The Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM) at the University of Manchester is one of the UK’s leading centres for research on international development issues. Our objective is to promote poverty-reducing social and economic development, particularly within lower income countries and for disadvantaged groups, by enhancing the capabilities of individuals and organisations through education, training, consultancy, research and policy analysis.

In recent years it has been increasingly recognised that the quality of policy and institutional design represents a key constraint to development. The Institute offers, within a friendly and supportive atmosphere, the services of a wide range of people specialising in the practical problems of policy formulation and implementation, organisational design and management, backed up by specialist library support and computing facilities and by almost fifty years of institutional experience. The activities of the Institute include:

• the provision of training programmes leading to the award of postgraduate Masters degrees and PhDs
  
  
• the provision of professional development programmes and study seminars in aspects of development policy and management, based in Manchester or overseas
  
  
• research into major issues of development policy and practice
  
  
• consultancy, research and training work for international agencies and for national governments and institutions.

The combined field experience of members of the Institute covers over sixty countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean and the Pacific. Much of this experience has been gained in work for national and international agencies where the focus has been on finding workable solutions to development problems and strengthening institutional capacities.

A Leading Provider of Postgraduate Education in International Development

IDPM is committed to providing high quality postgraduate training and education which is based on excellence in academic and applied research. The international quality of the Institute's activities in both teaching and research has been validated by external assessment, and confirms IDPM's position as one of the UK's leading university-based centres for international development studies.

The Institute has a large and diverse postgraduate population drawn from many countries and a wide variety of professional and academic backgrounds.

Over the years IDPM has developed a reputation for supporting and caring for its students. This tradition is maintained and all research, academic and professional programmes are supported by a team of highly-skilled administrative staff. Our programme administrators are committed to providing an excellent support service to students, ensuring that they enjoy their stay in Manchester, are provided with all the relevant information, and have immediate access to friendly advice and assistance if they encounter a problem. Programme administrators work closely as a team with other administrative staff who are all committed to the smooth and efficient
administration of IDPM programmes and are always available to offer help and support.

The Government's Quality Assurance Agency, in its latest assessment awarded IDPM the maximum score of 24, achieving excellence in all six aspects of teaching investigated in the review process (Curriculum Design; Content and Organisation; Teaching, Learning and Assessment; Student Progression and Achievement; Student Support and Guidance; Learning Resources; Quality Management and Enhancement).

Research of International Excellence

Research is central to IDPM’s mission to raise the capabilities of individuals and organisations in developing countries. Our research focuses on major issues of development policy and practice including poverty alleviation, economic and social development, regulation and competition policy, development finance, human resource development and management, urbanisation, the informal sector, development informatics, public sector reform, institutional change, sustainable livelihoods and sustainable development, impact assessment, and resource and environmental management.

IDPM’s research was awarded an overall rating of 5 in the last UK Research Assessment Exercise (2001), indicating an international quality standard, and the volume of IDPM publications and level of research income have both increased significantly in recent years. Since 2001, IDPM has established five research centres in the areas of poverty, competition and regulation, impact assessment and institutions and growth.

IDPM’s poverty research has led to the establishment of Manchester as a global centre of excellence in the study of poverty and inequality, notably through the founding and endowment of the Brooks World Poverty Institute led by Nobel Prize winner Professor Joseph Stiglitz, and a continuation of the Chronic Poverty Research Centre through funding of £7.5 million from the UK Department for International Development. These developments provide unparalleled opportunities for researchers seeking to study the causes and consequences of poverty, and ways of combating it.

World-Class Facilities for a Global Community

As part of the School of Environment and Development, IDPM students have access to dedicated computing workshops. A wide range of Windows-based software is available from word processing, databases and spreadsheets to personnel management, project management and statistical analysis packages. Wireless access to the World Wide Web is also available in most university buildings including libraries.

The John Rylands University Library manages a special collection on international development, with over 12,000 volumes, subscriptions to over 100 journals, and a growing collection of interactive media. The library has an online catalogue, permitting a wide range of literature searches, as well as access to the World Wide Web, electronic data sources such as MIMAS, and to other academic libraries in the UK. Copies of all recommended texts are held in a short loan section.

Through joining colleagues in the disciplines of Geography, Planning and Architecture to form the School of Environment and Development (SED), IDPM can now also call upon an expanded and strengthened administrative team to support research, teaching programmes, and international partnerships and can now offer access to additional specialised library collections and specialist software packages such as GIS.

Research

Research is central to IDPM’s mission to raise the capabilities of individuals and organisations in developing countries. Research is not viewed as a ‘stand-alone’ activity, but as a means for reducing the knowledge gaps and information problems which act as constraints on development. Hence the importance which we give to the dissemination of research findings and to working with partners in developing countries in ways that strengthen the knowledge creation capacities of these organisations.

