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Master in International Development

Section #objectives

General objectives

The Master degree in International Development at PSIA seeks to train students to identify, understand and address the contemporary challenges of development.

Development is a dynamic and ever-changing field that involves a multiplicity of sectors and actors and requires innovative processes to effectively contribute to poverty alleviation. 

PSIA's Master in International Development is designed to equip students with the indispensable knowledge, the transferable skills and the experience to tackle current and future development issues. 

Section #eligibility

Main orientations and specific features

The curriculum provides an interdisciplinary approach that blends theory and practice to foster critical analysis of the development field.

Students explore the cooperation, connections and partnerships between actors, sectors and mechanisms that contribute to development.

The programme offers a progressive foundation on development economics and finance that is made accessible even to students with little to no previous background in the discipline.

It also exposes students to indispensable courses on policies and projects, actors and institutions, governance and sectors. 

Thanks to our faculty community, comprising academics and practitioners, students develop and refine their analytical and practical skills

A special focus is placed on acquiring essential skills in policy design, project management, monitoring and evaluation, including quantitative evaluation, and applied economics and finance.

Section #programs

Programme structure

This intensive two-year programme is divided into three academic semesters and one semester away from campus (dedicated to either a professional internship, a master thesis under the supervision of a Sciences Po researcher or an exchange study program at a partner university).

Each academic semester, students choose 1 core course from each compulsory bloc (2 blocs per semester). Each bloc offers a variety of courses allowing students to select their courses depending on their previous background or experiences, their personal interests, and professional goals. 

Students in the Master in International Development can select freely any of the concentrations offered at PSIA and are encouraged to choose a

ccording to their previous background and their professional goals. They can either select 2 concentrations or 1 concentration and the Enhanced Master option that gives them the possibility to select one extra core class.

Students enrolled in a dual degree can only select one concentration. 

Through the selection of concentrations or enhanced master option, students complement their studies in development focusing on a specific region of the world - hence developing their capacity to identify the regional dynamics that can influence development - and/or focusing on a specific theme that adds value and perspective to their core learning of development.

PSIA’s Pedagogical Committee approved an amended degree structure for students starting PSIA degree programs in September 2020. Further details regarding PSIA’s general program structure.

Below is the new degree structure for the Master in International Development:

Programme structure of the Master in International Development

Download the Program structure (PDF, 232 Kb).

The degree structure for students in the following programs can be found at: Dual Degree program, Joint Master program and One-Year Master program.

Section #Courses
Section #career

Career Opportunities

Graduates will find openings in the private sector (profit and non profit) as well as the public sector. In public agencies, national, regional, and local governments, as well as international organizations and agencies, graduates will work, amongst other roles, on the formulation, management and evaluation of public policies and projects. In the private sector, they may work for example as project managers, consultants and in the innovation sector for applied research projects as project designer and managers.

Section #Scientific Advisor

Scientific Advisor

Golvine DE ROCHAMBEAU is Assistant Professor of Economics at Sciences Po Department of Economics.

Her research interests are in the field of development, and particularly the private sector in developing countries. Her research projects include looking at the effect of monitoring devices in the trucking industry and evaluating a training program for SMEs. Several of her projects take place in sub-saharian Africa, particularly in Liberia and Kenya but she also conducts work in other countries, such as Bangladesh.

Golvine DE ROCHAMBEAU completed her doctoral thesis at Columbia University in 2018, and holds a Master of Science in Engineering from the École Polytechnique. She teaches a course on Development Economics in the Master in International Development.

Meet our faculty

The Master’s curriculum is taught by a diverse faculty team, comprising of Sciences Po professors, academics from partner universities and development practicioners coming from a great variety of fields. Meet one of them in the video below.

Dr Saskia Ravesloot, is a respected thought leader with expertise in guiding staff and teams in diverse cultural settings, managing political and policy dialogue, programming, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of projects and programmes, as well as evidence-based advocacy, capacity building and training, especially on the gender-responsive rights-based approach.

Dr Ravesloot works for bilateral and multilateral organizations (such as: European Union, UNDP, UN Women, GIZ, LuxDev), in more than 30 countries, mostly in Africa, but also Asia and Latin-America. She is passionate and integrity-driven about sharing her experiences with students and young colleagues from all over the world.

Dr Ravesloot is a PSIA faculty member since 2016 and teaches in the Spring Semester preparing our students to be active actors towards achieving gender equality in international cooperation.

Section #testimonials
Section #contacts

CONTACTS

Academic AdvisorThibaut Jaulin

Academic AssistantMélissa Deretz

Secretariat open:

  • Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 9:30-12:45 and 2:15-4:45;
  • Wednesday and Friday 9:30-12:45

Key information about the application process (requirements, documents, deadlines and calendar, etc) can only be found on Sciences Po’s Admissions website.

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