Being a Doctoral Student at IDS So you are interested in pursuing a PhD at IDS. What can you expect?

And what will we expect from you? IDS is a widely acclaimed research institute in the field of development studies, which particularly embraces interdisciplinarity as a key element to excellence. We want to share this perspective and develop it in partnership with our Doctoral students for this generation and for the next. We take teaching very seriously because we have a particular view of development--one that we feel is essential for progressive change. Working with emerging researchers and young scholars is a key way of doing this. We view development as people-centred, critical and political. Being people-centred is much more than worrying about development outcomes at the individual levelit is about supporting the agency of people to claim spaces to improve their lives and the lives of their families, communities and networks. It also positions IDS as a part of the change process. Our view of development is also critical in that we think as hard about the question as we do about the answers. Who sets the agenda, who assesses risks and who determines the rules of the game? We try to convene a plurality of perspectives on an issue, to uncover new angles and new ideas for improving lives, livelihoods and wellbeing. Finally, we embrace a political perspective on the development process. This includes a concern with addressing the institutional and structural inequalities that underlie poverty and marginalisation. Development is never apolitical, so it makes no sense to study it as such. How can this approach to development be pursued within a research and teaching context? This is what IDS is all about, bringing the worlds of academia, practice and policy together to create a whole greater than the sum of their parts. We dont just want to help explain the world--we want to help change it. Our aim is to attract Doctoral students who find this vision appealing. You will want to change the world through your studies, either as future academic, researcher, NGO professional, activist, agency staffer or government official. To make the most of this environment, you will have a Masters degree in any relevant social science but candidates with other backgrounds will be considered. It is also desirable that you have at least 2 years of development related experience to help you contextualise some of the ideas we will share and to help you bring your experiences to the collective learning process. You will be someone who is a self-starter able to contribute a wide array of approaches, experiences, expertise and cultures to our already rich and dynamic learning community. You will join a community of 50 Doctoral students at IDS. This environment is something we value highly and it requires active navigation if you are to make the most of it.

Our faculty consist of 60 Research Fellows from 15 countries, supported by a small group of Research Officers. They are allto a greater or lesser extentinvolved in our teaching and learning programmes. Each Fellow is at the vanguard of development related research and policy-making and has an exciting portfolio of research projects, partnerships and relationships. In addition, IDS does not receive core fundingwe sustain ourselves by competing for funds with the best in the world and we share this fundraising responsibility among ourselves, so your faculty members also have obligations to raise research income. This all means that your faculty will be at the centre of a rich network of contacts and collaborations. These will illuminate your learning experience, and they can provide a superb set of opportunities for you in terms of contacts, thesis work and future employability. As is typical in the UK, IDS Doctoral students are not required to take any courses, but we strongly encourage you to take advantage of research methods courses offered, especially if critical to your PhD thesis. As a Doctoral student you will have two faculty members as supervisors. They will guide you academically and will help you adjust to IDS and the UK and, in general, will be responsible for supporting your professional development. As a Doctoral student, you are a key Member of IDS. You are doing focused field-based research over a 3-4 year period and as such are a key contributor to our intellectual renewal as an Institute. We will also regard you as a future partner of IDS and a possible future employee. So we try, whenever possible, to build our Doctoral students into long term research projects. When this is not possible we try to ensure that your research is closely aligned with our own so that you are strongly embedded in a community of researchers with similar interests. We will also try to help you identify short-term and part time income generating opportunities to support your studies along the way. There will be some opportunities to get involved in our Masters teaching, mainly in MA dissertation supervision. Our support is geared towards the requirement that you will complete your PhD in no more than 4 years. We expect you to write a Thesis that has the potential for a high quality publication, either as a book or a series of articles. We feel it is vital that you generate publications from this intense period of study at IDS. We expect you to be an active citizen of IDS. This means participating in Institute-wide seminars and Annual Reviews. All staff and students are IDS Member. In addition, the Doctoral students are also members of IDS research teams, and they take part in Team meetings, retreats and other activities. In addition to the engagement with your faculty you will benefit from interactions generated by the co-location of over 200 development researchers on the Sussex campus either at IDS or the University of Sussex. This is one of the largest concentrations of such researchers in the world. For example, IDS researchers and partners deliver over 100 seminars a year, and IDS hosts at least 3-4 international workshops and conferences annually. You will also be able to engage in a rich and dynamic community of ideas and commentary. IDS staff publishes articles in leading journals, write cutting edge books, produce widely cited reports and papers and engage in key briefings with NGOs, Governments and other development agencies. 2

The engagement will continue after you leave IDS. When you complete your degree you will join a group of over 3,000 IDS alumni who are networked by year and country. We have an active programme of alumni reunions, organising 3-4 such events around the world every year. While we believe the value for money we offer is highly competitive, not everyone can afford to attend IDS. One of our responses has been to launch a scholarship drive. Involving alumni from the past 30 years and leading up to our 50th Anniversary in 2016 we have committed to match gifts from IDS income. We want to assist students from all backgrounds to attend IDS and help to change the world for the better through the production and sharing of critical research and thinking. Come and join us. July 2013