the job market.

- Entering the labour market as an ADS graduate
As an Anthropology and Development Studies graduate from Radboud University, you'll have excellent prospects on today's job market. Former student, Margriet Tolsma, found work as a regional coordinator at Amnesty International. Anoeshka Gehring continued in the field of research and commenced her PhD in legal anthropology and migration in February 2011. Other graduates found work as:
- a policy maker or executive at cultural institutions;
- an advisor at aid and welfare organisations such as the UN, Oxfam NOVIB, Cordaid or the Dutch Council for Refugees;
- a researcher at a university or NGO, trade union, consultancy firm or private institution;
- a policy officer, advisor or researcher at the central government (diplomat training, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Justice Department) and local government (provincial and municipal level) or non-profit organisations;
- a social studies teacher in secondary or vocational education;
- a journalist.

- Want to boost your chances of landing a job? Take the postgraduate course!
After completing your Master's you will have the option of doing the Advanced Master in International Development (AMID). This one-year postgraduate programme is offered by the chair of Development Studies and is unique in the Netherlands. During this programme, you will combine real-life work at an aid organisation or a government department with practice-based instruction at the university. This programme will significantly boost your chances on the labour market.

Meet Radboud University

- Information for international students
Radboud University would love to meet you in your country (http://www.ru.nl/english/education/masters/behavioural-science/meet-radboud/information-for) in order to give all the information you need and to answer any questions you might have about studying in the Netherlands. In the next few months, an advisor of Radboud University will be attending fairs in various countries, always accompanied by a current or former student.
Furthermore, we understand if you would like to see the Radboud Campus and the city of Nijmegen, which is why we organise an Master's Open Day for international students (http://www.ru.nl/english/education/masters/behavioural-science/meet-radboud/open-day-0/open-day) which will take place on 5 March 2016.

- Information for Dutch students
Radboud University offers students in the Netherlands plenty of opportunities to get more information on your programme of choice, or get answers to any questions you might have. Apart from a Master's Evening and a Master's Day, we also organise Orientation Days and a Master’s Afternoon for HBO students.

See the website http://www.ru.nl/masters/ads

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DEVELOPMENT IN A COMPLEX AND HIGHLY DIFFERENTIATED WORLD

International Development Studies focuses on current development issues and teaches conceptual, theoretical, and empirical knowledge of trends and topics on the development agenda.

Over the past decade, the number of actors active in the development domain has multiplied. In addition to the traditional donors, new 'players' have entered the scene, including foundations and diaspora-organizations. Furthermore, individual migrants and socially-engaged entrepreneurs are acknowledging their responsibility for acting to benefit society at large, taking responsibility for the social and environmental impacts of production activities and/or consumption.

The multidisciplinary Master's programme in International Development Studies addresses the current development challenges and engages with these current, urgent and highly important issues. In particular, the programme focuses on topics surrounding migration/mobilities, climate change, land governance, urbanization and corporate social responsibility. Students are found in an international environment, with peers and staff from diverse disciplinary and cultural backgrounds. A research-oriented internship abroad is a core component of the programme.

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The master’s programme in Globalisation & Development Studies is a social science programme that focuses on how globalisation trends affect and interconnect different areas of the globe while marginalising others and how they produce diverse ‘local’ responses. While acknowledging the roles of the state and the market, you will examine the processes of globalisation and development ‘from the ground up’. You will look at how they are experienced in the everyday lives of families, indigenous communities, migrant diasporas, grassroots organisations and NGOs.

This programme builds on 20 years of globalisation and development teaching at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. It has a pronounced global and transnational orientation: from the dynamics of inclusion and exclusion, to emancipation and empowerment, hybrid identities, transnational social and political formations, and new possibilities for transforming society. You will develop a sound knowledge basis in the concepts, theories and issues relating to globalisation and development. Using Problem-Based Learning (PBL), which is very well suited for Globalisation and Development Studies, your learning is problem-driven and theory-driven and requires students to be active rather than passive.

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Contribute to Sustainable Solutions

The Master's in Sustainable Development focuses on the analysis of changes needed to create sustainable solutions to achieve an environmentally and socially accountable society.

The Master's programme in Sustainable Development (SD) is aimed at those who want to make a substantial contribution to the transition to a sustainable society through their scientific research; and who want to contribute to innovative future solutions for environmental issues. This two year research programme offers you the opportunity to develop excellent research skills and to apply them effectively to a broad range of specialized topics within the field of sustainable development.

Tracks

In the whole first year, and the beginning of the second, you will follow joint courses in Sustainability, and specialized courses in your chosen track.
-Energy and Materials;
-Global Change and Ecosystems;
-Environmental Governance; or
-International Development. This last track has a mandatory internship in the first year.

Most of the second year is spent on independent research for your final Master's thesis. Some students may also participate in an International Joint Master's Programme. As a graduate of the SD programme, you will be eligible for PhD studies or a position in research institutes, government, business or an NGO.

Sustainable Development is the study of scientific solutions and societal interventions for an environmentally accountable society. This two-year Master’s programme educates the scientists of the future.

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The Water Management programme is open to participants from a range of academic backgrounds, as long as they have a Bachelors degree in an area that contributes to water management. These areas include engineering, economics, law, social sciences and natural sciences.

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In this double degree (with the University of Göttingen, Germany) you will get specialised knowledge of international markets and the global interconnections of national economies.

Unique is the combination of topics in the field of international business and international economics, and the attention paid to the links between both fields.

You will acquire:
-Knowledge and expertise in the ways individual, group and organizational factors influence organizational performance, problem solving and strategic decision making.
- Insight into the consequences of globalisation for multinational enterprises, and the socio-economic and institutional differences between countries.
- The ability to apply the tools of modern economic analysis to issues of development policy
- The use of quantitative and statistical techniques for policy analysis and evaluation in a development context
- The capacity to evaluate critically different approaches to development analysis and policy
- The ability to communicate effectively with researchers, policymakers and practitioners in the field, to develop their capacity to work with and advise governments and development institutions on development problems
- The training in modern economic analysis and quantitative techniques that research and applied work in the development field now requires

Degree: MA/MSc in International Economics and Business

Why in Groningen?

Unique combination of two degrees, in Groningen and Göttingen, in which you will learn to apply the tools of modern economic analysis to specific issues of development. The programme is an internationally accredited programme, ensuring a high quality education that meets both the AACSB and EQUIS standards, which only one percent of universities reach worldwide.

Job perspectives

This double degree programme has been designed for individuals who aspire to a career in national, international, multinational or transnational institutions and enterprises. Because all our programmes are EQUIS and AACSB accredited, a standard which only one percent of universities reach worldwide, your degree will be highly valued on the labour market.

Examples are:
- international economist and strategy expert in a multinational corporation.
- staff member with an (inter)national governmental organisations such as IMF, Worldbank, OECD, WTO, ECB, ODI or the EU
- professional economist on development and transition economic issues in in ternational agencies, governments or the private sector
- economic consultant with an (inter)national governmental organization
- business consultant with an internationally operating consultancy firm

Job examples

- business consultant
- economic consultant

Linking education to research and career preparation

Our education is strongly rooted in business practice and society. Also right from the start of your degree programme attention is paid to academic research and preprofessional development. Since an analytical and critical mind and problem-solving capabilities are important qualities in any career our students aspire.

In collaboration with external partners we conduct research projects on e.g banking, local government, customer insights, leadership, energy, healthy ageing and lean operations.

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