MSc Social Policy and Development (London School of Economics & Political Science)
Training Provider: London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE)
School/Institute/Dept./Centre: Department of Social Policy

This programme is aimed primarily at participants from or working in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the post-communist societies. Currently about two thirds of students come from these regions and in a typical year we have representatives from 25 or more different countries. Some course participants are development professionals from central planning ministries and sectoral social service ministries such as education, rural development, housing, social security and social work services, while others are drawn from northern and southern non-governmental development organisations (NGOs) such as Oxfam, Action Aid, Christian Aid, Médecins sans Frontières and Save the Children Fund. We also have students who are representatives of multilateral aid bodies such as the World Bank, UNDP, UNEP, UNICEF, UNHCR, the WHO, ILO and IPPF. The course is also suitable for development policy researchers in institutions of higher education and think tanks.

 

MSc Social Development Practice
(University College London)
Training Provider: University College London (UCL)
School/Institute/Dept./Centre: Development Planning Unit (DPU)
The course attracts participants from a wide variety of disciplines including sociology, anthropology, international studies, history, communication studies, geography and psychology. The course first ran in 1999 and applications have come from a total of 29 countries. Graduates of the course are now working in a number of professional capacities some of which include: programme officer for an international NGO (Dhaka); NGO officers (Indonesia, UK); advisor/ trainer for a women's human rights group (Croatia); consultants working in both British and overseas companies and government institutions and UK local government officers.

The course seeks to equip participants to work as social development practitioners. It is intended to develop participants’ critical, analytical and practical skills that will be of use in their future careers whether as academics, social development practitioners or advocates for the need to place the 'social' at the centre of development. Accordingly it provides participants with the opportunity to critically examine relevant bodies of knowledge, current debates and experience from the field and invites them to consider how social development concerns can be effectively addressed in the processes of development policy, planning and practice. It focuses on international contexts of development in order to better illustrate the complexities underlying social development planning and the potential pitfalls when attempting to effect social change initiatives.

MSc NGOs and Development (London School of Economics & Political Science)
Training Provider: London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE)
School/Institute/Dept./Centre: Department of Social Policy

MSc International Development - MID (Department of Social & Policy Sciences, University of Bath)
Training Provider: University of Bath
School/Institute/Dept./Centre: Department of Economics
The Aims of the MSc International Development are:

• To review systematically, and to evaluate critically different ways of defining and measuring development and underdevelopment.
• To review systematically, and to evaluate critically explanations of development and underdevelopment from the perspective of different social sciences and schools of thought.
• To relate different theories of development to students' own experience, enabling them to bring to bear a wider range of ideas and perspectives on development issues and problems.
• To review systematically and critically the literature on contemporary issues in development.
• To review in more depth the development literature in specialist areas/fields of students' own choosing.
• To enable students to identify, research and develop their own original arguments in specialist areas of development of their own choosing.
• To enable students to identify and pursue in depth an original research question relating to some aspect of development of their own choosing.

The programme was designed for those students either already with a career in international development, or who wish to develop such a career.

Many past students have continued their career within the government or non-government organisation that sponsored their study and from which they came. Others have secured paid employment with a UK-based or international development agency for the first time. Recent "first time" employers include: Action Aid, Oxfam, Tear Fund, UK Department for International Development, Swedish International Development Agency, Food and Agriculture Organisation. Although graduates have historically been more likely to join non-profit agencies, a growing number subsequently work as private consultants. There is also an established tradition of students proceeding from the MSc programme onto MPhil/PhD programmes and academic careers.

MSc Globalisation and International Policy Analysis (Department of Social & Policy Sciences, University of Bath)
Training Provider: University of Bath
School/Institute/Dept./Centre: Department of Economics

• To review systematically, and to evaluate critically the literature on the causes of globalisation and the impacts of globalisation on international policymaking from the perspective of different social sciences and schools of thought.
• To demonstrate a critical understanding of the institutional and policy environment within which governments, business and other actors are shaping the global system.
• Analyse the policy choices and conflicts with which these actors are presenting each other and the issues of public and private responsibility which these raise.
• To relate alternative theories of globalisation and policy making to students' own experience, enabling them to bring to bare a wider range of ideas and perspectives.
• To review in more depth the globalisation and international policymaking literature in specialist areas/fields of students' own choosing.
• To enable students to identify, research and develop their own original arguments in specialist areas of international policymaking of their own choosing.
• Develop practical skills of policy analysis and evaluation (learning by doing).
• To enable students to identify and pursue in depth an original research question relating to some aspect of globalisation and/or international policy making of their own choosing.

