The master's programme International Development Studies is a two-year MSc programme. It focuses on worldwide social transformation processes related to livelihoods, agro-food networks and the environment in a dynamic international context. In the programme social, economic, political and environmental change are studied from various perspectives.
On the programme of International Development Studies page you can find the general outline of the programme and more detailed information about courses, theses and internships. You can also read more about the background of the programme. The programme is intended for students with a background in the social sciences, or in economics.
Within the master's programme you can choose one of the following specialisations to meet your personal interests.
The best way to get to know a place is by getting to know the people. Students share their experiences with you about the master's programme and student life in Wageningen on the page student experiences.
Graduates of the programme are employed as programme/project coordinators, consultants, advisors, policymakers, researchers, or trainers. Almost half of the graduates surveyed work as consultant, advisor or project coordinator in the non-profit sector, or as manager/consultant in the private business sector or in a bank. Read more about career perspectives and opportunities after finishing the programme.
Related programmes:
MSc Development and Rural Innovation
Health and Society (specialisation)
MSc Communication, Health and Life Sciences
MSc International Land and Water Management
MSc Leisure, Tourism and Environment
MSc Management, Economics and Consumer Studies
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
- 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.
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.
- 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, which you are welcome to attend (http://www.ru.nl/openday)
- 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
The world is rapidly changing; so is International Development Studies. After 15 years, the MDG-era (Millennium Development Goals) came to an end in 2015. A larger set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were introduced to guide long-term development policies and end global poverty. Development is no longer considered as a problem ‘out there’ in the global south. Our contemporary world faces new global concerns, such as the 'migration crisis', food security, climate change, and energy crises.
We also witness massive changes in the relative power structure in our world system. Africa, Asia and Latin America are experiencing rapid transformations, turning traditional North-South relations upside down. Giants like India and China are strengthening their role in international development cooperation. These ‘new’ donors emphasise that ‘South-South cooperation’ is different from the Western notion of donors helping clients. While development has been traditionally defined by the donor community in the North/West, governments in Africa, Asia and Latin America have come up with their own versions of ‘development’.
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-organisations. Furthermore individual migrants and socially-engaged entrepreneurs are acknowledging their role in societal changes; many are taking responsibility for the social and environmental impacts of production activities and/or consumption.
The multidisciplinary Master's programme in International Development Studies addresses current development challenges and engages with these highly important and urgent issues. In particular, the programme focuses on topics surrounding migration/mobilities, climate change, land governance, urbanisation and corporate social responsibility. You will study 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. International Development Studies takes prides in its large, expanding, and active alumni and friends network.
The central objective of the Master's in International Development Studies programme is to equip you with conceptual and empirical knowledge as well as research skills necessary to understand and analyse contemporary issues pertaining to international development in broad geographical contexts (local, regional, and international levels).
Upon completion of the programme you will have acquired theoretical, methodological and practical competency. These skills will be useful for your career in further academic research, development policy and practice sector, as well as other work fields. You will gain an understanding of world affairs and international experiences as well as analytical, communication and project implementation skills.
Do you have a passion for research and work in the field of globalisation and development, rooted in undergraduate studies or experience in the field? Are you interested in individuals and communities, as well as in the broader relations between the Global North and South? Do you have the ambition to develop your academic research skills and to use academic insights to make a positive impact in the world? If so, this may be the right programme for you. The master’s in Globalisation & Development Studies is a social science programme that focuses on how the dynamics of globalisation affect developing areas. You will develop the theoretical, analytical and practical skills that are essential for either an academic or professional career in globalisation and development.
Why this programme?
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.
This two-year Master’s programme is aimed at students who want to contribute to the design of the solutions needed to achieve an environmentally and socially accountable society. In this programme, you will learn how to analyse the processes associated with change and will consider the short and long term management of these processes on local and global levels.
This programme is suitable for candidates who want to study and solve societal sustainability issues from a multidisciplinary perspective. The programme is of particular interest to students who are willing to broaden their perspectives through collaboration and interaction with students who bring to the programme knowledge of other natural and social science disciplines.
Following admission to this Master's programme you can choose one of four specialisation tracks based on your interests in the field. As well as working in your chosen track, you will work in research teams with fellow students from the other tracks.
Our programme is closely affiliated with the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development,which is part of Utrecht University. The institute conducts research on a wide range of issues related to sustainable development. The cause and effect chains linking economic activities, ecological values and innovation serves as the point of departure for much of the research. Our research and teaching staff are active members of international networks and are at the forefront of their field.
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. As a graduate of this programme, you will be able to contribute to innovative environmental solutions and help build a sustainable society.
