Course description

MSc International Development: Development Management analyses the management, planning and policy-making aspects of the development process.

The course aims to blend theory and practice and seeks to explain policy behaviour through an integrated approach, drawing on a range of disciplinary perspectives.

It is designed for social science graduates, or for those working in institutions involved in the management of development activities in developing countries, such as central and local government, parastatal organisations, NGOs and multilateral or bilateral aid agencies.

The course is ideal if you're looking to acquire the practical skills to manage development interventions in an increasingly challenging field.

Aims

Provide an opportunity for you to deepen your understanding of management, planning and policy-making in economic, social and political spheres of development.

Provide you with a thorough conceptual framework and the skills necessary to analyse effectively the relationships between development management and development processes.

Develop professionally-oriented skills related to formulating, investigating and implementing different forms of development management.

Provide a wide range of options for advanced training in areas of specialist expertise relevant to development and management.

Develop advanced competencies in transferable areas, including developing reasoned arguments, gathering, organising and using evidence and information from a wide variety of sources, undertaking both team-based and independent work to deadlines, and both written and verbal forms of communication.

Assist you in developing your specialist area of expertise within development management, and applying your understanding and skills through supervised individual research culminating in a dissertation.

Special features

We're the largest development-focused teaching and research institute in Europe, and have been at the forefront of development studies for more than 60 years.

We're ranked 14th in the world for development studies (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2018).

We're dedicated to addressing global poverty and inequality.

Our research was ranked first in the UK for impact and second in the UK for quality in the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014).

We're home to a multicultural community of 450 students from 30 countries.

We have numerous scholarship opportunities for outstanding applicants.

Our alumni are recognised for their contribution to global development across the globe.

The combined field experience of our staff covers 60 countries.

We've trained almost 10,000 individuals from more than 170 countries.

Many of our master's include fieldwork, giving you the opportunity to observe development interventions in situ and to reflect on how theoretical explorations of development are operationalised in the real world. Recent destinations include Uganda, South Africa and Cyprus. Find out more at Fieldwork .

Teaching and learning

An overseas field visit is an integral part of the course. Recent fieldtrip locations have included Uganda, Ghana, Sri Lanka and India.

Please note that field visits may be scheduled at any point during the course, including during University vacations. You are expected to be available to attend.

Part-time students complete the full-time programme over 27 months. There are no evening or weekend course units available on the part-time programme, therefore if you are considering taking a programme on a part-time basis, you should discuss the requirements with the Programme Director and seek approval from your employer to have the relevant time off.  Timetabling information is normally available from late August from the Programme Administrator and you will have the opportunity to discuss course unit choices during induction week with the Programme Director.

Coursework and assessment

The taught elements of the course, carrying 120 credits overall, is continuously assessed by a variety of methods (eg project-based reports, essays), involving largely individual submissions, but also elements of group work.

You must also complete a 12,000-15,000 word dissertation on a topic of your choice approved by the Programme Directors. You are encouraged to base your dissertation on topics of direct professional concern.