MSc Globalisation and Development (IDPM University of Manchester)
Training Provider: University of Manchester
School/Institute/Dept./Centre: Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM)
The multi-faceted economic, social and political processes for which ‘globalisation’ is now the shorthand have transformed relations between and within all countries and present new challenges for achieving sustainable development in the poorer countries of the world. The dramatic growth in cross-border flows of trade and investment, combined with the communications revolution, has affected fundamentally the ways in which ’developed’ and ‘developing’ countries relate to each other. While offering new opportunities for raising living standards worldwide, globalisation also seems to have compounded experiences of uneven development. These changes are of sufficient significance to require a fundamental shift in our analytical and policy approaches to achieving national and international development goals. The objectives of the programme are:

• To provide a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of globalisation, and of the economic, social and political dimensions of globalisation and development
  
  
• To provide the intellectual skills needed to analyse globalisation and development issues
  
  
• To provide an appreciation of the policy issues associated with globalisation and its impacts on development

MSc Environment and Sustainable Development
(University College London)
Training Provider: University College London (UCL)
School/Institute/Dept./Centre: Development Planning Unit (DPU)
The course is strongly interdisciplinary, attracting participants from a wide variety of disciplines, including anthropologists, economists, geographers and natural scientists, as well as planners, architects and engineers. Since its inception in 1997, over 100 students have successfully completed the ESD course. Most ESD graduates follow one of two possible career paths. Some are engaged in various professional activities, from local and national government, consultancy firms and national and international NGOs, to United Nations programmes and international aid agencies the world over. Others pursue an academic career, either through doctoral studies or through teaching and research in a number of prestigious universities.

Examples of organisations where ESD graduates are currently working include: Ministry of the Environment (Brazil), Development Alternatives (India), Waste Management System (Costa Rica), World Bank, British High Commission (Ghana), Friends of the Earth (Japan), London Environment Council (UK) and University of Coimbra (Portugal).

MSc Economics (Development )(Department of Economics, University of Bath)
Training Provider: University of Bath
School/Institute/Dept./Centre: Department of Economics
The programme is designed for those students who either already have, or who wish to pursue, careers as: economists in general and those seeking an academic career; staff of international organisations and national governments working in economic analysis and policy roles, and; economists or managers in private sector business organisations (including the financial services sector).

This specialist MSc in Economics:

• Combines the academic study of theoretical and quantitative economics as in a conventional economics masters programme with a development specialism
• Provides an opportunity to produce a substantial dissertation on a research topic of your choice  

MSc Development Studies
(School of Oriental & African Studies)
Training Provider: School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS)
School/Institute/Dept./Centre: Department of Development Studies
Development Studies is a dynamic field concerned with processes of change in the South - social and economic, political and cultural - and the major policy challenges they present to efforts to overcome poverty and insecurity in the world today.

This MSc is designed to provide a solid interdisciplinary social science formation in development theory and practice and to develop students’ capacities for independent and critical analysis.

The aim is to equip students with a wide intellectual grounding and interdisciplinary competence in development issues. This will enable them to make their own analyses and judgements in developmental contexts, and in relation to developmental interventions.

This emphasis on transferable analytical skills has been of great benefit to the many graduates of the MSc programmes at SOAS who have returned to, or taken up, professional careers in development in international organisations, government agencies and non-government organisations.

MSc Development Administration and Planning
(University College London)
Training Provider: University College London (UCL)
School/Institute/Dept./Centre: Development Planning Unit (DPU)
The course is strongly interdisciplinary, attracting among others anthropologists, geographers, lawyers, public administrators, economists and politicians. Since the course’s beginnings in the DPU in the mid-1990s, course graduates have engaged in a diversity of professional activities, including local, regional and national government, consultancy firms and national and international NGOs, United Nations programmes, international aid agencies and prestigious universities the world over.

