Development Studies

The Development Studies Institute (DESTIN) was established in 1990 to promote interdisciplinary post-graduate teaching and research on processes of social, political and economic development and change. The Institute is dedicated to understanding problems of poverty and late development within local communities, national political and economic systems and in the international system. Because the problems of development know no disciplinary boundaries, we have worked to attract scholars and students committed to elaborating interdisciplinary, theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of social development and change.

Five clusters of interdisciplinary research expertise have emerged within the Institute:

1. Institutional Change, Institutional Reform and Governance
2. War Torn Societies, Human Rights and Complex Emergencies
3. Globalisation: International Financial Markets, Trade and Aid
4. Local Level Urban and Rural Livelihood Strategies
5. Rural Development, Agrarian Reform and Agrarian Change

In 2001 the Institute established the Development Research Centre, funded by the UK Department for International Development, to pursue research on Crisis and Breakdown in the Developing World in coordination with academic partners in the South.

Our current staff concentrate expertise on global political economy, institutional and organisational change, democratic transition and democratisation, econometrics and quantitative methodologies, demographic trends, political ecology and the analysis of poverty and human development; and regional expertise covers Southeast, South and East Asia, Africa and Latin America. DESTIN staff have considerable experience in living and working in the developing world and most have engaged in policy relevant research with international development agencies.

Admissions

We consider MPhil/PhD applications from outstanding students who wish to undertake interdisciplinary research on a development topic that falls within the expertise of at least one of our faculty members. Applications for entry in October must be submitted by 1st April at the latest.

Students are expected to have a very strong academic record and post-graduate training or work experience demonstrating a standard of achievement equivalent to excellent performance in our own MSc Development Studies. In general, applicants should already have the basic foundational training necessary to begin specific work on their research topic (including a good grounding in one of the social science disciplines, languages necessary for the proposed research, computing skills, etc). However, we also require students to acquire further methodological training, language skills, or background knowledge of a specific topic related to their research by following post-graduate courses during their first year at the LSE (all students will be required to attend some lectures and seminars during their programme - see below).

Students should submit a short research proposal (no more than 1,800 words) with their application that will allow us to assess the potential of their proposed project and of the availability of appropriate supervision within the Institute. The proposal must be clear, and it must contain (a) a section which gives background to the research issue (b) details of the main research questions and/or hypotheses to be addressed, and (c) discussion of the research methods to be employed. The Institute may subsequently request applicants to submit a sample of written work or to appear for an interview.

Although not a requirement, applicants are strongly encouraged to consider submitting Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores, in which case please provide documentary evidence of your test scores with percentages not marks, e.g. Verbal 90%.

Required Courses

Aside from students who are admitted with conditions of course work, the particular course work a student will require is decided with the supervisor upon arrival.  First year MPhil students must attend the Research Seminar in Development Studies (DV500). For those new students who have not studied Development Studies before, the Institute will require that they attend the lectures for the core course DV400 Development: Theory, History and Policy or DV406 Development Management, and that they perform satisfactorily in a 'take-home' examination which will be made available to be taken during the Easter vacation. 

MPhil/PhD students will find it advantageous to attend our weekly Visiting Lecture Series in Development Studies (also attended by MSc students) where they are introduced to the work of leading UK-based academic researchers who speak about their current work in the development field. The series also includes "development practitioners" who introduce students to issues drawn from the experience of development projects.

In addition, all students will be required to complete satisfactorily a half-unit course in research methods in the School's Methodology Institute. The precise half-unit course taken (the Methodology Institute offers a wide range) will be decided in consultation with the student's primary supervisor, and with reference to the nature of the research that the student intends to pursue.

Evaluation and Progress as a Research Student at DESTIN

We believe that most students who plan to write a PhD dissertation should be able to complete the process within a maximum of four years, or four years maximum. Part-time students should take no more than eight years. While we follow the general Code of Practice for Research Students at the LSE, DESTIN has elaborated its own procedures for research students (see programme guide available at the Institute). Generally speaking, during your first year, you will prepare a draft research proposal by Lent Term and finish all preparatory and background work for your dissertation. At the end of year one you will present your detailed research proposal and be reviewed for upgrading to PhD.  By the end of your second year, you should have finished all field work (where applicable). By the end of your third year, you should be able to complete your dissertation.

Students are accepted to the LSE as MPhil candidates. Some research students will work towards submission of an MPhil dissertation generally after two years in the programme, while others will be transferred to PhD status after satisfying the Research Committee that their project has doctoral potential. However, we stress that such transference is not automatic, but requires performance at a high level.

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