Institute of Development Studies

About IDS

The Institute of Development Studies (IDS) is a leading global charity for international development research, teaching and communications.

IDS was founded in 1966 and enjoys an international reputation based on the quality of its work and its commitment to applying academic skills to real world challenges. Its purpose is to understand and explain the world, and to try to change it – to influence as well as to inform.

IDS hosts five dynamic research teams, nine popular postgraduate courses, and a family of world-class knowledge services. These three spheres are integrated in a unique combination – as a development knowledge hub, IDS is connected into and is a convenor of networks throughout the world.

The Institute is home to approximately 100 researchers, 70 knowledge services staff, 65 support staff and about 200 students at any one time. But the IDS community extends far beyond, encompassing an extensive network of partners, former staff and students across the development community worldwide.

As a charity, IDS receives no core funding from the British government. See the Management and funding page for more details.

IDS - a unique combination of development research, teaching and communications

In all of our work, IDS aims to challenge convention and to generate fresh ideas that foster new approaches to development policy and practice. Such problem-focused thinking requires a commitment to multidisciplinarity, not just within social sciences, but across research, teaching and communications.

Research

The development research programmes at IDS are organised in five closely linked multidisciplinary teams. We also host a growing number of international, multi-partner research projects. Through collaborative ways of working we aim to establish creative and equal partnerships in which research agendas can be driven by Southern perspectives.

• Globalisation: focusing on the dynamics of the global environment in which the private sector investment and growth necessary for poverty reduction are situated.
• Governance: focusing on the politics of state engagement and public action in developing countries.
• Knowledge, Technology and Society: exploring how science and technology can improve the livelihoods and well-being of poor people, and promote greater social justice.
• Participation, Power and Social Change: looking at how and where participation by citizens can make a difference to questions of social justice and development.
• Vulnerability and Poverty Reduction: improving the understanding of vulnerability, and designing effective means of addressing it, as a central component of poverty reduction.

Teaching and learning

From its earliest years, IDS has had a tradition of learning, teaching and training with a distinctive emphasis on plurality and multidisciplinary study. Our postgraduate degrees, accredited by the University of Sussex, comprise a DPhil by research and a portfolio of MA programmes. The MA's include Development Studies and a range of specialisations: Climate Change, Gender, Globalisation, Governance, Participation, Poverty, Globalisation and Science and Society. The IDS learning and teaching programme is known for its academic excellence. It is strongly research-led, drawing the ongoing work of researchers both within and beyond IDS into the classroom, and is significantly enhanced by the wealth of experience that each graduate student brings to the Institute.

Mobilising knowledge for development

IDS is a pioneer in development communications. We host a range of innovative and highly regarded knowledge services – including Eldis, BRIDGE, Livelihoods Connect, the Governance and Social Development Resource Centre and the British Library for Development Studies. These services seek to mobilise knowledge to support more informed decision-making by those in a position to influence change. This is based on our belief that decision-making is strengthened when it is underpinned by timely and relevant information that reflects a diversity of viewpoints. The IDS Knowledge Services identify and bridge knowledge gaps and use innovative information-sharing approaches to provide better access to the global pool of knowledge on development.

IDS Vision and Mission
Our Strategy 2005-2010
Download the IDS strategy (pdf)
Annual Report
IDS Editorial Policy March 2007 (pdf)