Course focus After completing their 6-9 months of course work at ZEF, doctoral students conduct 6-12 months of practical field research in a devel-oping country or a development-related institution. After returning to ZEF, students complete their thesis, which takes on average of about another year.
Students who finish and defend their thesis successfully will obtain a doctoral degree in sociology, political science, social anthropology, economics, agricultural economics, agriculture, forestry, mathemat-ics or natural science. The degrees are granted by the respective university faculty, which is usually the faculty of the first supervisor.
Students may pursue their doctoral study under direct supervision by ZEF professors or be associated with ZEF while being supervised elsewhere. Arrangements within the selected German university are made to ensure that each student is accepted by a distinguished advisor and is suitable to their faculty. The majority of doctoral students are supervised by professors of the University of Bonn. The doctoral degree may also be obtained within “sandwich programs”
from other qualified universities in Europe or overseas.
The Center for Development Research (ZEF) is a multi-facultative and interdisciplinary institution with three departments:
1. Political and Cultural Change Director (acting): Dr. Eva Youkhana 2. Economic and Technological Change
Director: Prof. Dr. Joachim von Braun 3. Ecology and Resource Management
Director: Prof. Dr. Christoph Borgemeister
By pooling the expertise of the three departments, this three-year doc-toral program enables students to take advantage of ZEF´s exceptional strength in interdisciplinary development research and cooperation with national and international institutions.
ZEF’s six core research areas take the 17 goals of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Agenda into account. In this regard, the six core research areas ensure a full thematic integration of ZEF’s scientific program and contribute in a sustainable way to the Center’s global research and development objectives: global change, poverty reduction, justice, maintaining diversity, risk management, and development.
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Bonn International Graduate School for Development Research (BIGS-DR)
Course focus The manifold aspects of global change such as continued human population growth, climate change, and geopolitical developments build an overarching frame under which the research agenda has been developed. As such, each of the six core research areas relates to the over sustainable development agenda, while accentuating a specific bundle of topics on which a particular focus is set. All areas are closely interlinked and overlap thematically:
1. Innovation, knowledge, and science policy 2. Markets and public services
3. Mobility, migration, and urbanization 4. Governance, conflicts, and natural resources 5. Health, nutrition, and ecosystems
6. Land, water, food, and energy
These aspects have major implications for rural development and are used to facilitate sustainable development projects and research.
More details are available at www.zef.de.
Course language English
Target group The program aims to educate future decision makers, especially from developing countries, for international careers in a development context. Applicants should be students with an outstanding master’s or equivalent degree, young university scientists, or young professionals employed in research or government institutions or in the private sector.
Since its inception in 1999, 730 doctoral students from more than 100 countries have participated in BIGS-DR. More than 400 graduates have completed their doctoral thesis at ZEF and 124 of them have been external doctoral students. Currently, 134 students are enrolled in the program.
Entry requirements Admissions applications involves two steps:
1. Online registration through our registration portal, which will provide applicants with a personal registration number. This registration number will be required to complete the application process.
2. One digital submission of all required documents in a single PDF file in the specific order listed on our website, to be emailed to the program coordinator’s office. A complete list of all the required application documents can be found on the ZEF website.
A few important considerations when applying are:
Academic qualification
We require an excellent master’s or equivalent degree (GPA higher than 3.0 in the American system, or a grade higher than 2.0 in the
German system or equivalent).
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Development Cooper ation
Entry requirements Your last academic degree should have been obtained relatively recently prior to application. This guarantees the competitiveness of your application. A gap between your previous academic degree and your application to BIGS-DR means that you should demonstrate how you have maintained your academic rigor (e.g. a longer and current list of publications).
Innovative research idea
Your application must contain a Graduate Research Statement. The statement should describe a development problem you consider interesting and important. Include your main research questions and the proposed methods linked to them and have literature references.
The statement should be a maximum of four pages. Your Graduate Research Statement may relate to ZEF’s research areas in a broad sense or may address a topic in another development research area.
The selection committee will assess all research statements on the basis of originality, analytical rigor, and relevance.
English proficiency
Applicants whose native language is not English are required to provide evidence of English proficiency. The following documents may be submitted as proof of eligibility:
•
IELTS Academic (minimum band score of 6)•
TOEFL iBT (minimum of 80 points)•
Other English language certification tests (CPE, CAE).At the discretion of the BIGS-DR team, applicants who have complet-ed their tertiary studies in English may have the English proficiency requirement waived if evidence can be provided that all courses were conducted entirely in English. Usually, the medium of instruction can be found on the transcript or other official university program documents. Alternatively, applicants may also request a letter from their university directly that attests to the medium of instruction.
For DAAD applicants:
•
The completed application must include the official DAAD application form.•
Two years of work experience prior to applying are required.Degree awarded In consultation with ZEF, the doctoral thesis may be submitted to any cooperating faculty in Germany or abroad (as “sandwich models”).
The doctoral degrees may be in social science, economics, agricultural economics, agriculture or natural science. The course begins every year in August (German language course, optional) or October (course program).
Course begins Course modules start in October, yearly
Bonn International Graduate School for Development Research (BIGS-DR)
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Course duration Although the individual phases of the doctoral study may vary according to discipline and subject, the total duration for writing is fixed. The doctoral thesis must be accomplished within 38 months.
Duration of German language course prior to beginning of programme
2 months (for students awarded a DAAD scholarship).
Application
deadline The application deadline for DAAD scholarships for courses starting in the following year is August 31st.
Applicants for other scholarships and self-funded applicants may submit their applications at any time.
Applying to the ZEF doctoral studies program involves two steps:
1. Online registration at www.zef.de
2. Email submission of all documents directly to ZEF (only one copy) Remarks The structure of the doctoral program is tailored to the individual
academic needs of the students, in particular those coming from developing countries. ZEF provides intense study counseling and aca-demic support services by tutors and mentors. It offers a well-round-ed service to ensure that students can settle quickly into their studies and everyday life in Bonn. The services range from help finding accommodations and support with visa applications to preparations for the field research.
The limited number of participants (25 to 30 students) in the courses allows for rigorous interaction. The students learn to work in teams, and to identify and analyze problems within the development context and elaborate possible solutions.
Appropriate and agreed upon financial support for research will be made available from donors and ZEF resources.
For further
information contact Center for Development Research (ZEF) Bonn International Graduate School for Development Research (BIGS-DR) Dr. Günther Manske
Genscherallee 3 53113 Bonn Germany
Phone: +49-(0)228-73-1794, -1727 Fax: +49-(0)228-73-1839 Email: docp.zef@uni-bonn.de Website: www.zef.de