The Institute’s research is driven by the academic and policy-oriented activities of individual researchers, and by the activities of multidisciplinary clusters of staff and research students with interests in specific fields. These clusters provide a flexible and evolving structure for research and over time they have shifted their focus in response to new priorities and interests. The current clusters are:

• Development Economics and Public Policy - including development finance and trade; privatisation, competition and regulation policy; impact assessment; employment and labour markets; globalisation and development; global production networks, innovation and growth
  
  
• Development Informatics - including information and knowledge management; design and implementation of computerised information systems; e-government, ecommerce and e-development; community informatics; development of IT organisations and industries; growth and implications of the information society; ICT Policy
  
  
• Management, Governance and International Development – including international human resource management and development; public management and public sector reform in developing countries; management of small and medium enterprises; organisational behaviour; employee and manager attitudes and behaviour; management and diversity; gender, organisation and feminism; globalisation and the management of international development; NGOs, civil society and rural institutions; postcolonialism, organisation and management; discourse and decision making within international development agencies; capacity building and institutional diagnosis
  
  
• Social Development – including politics and development; international political economy; democratisation, participation and governance; development policy and public policy; politics of poverty reduction; the role of NGOs and civil society; HIV/AIDS and reproductive health; social policy; conflict and social reconstruction; migration; gender and development; informalisation; urbanisation; rural development and agrarian change

Each cluster brings together research students and staff with common interests. Clusters form the basis for subject specific research seminars and workshops and new research proposals.

IDPM researchers also contribute to a series of important new research areas being developed within the new School of Environment and Development. These include: political ecology, urban growth in developing countries, and the impact of Chinese and Indian economic growth on other developing countries.

Since 2001, IDPM has hosted two Development Research Centres funded by the UK government’s Department for International Development (DFID): the Centre for Regulation and Competition, and the Chronic Poverty Research Centre. IDPM is also a partner (with the Centre for the Study of African Economies at Oxford University) in the Global Poverty Research Group, funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), and hosts the University of Manchester’s Impact Assessment Research Centre (IARC). The most recent addition to the IDPM portfolio of research centres is the Research Programme Consortium on Improving Institutions for Pro-Poor Growth, also funded by DFID.

IDPM is also the centre of an international collaborative programme to record and analyse the impacts of national parks and other protected areas upon the livelihoods of local people.

Applications

Early application is advised. Typically, prospective postgraduate students will apply between six and nine months before they intend to take up their place. Therefore, although applications for September entry
are open until the last week of August, do not leave applying to the last minute. It is also
important to consider how you will finance your graduate studies at the same time as
you make your application.

You can apply online at:
www.manchester.ac.uk/postgraduate/howtoapply

where you will also find more information on alternative application methods, and you will be able to download the relevant documents. Applications should always include the following, in either digital or hard copy format:

• certified copies (not originals) of degree certificates and official transcripts
• two letters of recommendation (in sealed envelopes)
• official score reports for English Language tests (IELTS TOEFL or NCUK PMP EAP), if applicable
• a brief personal statement (maximum 500 words) outlining reasons for pursuing the programme and what benefits you hope to derive from it.

It is important to ensure that you enclose all the necessary documents, as the delay caused in having to seek any missing documents from you might adversely prejudice your application. Copies (not originals) of your post-secondary school educational qualifications (degree certificates, official transcripts) should be included with your application. This is especially important for international students.

All documents should be provided in the original language. Documents in languages other than English must be accompanied by certified translations into English. You may be offered admission on the condition that you
present original copies of specific documents. If this is the case, and you decide to take up that offer, then you will be required to bring with you to the University your original degree certificate(s) and transcript(s), before your registration as a student of the University is confirmed.

Funding

IDPM students are typically sponsored by their own governments or organisations, by external aid agencies, or from their own private resources. Students requiring financial assistance are advised to contact their own Education Ministry and/or the nearest British Embassy, High Commission, or British Council representative. These can provide information about British Technical Cooperation Training awards, made annually to those likely to further the development of their home country, and British Council Chevening

Scholarships, application for which must be made by October of the year before the award is due to commence. Advice on the availability of funding from other bilateral or international aid agencies can usually be obtained from their local offices or from local British Council offices. Each year, usually one or two UK Department for International Development (DFID) Shared Scholarship Scheme awards are available to outstanding applicants from non-government and private sector organisations who are under thirty-five years of age. Candidates must come from a Commonwealth country and must have already received an offer of a place on our Masters or Diploma programmes.

Please note this is not available for all IDPM programmes: details are available from respective programme administrators. In addition to national governments, employers and self-finance, previous sources of funding have included:

• UK Department for International Development/Foreign and Commonwealth Office
  
  
• British Council
  
  
• World Bank/International Development Agency
  
  
• Bilateral aid agencies (SIDA, CIDA, GTZ, NORAD, FINNIDA, etc.)
  
  
• United Nations (UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNFPA, WHO, FAO, etc.)
  
  
• European Union
  
  
• Church, educational and other trusts (African Educational Trust, Canon Collins Educational Trust, World University Service, Evangelical Church Trust, Methodist Church Fund, Ecumenical Fund, Ford Foundation, etc.)
  
  
• Regional development banks (e.g. African and Asian Development Banks)
  
  
• Commonwealth Secretariat

A number of internal postgraduate scholarships offered by the School of Environment and Development may also be available each year.

More information on funding opportunities for studies in international development can be found at: www.manchester.ac.uk/idpm/postgraduate/about/funding.htm

Enquiries

Enquiries regarding the admissions process are welcome and should be directed to:

Postgraduate Admissions Office
School of Environment and Development
University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester
M13 9PL
United Kingdom
Email: pgadmissions-sed@manchester.ac.uk