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PhD IDS News

Congratulations, Dr. Agbaam!

After successful defence of his PhD Thesis on Tuesday 24 May 2022, Callistus Akachabwon Agbaam from Ghana has been awarded the degree of a Philosophiae Doctor (Ph.D.).

2022 05 Agbaam

His thesis with the title "Determinants of Public Support for Social Protection in Ghana. A Micro-level Analysis" was supervised by Prof. Dr. Katja Bender and Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Löwenstein. Prof. Dr. Markus Kaltenborn chaired the oral exam.

Congratulations, Dr. Vilmondes!

After successful defence of her PhD Thesis on Wednesday 25 February 2021, Mariana Vilmondes from Brazil has been awarded the degree of a Philosophiae Doctor (Ph.D.).

2021 03 Vilmondes

Her thesis with the title "Accountability Relations in Social Housing Programs: a comparative legal analysis of Brazilian and Chilean case studies" was supervised by Prof. Dr. Markus Kaltenborn and Prof. Dr. Katja Bender. Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Löwenstein chaired oral exam – the first online PhD defense at IEE.

Congratulations, Dr. Al Asadi!

After successful defence of his PhD Thesis on Wednesday 15 July 2020, Mohammad Al Asadi from Syria has been awarded the degree of a Philosophiae Doctor (Ph.D.).

2020 07 Al Asadi
Prof. Dr. Matthias Busse, Mohammad Al Asadi, Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Löwenstein

His thesis with the title "Financing recovery in conflict-affected countries: Financing resources and fiscal sustainability" was supervised by Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Löwenstein and Prof. Dr. Matthias Busse. Prof. Dr. Helmut Karl chaired the oral exam.

9th PhD Conference on International Development ‒ Call for Abstracts

The University of East Anglia (UEA) will host the 9th PhD Conference on International Development. It will take place in Norwich on 2‒4 September 2020 at the Julian Study Centre, UEA.

This conference represents a collaboration with several institutions in Europe; the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex; the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), Erasmus University of Rotterdam (The Netherlands); the Institute of Development Research and Development Policy (IEE), Ruhr-University Bochum, the Institute for Development and Peace (INEF), Duisburg, Essen and the Institute of Political Science (IfP) (Germany). The goal of the conference is to bring together current PhD researchers, recently graduated doctoral researchers, and senior scholars in the field of International Development and allied disciplines.

Conference themes:

  1. Environmental justice, climate change and natural resources governance
  2. Politics of development: governance, civic participation, aid and institutions
  3. Economics of development: insights from behavioural, experimental economics in low and middle-income countries
  4. Education, health and social protection: socio-economic and cultural contexts and innovative policies to tackle poverty and inequality
  5. Methods and meausurement in development studies

Deadline for abstract submission is 17 April 2020.

Please find more information on the conference here.

Congratulations, Dr. Siebert!

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.).

2019 11 Siebert
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.

PhD Exchange student from ISS

2019 09 Yukari SekineYukari 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.

Congratulations, Dr. Hoedoafia!

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.).

2019 08 MabelHoedoafia
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.

Congratulations, Dr. Hope!

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.).

2019 08 LesleyHope

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.

Congratulations, Dr. Beier - first joint PhD of IEE-RUB and ISS, The Hague

After successful defence of his PhD Thesis on Friday, 5 April 2019, IEE research fellow Raffael Beier has been awarded the degree of a Philosophiae Doctor (Ph.D.).

2019 04 Beier
Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Löwenstein, Dr. Raffael Beier

His thesis entitled "From the City to the Desert. Analysing shantytown resettlement in Casablanca, Morocco, from residents’ perspectives" was jointly supervised by Prof. Dr. Mathias Kies and Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Löwenstein (both RUB) and Prof. Irene van Staveren, Dr. Erhard Berner, and Dr. Sylvia Bergh (all ISS).

For the public defence, held in The Hague, a committee of in total eleven supervisors, examiners and other professors were sitting opposite him, including Rector Professor Inge Hutter who chaired the Full Doctoral Committee at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS).

Raffael Beier is the first PhD candidate graduated under a joint PhD agreement between the ISS and the IEE, which has been signed in 2014.

Call for Abstracts

8 th PhD Conference on International Development
19 – 20 September 2019
Institute of Development Studies (IDS)
University of Sussex, UK
Call for Abstracts

The 8th PhD Conference on International Development is a student-led event organized by PhD students from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and the School of Global studies at the University of Sussex (UK).

This PhD conference brings together current or recently-graduated doctoral researchers in development studies and related disciplines, but attendance is not limited to PhD students of the partner institutes. This conference is an opportunity for doctoral students to present to a larger audience to get critical and well-informed feedback. The conference will offer an international platform for exchange with fellow students, senior academics, and experts.

We invite abstracts for presentations (oral and poster) on topics that address or touch on, one or several of the following sub-themes from current or recently graduated doctoral students:

  1. Deconstructing frames of inequalities
  2. Sustainability in times of uncertainty
  3. Partnerships and collaborations in development
  4. Inclusivity and reflexivity in research methods

For more information and how to apply, please see the Call for Abstracts