Master of Development Evaluation and Management Scholarships

The Master of Development Evaluation and Management focuses on the efforts made by a wide range of public and private actors to promote development in low-income countries. It provides a solid understanding of the aid policies of multilateral and bilateral donors, and of the major aid modalities and instruments. The institutional characteristics of the actors involved –be they governments, community-based organisations, international NGOs, bilateral or multilateral donors – are analysed so as to attain a better understanding of outcomes. The Master gives insights in what constitutes development evaluation, its relevance and challenges, both at the level of methodological and institutional aspects.

Most of our students are engaged in development, professionally and/or as researchers. The Master improves their capacities to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the prevailing aid paradigms and the changing approaches to aid. Graduates will understand the importance of different institutional arenas, their interaction and how they function. They will become familiar with multidisciplinary analytical tools that improve their capacity to analyse the interactions and contribute to improved conceptualisation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development policies and programmes.

The DEM programme offers two specific trajectories targeted at different audiences, with specific objectives and course packages.

The trajectory Evaluating Development Effectiveness focuses on the analysis of the interaction between external actors, aid and development processes. The basic question addressed is why development efforts are sometimes successful but more often fail. This leads to further, more operational, questions. What lessons have been learned from the study of past failures and successes, and how convincing are the present policy prescriptions and paradigms? The programme helps the student to use appropriate analytical frameworks and to apply relevant scientific methods in evaluating results and drawing policy conclusions. It involves students in different kinds of evaluation relying on quantitative and qualitative techniques.

This trajectory is targeted at participants who have work experience in government institutions (including public research institutions), donor agencies (including international NGOs, bilateral and multilateral donors), civil society (including research institutes, universities). Candidates work in the area of development interventions and poverty reduction initiatives, and are macro level policy oriented. They are professionally always situated at the level of middle management with policy responsibilities and/or in charge of managing the interface between different levels (national to international, national to local) or between arenas (government-donors, INGO-national NGO, etc.).

Module I (12 weeks – 18 credits)

Theories of Development: provides an overview of recent evolutions in the literature on the politics and economics of development, and on poverty and inequality
Research Methods I and II: update of contemporary quantitative and qualitative research methods, possibilities for combining these methods and applying them within ongoing development processes.
Module II: Managing Aid (9 weeks – 12 credits)
This module is organised by the Thematic Group on “Aid Policies”. Students are familiarised with the ongoing debate on the role of aid in development, and expected to engage in a more advanced analysis of the topic.

Module III: Evaluating Development Effectiveness (9 weeks – 12 credits)
This module is organised jointly by the Thematic Groups on “Aid Policies” and “Impact of Globalisation”. It involves students in different kinds of evaluation relying on advanced quantitative and qualitative techniques or a combination of the two.

Module IV: Dissertation (15 weeks – 18 credits)
To be developed on the basis of one of the assignments written at the end of either module II or III.

The Trajectory Conceptualizing Development Interventions aims at analyzing the interaction between external and local actors, aid and development processes in order to identify the changing opportunities and constraints for more effective, reform driven institutional development. It conceptualizes political and economic development as the outcome of interactions between a conditioning institutional environment and the agency of international, national and local actors. Special attention is given to the importance of micro-level institutions and processes, and how these condition the effectiveness of development efforts. It analyses how the interactions of actor strategies and institutional structures produce inequality and poverty as well as well-being.

This trajectory is targeted at participants who have a work experience in civil society (including research institutes, universities, local NGOs or entrepreneurial associations), donor agencies (including international NGOs, bilateral and multilateral donors) and government institutions. Candidates work in the area of development interventions and poverty reduction initiatives, in micro- or mesa-level projects and programmes, and/or are macro level policy oriented. Professionally the candidate is situated at the level of middle management with policy responsibilities and/or in charge of managing the interface between different levels (local to national, national to international) or between arenas (ex; civil society- government, government-donors, INGO-national NGO, etc…).

Module I (12 weeks – 18 credits)

Theories of Development: provides an overview of recent evolutions in the literature on the politics and economics of development, and on poverty and inequality
Research Methods I and II: update of contemporary quantitative and qualitative research methods, possibilities for combining these methods and applying them within ongoing development processes.
Module II: Managing Aid (9 weeks – 12 credits)
This module is organised by the Thematic Group on “Aid Policies”. Students are familiarised with the ongoing debate on the role of aid in development, and expected to engage in a more advanced analysis of the topic.

Module III: Local Institutions and Poverty Reduction (9 weeks – 12 credits)
This module is organised by the Thematic Group on “Poverty and Well-being as a Local Institutional Process”. The module analyses how the interactions of actor strategies and institutional structures produce inequality and poverty as well as well-being. It applies this analysis to specific topics, such as public services provisioning, local governance and decentralisation.

Module IV: Dissertation (15 weeks – 18 credits)
To be developed on the basis of one of the assignments written at the end of either module II or III.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
The academic selection is based on 5 selection criteria, namely:

Appropriateness of the applicant’s field of study;
Quality of the education and results/grades obtained;
Relevance of the applicant’s professional experience;
Motivation of the applicant;
Matching (does the content of the programme match the expectations of the applicant?);
Field of Study and study results: Applicants must hold a university degree of at least 4 years of study in social sciences (Economics, Political Science, sociology, international relations, or related disciplines). Applicants who hold a Bachelor’s degree of only 3 years of study must demonstrate very strong and relevant professional experience and/or have successfully completed additional training. Only applicants with excellent academic records will be accepted;
Professional experience: Our programmes are targeted at participants from low-income and lower middle-income countries. Our ideal applicant has at least 2 years of professional experience in a sector relevant to the programme. Applicants from middle and high-income countries who hold a Master’s degree and have acquired some field exposure are also invited to apply;
Applicants must be proficient in English;
Those who received a university education in English must provide an official certificate confirming this. Other applicants must submit one of the following test results:
TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language): minimum score of 550 for paper-based test, or 213 for computer-based test, or 79 for Internet-based test. Information about this test is available at www.toefl.org.
IELTS (International English Language Testing System): minimum score of 6.0. Information about this test is available at www.ielts.org.
Students with paper-based TOEFL scores between 500 and 550 (or TOEFL computer-based between 173 and 213 or TOEFL Internet-based between 61 and 79) or IELTS scores between 5.0 and 6.0 may also be admitted provided they successfully complete a two-month intensive language course organised by the university of Antwerp before the start of the Master programme. For students selected for a VLIR scholarship, the cost of this language course is borne by the Institute;
Motivation and Matching: see description of student profile per Master and Trajectory.
TYPE OF DIPLOMA
Master’s degree

SCHOLARSHIP
You can apply scholarship available in this program, please click VLIR-UOS country list from where scholarships are possible for more information

DEADLINE
Application for this scholarship is possible from 01/10/2008 until 01/02/2009

MORE INFORMATION

Please visit: www.scholarships.vliruos.be