PHD IDS: Welcome to the 10th Intake of the PhD IDS

Martina Shakya reports on the opening event for the 10th intake of the PhD IDS programme.

With an opening reception on 23rd November the IEE welcomed the latest intake of the PhD programme in International Development Studies (PhD IDS). The interdisciplinary, structured PhD programme offered at the IEE was first launched in 2007. In the shadow of the IEE's 50th birthday, we are thus celebrating yet another small anniversary in 2016: the 10th intake of the PhD IDS programme!

Taking stock of an eventful year

As reported elsewhere in this and previous issues of the IEE News, 2016 has been an exciting year for our doctoral candidates:
• PhD IDS candidates Raffael Beier, Britta Holzberg and, most recently, Anne Siebert applied successfully for the joint PhD degree at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam.
• In September, some PhD IDS students presented their research projects at the 5th annual PhD Conference, which this time took place at the University of East Anglia.
• Still in September, another group of PhD IDS students organised a panel session at the Annual Conference of the Development Studies Association (DSA) in Oxford.
• The Autumn School "Forced Displacement and Regional Politics in the Middle East", funded by DAAD in the context of the German-Arab Joint Research, Training, and Networking Programme, was held in the Lebanon in October.
• Finally, the University Alliance Ruhr Graduate Centre organised another "Development Day" in Bochum, which was integrated into a DAAD-funded Alumni Conference.
Apart from their involvement in the above-listed activities and regular course work, many PhD IDS students had a very busy year, as demonstrated by field research mobility, presentations in research cluster sessions, teaching activities, attendance of international conferences and publications.

The new PhD Students and their Projects

This year, four full members and eight associate members were newly admitted to the PhD IDS programme:
Andrew Boogaards from Canada holds an MBA in Community Economic Development from Cape Breton University and will do research on "The Legacy of CSR Programmes in the Global South" for his doctorate. His PhD project is supervised by Prof. Katja Bender (Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences).
Klaudia Michalek-Kursawe from Germany completed her studies in Economics at Köln University as Diplom-Volkswirtin. Her PhD project examines "Labor Market Effects of Social Protection" and is also supervised by Prof. Katja Bender.
Darina Pellowska from Germany holds an MA degree in Peace and Conflict Transformation from the University of Tromsø, Norway. Her PhD project is supervised by Prof. Dennis Dijkzeul (from RUB's Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict). It deals with "Humanitarian Aid and the Political Economy of Civil War: Economic Belligerent-Humanitarian Interrelations in Sudan (Darfur) and Sierra Leone."
Pham Thien Phuoc from Vietnam joined the PhD IDS programme as an associate member earlier this year. The topic of her research is "The dilemma of informal housing management in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam". This PhD project is supervised by Prof. Andreosso O'Callaghan (from RUB's Faculty of East Asian Studies).
Aunt Tantoh from South Africa is another associate PhD candidate spending a year of her doctorate in Bochum on a research mobility grant offered in the framework of the Erasmus Mundus Project EUSA_ID, which is coordinated by the IEE. Her PhD project, supervised by Prof. John-Langba at the University of Cape Town, deals with "The applicability of the Theory of Planned Behaviour to the condom use intentions and behaviour of migrant youth in South Africa".
Muhammad Ali Zaidi from Pakistan graduated with an MA in Sociology from the University of the Punjab and an MA in International Migration and Intercultural Relations from the University of Osnabrück. His research project "Negotiating Development: A trans-sequential ethnography of development in Pakistan" is supervised by Prof. Eva Gerharz.
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We wish all new PhD candidates much success for their doctoral studies and research projects!

Current state of the programme

Including the 2016 intake, the PhD IDS currently hosts 36 full members and 20 associates. Full members accomplish their doctorates at the IEE with a PhD degree in International Development Studies. Associates receive a doctorate from their respective faculty—either at the RUB or at one of the IEE's partner universities. They can attend seminars and courses of the PhD IDS programme, become members of research clusters, and thus benefit from the international, interdisciplinary research environment at the IEE. At the same time, they bring in new perspectives and experiences and contribute to further promoting the institutional links between their home faculty and the IEE. Currently, most associate members are PhD students at other RUB faculties or at our main South African partner institution, the University of the Western Cape (UWC).
In the past 12 months, three PhD IDS candidates completed their doctorates at the IEE. Since programme inception in 2007, the PhD IDS degree was herewith awarded to 17 members. In the same period, another ten associate members completed their doctorates.

Dr. Martina Shakya
Postdoctoral Fellow, Urban Food Plus
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