The PhD Conference on International Development is a yearly two-days 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, 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.
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
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”.
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.
