News

Finally, it is done! We are happy to welcome new graduates to the alumni network of the IEE. 12 candidates from the Cape Town group of the MA in Development Management (MADM) programme obtained their Master's degree. They received their graduation certificates on Saturday, 30th of November. Earlier that week, they had successfully defended their master theses on interesting topics like innovation hubs, certification of cocoa farmers, and survival strategies of street traders (just to name some of them).



Our graduates now pursue new goals. Some of them chose the opportunity to strive for a second MA degree, as it is offered by the IEE's partner institutions from the University in the Western Cape (South Africa) to the best graduates of the MADM programme. Yet, most of the graduates directly head for the practical area.

We wish our graduates all the best for their future career and trust that they will find exciting positions! We are looking forward to hear from our alumni soon.

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After successful defence of her PhD Thesis on Thursday, 21 November 2019, IEE research fellow Anne Siebert has been awarded the degree of a Philosophiae Doctor (Ph.D.).


Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Löwenstein (RUB), Prof. Dr. Jun M. Borras (ISS), Anne Siebert, Prof. Dr. Arjun Bedi (Deputy Rector for Research at ISS)

Her thesis entitled "Food Sovereignty and Urban Agriculture: Understanding Interlinkages and Exploring Implications in the South African Context" was supervised by Prof. Dr. Jun M. Borras, ISS, and Prof. Dr. Pierre Thielbörger, RUB.

The public defence was held in The Hague, and PhD has been awarded to Anne Siebert under the joint PhD agreement between the ISS and the IEE, which has been signed in 2014.

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After successful defence of her doctoral thesis on Tuesday, 19 November 2019, IEE member Christina Seeger has been awarded the degree of a Doctor (Dr. rer. oec.) of the Faculty of Economics at RUB.


Prof. Dr. Manuel Frondel, Christina Seeger, Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Löwenstein

Her thesis with the title "Trust and consumers' willingness to pay for safe and certified safe vegetables in West African cities: A comparative analysis of Tamale, Ouagadougou, Bamenda, and Bamako" was supervised by Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Löwenstein and Prof. Dr. Manuel Frondel. Prof. Dr. Helmut Karl chaired the oral exam.

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PhD Exchange student from ISS

Yukari Sekine is a PhD Candidate of Development Studies at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague. She is part of the Political Ecology Research Group and will be joining the IEE from September 2019 to February 2020 for a PhD Exchange, funded by the RUB Research School. At the ISS, she was part of the MOSAIC Research Project: "Climate change mitigation policies, land grabbing and conflict in fragile states: understanding intersections, exploring transformations in Myanmar and Cambodia", under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Saturnino ('Jun') Borras Jr. which was concluded in 2018. In Myanmar, her PhD research covers rural politics, the intersection of climate change mitigation and land grabs, and struggles for agrarian, environmental and climate justice. She has conducted fieldwork in the southern Tanintharyi region, a hub of palm oil, extractivism, conservation and land related conflicts. She is also interested in reflecting on the challenges of scholar-activism and the role of academics in their collaboration with grassroots partners. At IEE, she will be supervised by Prof. Dr. Löwenstein and Dr. Gabriele Bäcker, and will collaborate with Anne Siebert on a joint paper, to link conceptually the issues of sovereignty, territory and citizenship. Yukari has an M.A. in Global Studies from Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan, and a B.A. in Journalism from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, in Brazil. She is looking forward to interacting with the researchers and students and getting to know the IEE.

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After successful defence of her PhD Thesis on Friday, 23 August 2019, Mabel Akosua Hoedoafia from Ghana has been awarded the degree of a Philosophiae Doctor (Ph.D.).


Prof. Dr. Helmut Karl, Mabel Hoedoafia with daughter, Prof. Dr. Matthias Busse

Her thesis with the title "International Trade and Private Sector Performance: A Critical Analysis of Ghana’s Manufacturing Sector" was supervised by Prof. Dr. Matthias Busse and Prof. Dr. Helmut Karl. Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Löwenstein chaired the oral exam.

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After successful defence of her PhD Thesis on Monday, 12 August 2019, Lesley Hope from Ghana has been awarded the degree of a Philosophiae Doctor (Ph.D.).



Her thesis with the title "Amending Biochar to Urban Farmlands: An Economic Evaluation of the Effects on Food Security in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) and in Tamale (Ghana)" was supervised by Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Löwenstein and Prof. Dr. Helmut Karl. Prof. Dr. Werner Voß chaired the oral exam.