Editorial

Dear Reader,

The weeks of the end of November and the beginning of December were quite busy for the IEE. It was, once again, time to welcome PhD students of a new intake of the PhD in International Development Studies. We were co-organizers of an Alumni Conference of the South African-German Centre for Development Research for Alumni of all DAAD-funded African Excellence Centres, held in Gordon’s Bay, close to Cape Town, South Africa. We held the oral exams and graduation of the Master students of the Cape Town group of our current intake in the Master’s in Development Management (MADM) programme. Finally, all of our research associates currently working on food security or food sovereignty, in the context of the Urban Food Plus research project or as part of their PhD, participated in an International Conference on “Global Food Security - On Global Challenges, Local Solutions and Connected Pathways” held in Cape Town, South Africa.

With the Christmas break and the end of the year now approaching, we are happy to look back on these activities as they reflect both the results of our previous endeavours and motivation for our future work. Young PhD students start their journey in interesting PhD topics within our structured programme. Our network of alumni facilitates valuable exchanges between development cooperation professionals, and promising young MADM graduates are now becoming part of this network. International conferences provide you with opportunities to enjoy what research actually lives on: communicating your ideas and work results, receiving feedback on your work, and connecting with your peers for future exchange. Last, but not least, it is worth mentioning that the number of applications for the next intake of our MADM programme is approaching 700, with applications filed from more than 80 countries, indicating that our programme remains highly attractive and noticed all over the world. With the end of 2017 in sight, we are thus looking forward to 2018!

Sincerely,