Our History in Research
 The IEE was established as an important new research centre in 1966, only four years after the foundation of the Ruhr-Universität Bochum. From the outset, research at the IEE has been characterized by an interdisciplinary approach to the study of economic,political,and socio-cultural development in the countries of the South. In its early years, the IEE was primarily a research institute and had a particular focus on the Islamic world.
The wave of political transformations in Africa and Central Asia in the early 1990s created new challenges for development research. Against this backdrop the IEE expanded its activities and research agenda. The fellows of the institute have a very strong focus on the study of actual economic, political, and social transformation processes. Of particular importance is the interdisciplinary analysis of economic reforms and poverty reduction, democratization, decentralization, crisis prevention, and human rights and the rule of law.
These changes have also brought an expansion of the regional focus of the institute. In addition to its specialization on the Islamic world, it has now become a centre for research on Southern Africa.
At the beginning of the 1990s the IEE laid the foundation for its new interdisciplinary approach to teaching in the fields of development policy and management. A first step was the development of its three year interdisciplinary PhD programme "System Efficiency and Dynamics in Developing Countries", which started in the spring of 1995 and will end in 2005. The programme which is sponsored by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and includes students from economics, geography, Islamic studies, law, political science, and sociology, is built on a collegiate structure that follows a three year cycle. The programme is currently in its last round.
Our History in Teaching
Following the success of the PhD programme, the IEE inaugurated in autumn 2000 its Master in Development Management. This is an international 18-month degree programme in English designed to meet the needs of professional programme and project managers for development cooperation. The intakes of students include nationals of Africa, Asia, Oceania, Latin America, and Europe. The MA in Development Management is the first of its kind in Germany and one of the few in Europe.
Trip to Berlin - Master in Development Management 2006 - 2008
Due to the overwhelming interest in this new course, the IEE is now exporting it as part of a programme run by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), "Studienangebote deutscher Hochschulen im Ausland", which is financed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)as part of its “Zukunftsinvestitionsprogramm”(ZIP). The DAAD initiative aims at exporting international degree programmes developed by German universities. The MA in Development Management survived an extremely competitive selection procedure and is now the first German programme to be offered at an African university. From mid-2002 the University of the Western Cape, South Africa offers the Bochum degree in parallel with the IEE.
 For detailed information on the IEE please have a look at this broschure.
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The Institute 
