PhD-Conference
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The PhD Conference on International Development is a yearly event which took place for the first time in 2012 in Bochum. It is addressed to an international audience and provides the opportunity for advanced PhD candidates and recent graduates to present their projects, to gain feedback from both experienced academics and early stage researchers from different universities. It offers room for extending network beyond disciplinary boundaries and to fellow researchers from different countries.

Apart from UA Ruhr Graduate Centre partners in Bochum and Duisburg, the School of International Development (DEV) of the University of East Anglia, UK, the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) of the University of Sussex, UK, and the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of the Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands are involved as cooperating universities. The European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI) is official partner of the conference.

10th PhD Conference in International Development, as Virtual Conference in October 2022

The International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), Erasmus University Rotterdam, is hosting this year's PhD Conference on International Development as part of its 18th Development Dialogue.

The 18th Development Dialogue (DD) conference "Doing Development Differently" will be organized virtually on the 17th and 18th of October 2022. ADAPTED Early Stage Researchers Ahmed El Assal and Petronilla Wandeto who are based at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) are part of the conference organizing committee.

The DD conference is an annual academic conference organized by Ph.D. researchers of the ISS at Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The dialogue aims to stimulate multi-disciplinary, reflective, and collaborative discussions that bring together researchers worldwide. The conference provides a platform for doctoral candidates and early career researchers engaged in different fields of development studies to share their work, exchange ideas, and discuss how their research relates to global development struggles.

Interested PhD candidates are required to fill out this online application and submit their abstracts by Sunday, April 17th, 2022. For more information about the past Development Dialogue conferences, please visit the official conference website. For any queries, feel free to contact the organizing committee at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

For more information see the call for abstracts.

9th PhD Conference in International Development, 2‒4 September 2020 at the University of East Anglia, UK

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.

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

8th PhD Conference in International Development, 19 – 20 September 2019 at the University of Sussex, UK

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

7st PhD Conference in International Development, 8-9 November 2018 at Ruhr-University Bochum


7th PhD Conference on International Development
- Call for Abstracts -


The IEE’s PhD students are organising the 7th PhD Conference on International Development, which is to take place 8-9 November 2018 in Bochum. This travelling event  is part of IEE's cooperation with the School of International Development (DEV), University of East Anglia, the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex, both UK, the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), Erasmus University of Rotterdam, NL, the Institute for Development and Peace (INEF), as well as the Institute of Political Science (IfP), both University Duisburg-Essen.

Attendance is not limited to PhD students of the partner institutes. PhD candidates at all stages of their PhD project are welcome to attend the conference and present their work.

The Call for Abstracts is now open (PDF download).

6th PhD Conference in International Development, 11-13 October 2017 in The Hague

Details on the 6th PhD Conference are available from the IEE website.

5th PhD Conference in International Development, 5th & 6th, 2016, University of East Anglia

Details on the 5th PhD Conference are available from the IEE website.

4th PhD Conference on International Development, 24th and 25th September 2015, IEE, Ruhr-University Bochum

4th PhD-Conference on International Development

On 24th and 25th September 2015, the IEE hosted the 4th PhD Conference on International Development.  Together with the School of International Development (DEV), University of East Anglia, UK, the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) at Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Hague, NL, and our partners in the UA-Ruhr Graduate Centre, the Institute for Development and Peace (INEF) and the Institute of Political Science (IfP) at University Duisburg-Essen the IEE has initiated the annual PhD Conferences in 2012. At this year’s conference which coincided not only with the 50th anniversary of Ruhr-University but also another conference at RUB on “The Middle East and the Islamic World in the Mirror of Humanities and Social Sciences”, the IEE welcomed more than 100 participants from Germany, Europe and other countries such as, among others, South Africa, Namibia, Sierra Leone, and Canada. Doctoral students and recent graduates delivered more than 35 presentations split up in five workshops ranging from “Banking and Financing in Developing Countries” and “Education and Development” to “Struggles about Land and Space in Rural and Urban Areas”.  In his opening address Professor Wilhelm Löwenstein, Managing Director of the IEE and Speaker of the PhD IDS, welcomed the participants of the PhD Conference 2015 and emphasized the highly topical issue of “Responsibility to Protect“ as the guiding theme behind our new “extension” of the PhD IDS in the framework of the DAAD-funded “German-Arab Research, Training, and Networking Programme”. Later the same day, Dr. Jürgen Wiemann, Vice President of the European Association of Development (EADI), delivered a keynote speech on “The New Middle Classes: Advocates for Good Governance, Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development?”.