Many graduates return to their previous jobs and others embark on new careers after the course. Examples of organisations where recent graduates are employed include: Asian Development Bank; American Refugee Committee; Canon Collins Trust for Southern Africa; Christian Aid (UK and West Africa); Heifer International; International Institute for Environment and Development (UK); Medical Research Council HIV/AIDS Programme (Uganda); North-West Frontier Province (Pakistan) Finance Department; Save the Children; UNESCO; United Nations Economic Commission for Africa; United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East; World Vision (Zambia); and international consultancy firms such as PADECO (Japan) and Halcrow (UK). A small proportion of graduates pursue advanced research degrees (e.g. PhDs), while several work as academics in reputed universities or as independent consultants.

MSc Cooperation and Development
(Institute for Advanced Study of Pavia - IUSS)
Training Provider: Institute for Advanced Study of Pavia (IUSS)
School/Institute/Dept./Centre: Cooperation and Development School of Pavia

MSc Building and Urban Design in Development
(University College London)
Training Provider: University College London (UCL)
School/Institute/Dept./Centre: Development Planning Unit (DPU)

• Aga Khan Trust for Culture(Italian in Afghanistan)
• United Nations Office of Professional Services (British; Dutch)
• Independent Consultancy (Pakistani in South Asia, based in France;
• St. Lucian in Malta, based in UK)
• Architectural Practices (Pakistani in USA)
• Urban Design Practices (American in London)
• Urban Research(Indonesian in Indonesia)
• UK Local Authorities, Urban Regeneration (Indian in Weston-Super-Mare and Jamaican in Lewisham)
• UK Teaching/Research (Indonesian at Westminster)
• Space Syntax, London (Greek)

MRes International Development (Departmemt of Social & Policy Sciences, University of Bath)
Training Provider: University of Bath
School/Institute/Dept./Centre: Department of Economics

• to systematically review and evaluate different research skills, methodologies and paradigms in International Development;
• to review systematically, and to evaluate critically, the application of these approaches in the specific areas of social and educational enquiry in which students are specialising;
• to support students, within an active research community, in identifying and investigating their own original research questions;
• to equip students with the skills to contribute to research projects using any of the main methodologies of the social sciences.
  
  

• First, those professionals who want to further develop their research and analytical skills in International Development.
• Second, those who wish to pursue a Masters in research as a precursor for PhD studies in International Development. The Master of Research in International Development is approved by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as a top quality research training degree that students can use for ESRC-funded PhD studies. ESRC is the most prestigious national institution for funding research in Britain and only few Masters have this recognition. The ESRC now requires that all the students whom it funds for doctoral studies should first complete a recognised programme of this kind (see http://www.esrc.ac.uk/esrccontent/postgradfunding/foindex.asp). Students applying for the MRes in International Development as preparation for a PhD at Bath are therefore eligible to apply for ESRC funding for the MRes/PhD 1+3 programme.
• More information at http://www.bath.ac.uk/soc-pol/postgraduate/mres-id/

MPhil Gender and Development
(University of Bergen)
Training Provider: University of Bergen
School/Institute/Dept./Centre: Faculty of Psychology
The main goals of the program is to enable the students to 1) understand the significance of gender for development policy and projects and 2) to use gender as a problematized analytical category in their own research. Students should be made familiar with key concepts and domains of gender analyses. They should learn to examine local level gendered patterns of social organization as well as understanding gender in a cross-cultural perspective. They should be able to understand the gendered aspects of poverty and vulnerability: of global socio-economic and political processes as well as the role of the various institutional actors involved in such processes. Students should also be able to understand gender mainstreaming and the gendered consequences of more specifically targeted development policies. A key concept is human development, not as related to theories of individual psychological development but defined within the frames of socio-political development theory. In this broad sense, human development views the ultimate goal of development processes as enlarging people's choices and capabilities for achieving not only a decent standard of living, but equity in health and education: and more broadly in achieving an environment supportive of empowerment, democracy and human security.

MPA International Management (Monterey Institute of International Studies)
Training Provider: Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS)
School/Institute/Dept./Centre: Graduate School of International Policy Studies
Students interested in the building, and re-building, of organizations and communities - whether locally, nationally or globally - will find the necessary skills in the MPA program. Students choosing to seek a degree in the development and management of non-profit and non-governmental international organizations are prepared to assume a broad range of leadership positions in the fields of philanthropy, voluntarism, civil society development, and human development. A sensible program of preparation will enable graduates to combine theory and practical skills within a values framework that emphasizes individual ethical behavior, respect for diversity, and social responsibility.