The Conference was the first joint Alumni Conference of all DAAD African Excellence Centres in Sub Sahara Africa (the Ghanian-German Centre for Development Studies at the University of Ghana, the Tanzanian-German Centre for Eastern African Legal Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam, the Namibian-German Centre for Logistics at Namibia University of Science and Technology, the South African-German Centre for Transnational Criminal Justice at UWC, the Congolese-German Centre for Microfinance at the Congo Protestant University, Kinshasa, the East and South African-German Centre for Educational Research at the Moi-University, Kenya, and the Kenyan Centre for Mining, Environmental Engineering and Resource Management at Taita Taveta University College in Voi, Kenya), organized by the South African-German Centre for Development Research (SA-GER CDR) at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), South Africa, together with the Institute of Development Research and Development Policy (IEE), Ruhr-University Bochum), Germany.
Dr. Tobias Thürer, Christina Seeger (PhD candidate), Anne Siebert (PhD candidate), and Carla Swertz attended the 3rd International Conference on Global Food Security in Cape Town, South Africa, which took place 3-6 December 2017. Anne Siebert presented on Food sovereignty and urban agriculture initiatives in South Africa, Christina Seeger gave an oral presentation on Consumers‘ willingness to pay for certified safe vegetables in Ghana, and Carla Swertz on Cost of illness among urban farm households in Ghana.
Finally, it is done! We are happy to welcome new graduates to the alumni network of the IEE. 7 candidates from the Cape Town group of the MA in Development Management (MADM) programme obtained their Master degree. They received their graduation certificates at the 2nd of December after they had successfully defended their master thesis on interesting topics like Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), HIV prevention programmes, and microfinance (just to name some of them).
With an informal opening reception on 20 November, the IEE welcomed the new intake of the PhD programme in International Development Studies (PhD IDS). The interdisciplinary, structured PhD programme was first launched in 2007.
This year, the IEE is happy to welcome four new full members of the PhD IDS programme: Ulemj Dovchin from Mongolia, Om Ki from Myanmar, Will Wright from the USA, and Katharina Girndt from Germany.
We wish all new PhD candidates much success for their doctoral studies and research projects!
Since September 2017, Ruhr-University Bochum has a new EU Careers Student Ambassador!
Benita Rose studies Development Management (M.A.) at the IEE, and is now for one year the local contact person for RUB-students of all disciplines, who are interested in a traineeship or career path with the European Union. Her tasks as EU Careers Student Ambassador include informing students about the application process to get into the EU (the so-called “Concours”), and to inform students of different study areas about possibilities and professional fields within the EU institutions.
From this week until 15th December, Professor Shelley Feldman from Cornell University will be joining the IEE as a Visiting Scholar. In her research as a sociologist, she has been working on a number of topics that have also been addressed by other IEE members, often coming from other disciplines. Her work on garment workers and the garment industry in Bangladesh as well as her research on land grabbing and displacement match research projects and interests of some IEE members.
Professor Feldman will hold presentations during the cluster sessions on "Garment Workers in Bangladesh and the Regulation of Garment Industry and Labour Markets" (8th November 2017, 10am-1pm, Room 2.25) and on "Land-Grabbing and Displacement" (13th December 2017, 10am-12noon, Room 2.25). We hope for inspiring exchanges with Prof. Feldman and warmly welcome her at the IEE.
After successful defense of his PhD Thesis on Wednesday, 27th September 2017, Mohammad Dawude Temory from Herat, Afghanistan, has been awarded the degree of a Philosophiae Doctor (Ph.D.).
Prof. Dr. Manfred Lösch, Mohammad Dawude Temory, Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Löwenstein, Prof. Dr. Markus Kaltenborn
His thesis with the title "Determinants of Household Income in Afghanistan. An Empirical Analysis" was supervised by Prof. Dr. Manfred Lösch and Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Löwenstein. Prof. Dr. Markus Kaltenborn chaired the oral exam.
After successful defense of her PhD Thesis on Monday, 3rd July 2017, Éva Mihalik from Makó, Hungary, has been awarded the degree of a Philosophiae Doctor (Ph.D.).
Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Löwenstein, Eva Mihalik, Prof. Dr. Hans-Joachim Heintze, Dr. Martina Shakya
Her thesis with the title "Building Sustainable Peace: From Practice to Law de lege ferenda - Legal Assessment of the Concept ‘Post-conflict Peacebuilding’" was supervised by Prof. Dr. Hans-Joachim Heintze and Prof. Dr. Pierre Thielbörger. Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Löwenstein chaired the oral exam.