Seven members of the IEE seized the opportunity to present their doctoral research projects and to engage in a critical debate about their research design, theory-based approaches and/or empirical results with the interested audience. Marc Hansen, IEE research fellow and PhD student, presented his co-authored paper “Determining Minimum Compensation of Smallholder Farmers for Lost Agricultural Land Grabs.” PhD student Amr Khafagy introduced his research project on “The Adverse Effect of Financial Sector Development on Kenyan Savings and Credit Cooperatives.” Farah Asif, a recent graduate of the PhD IDS, spoke about the results of her research on “Linking Foreign Affiliation to the welfare status of low income rural households: A case study of Pakistan”.” MADM coordinator Tobias Thürer discussed his recently finished doctoral project under the title “Does speculation with agricultural commodity futures cause price bubbles in the event of negative production shocks?” Jasmin Gerau, another PhD IDS candidate, talked about the topic “From Regional to Global Leader? The perception of the European Union as a leading environmental actor in Jordan and Morocco.” Michele Gonnelli, an associate member of the PhD IDS, delivered a presentation on the topic “Somali Development Agents as Development Communicators: A bottom-bottom Approach.” Elkhan Sadik-Zada, also a recent graduate of the PhD IDS and IEE research fellow, discussed “Lewis' Dual Economy Model with Political Bargaining - A New Approach for the Explanation of the Resource Curse.” Last but not least, Lungile Penxa from the University of the Western Cape, currently a visiting PhD student at the IEE, presented on “The Nature and Extent of Participation in Small Town Housing Projects, South Africa.” Beyond the paper presentations, almost all other PhD IDS members, associate members and some students from abroad took advantage of presenting and discussing their doctoral research projects with the audience in the framework of a poster session on the second day of the PhD Conference.

As mentioned above, the PhD Conference coincided with another conference on “The Middle East and the Islamic World in the Mirror of Humanities and Social Sciences” jointly organized by the German Middle East Studies Association for Contemporary Research and Documentation (DAVO) and the Islamic Studies Section of the German Oriental Society (DMG) on 24-26 September 2015 at RUB. The intention of the IEE and the RUB Department of Oriental and Islamic Studies to host the PhD and the Middle Eastern Studies Conferences together at one and the same venue perfectly payed off: Participants of the DAVO/DMG conference joined the keynote session and the workshops of the PhD Conference and vice versa. Moreover, all participants were invited to join the official opening and reception of the conferences on Thursday evening including a panel discussion about the topic “Syria & Beyond: The Quest for Power and Survival”, chaired by Anja Zorob. On the part of the IEE team, Raffael Beier and Anja Zorob delivered a joint presentation at the Middle Eastern Studies Conference on “European Migration Policy after the Arab Spring: Sticking to ‘Securitization’ or Rising to the Challenges in the Mediterranean?” while Raffael Beier offered another presentation on the topic “Shifting Spatial Policies after the Arab Spring – Urgent Reactions or Real Changes?”

After a first preparatory meeting in June 2015, the 4th PhD Conference also marked the actual starting point of the new German-Arab Joint-PhD Programme “From Responsibility to Protect to Responsibility to Assist: Conflict, Reconstruction, and Sustainable Development in the Middle East.” The project is funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) as part of its Programme "Higher Education Dialogue with the Muslim World." From the IEE's new partner universities, Prof. Dr. Mahasen Al-Jaghoub, The University of Jordan (JU), and Prof. Dr. Sami Baroudi, Lebanese American University (LAU), attended the conference and chaired a workshop on “The Challenges of Domestic Politics”.

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3rd PhD Conference on International Development, 16th & 17th October 2014, The Hague, The Netherlands

The International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), Erasmus University Rotterdam, hosted this year's PhD Conference on International Development as part of its 12th Development Dialogue.

The conference took place at the International Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, The Netherlands, 16th & 17th October 2014.

Please check the conference announcement for further details.

2nd PhD Conference on International Development, 19th & 20th September 2013 at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK

The conference programme as well as presentations are available from the conference website.

1st PhD Conference in International Development, 18th & 19th September 2012 at Ruhr-University Bochum

Details on the 1st PhD Conference are available from the IEE website.

Institute of Development Research and Development Policy Institute of Political Science Institute for Development and Peace