rss

Monday, October 12, 2009

Belgium: VLIR-UOS Master Scholarship Program for Globalisation and Development at the University of Antwerp

The Master’s in Globalisation and Development (GD) approaches the phenomenon of globalisation from an eclectic perspective, considering both the opportunities it creates and threats it poses to development and poverty alleviation in low and middle-income countries, both at the national and the local level.

Most of our students are engaged (or aspire to becoming engaged) in development policy work, professionally and/or as researchers. The objective of the Master’s is to provide them with a solid understanding of the globalisation phenomenon in its multiple dimensions (worldwide markets for goods and services, capital and labour/migration, the planetary challenge of the environment and sustainable development). It also offers them insights and tools to analyse and affect how globalisation impacts on local development and poverty alleviation in low and middle-income countries, taking due account of the complexity of local-global interactions in the multifaceted arenas of globalisation. Successful students shall be able to recognise the opportunities presented by globalisation, and to assess and remedy the risks and threats entailed. Moreover, they shall be able to identify and evaluate policy and programme interventions to exploit opportunities for more effective local and national development in the evolving global context, as well as development interventions aimed at remedying the adverse effects of globalisation on development in general and on the poorer and weaker groups in society in particular, thereby strengthening the agency of the latter.


The Master’s programme focuses on the analysis of the interaction between external and local actors, at the interface of global and local development processes, in order to identify the changing opportunities for and constraints to beneficial institutional change for inclusive, sustainable development and poverty reduction. It conceptualises political and economic development as the outcome of interactions between a conditioning institutional environment and the agency of international, national and local actors. In this context, special attention is paid to the way in which these interactions produce either inequality and poverty or well-being. The programme focuses in part on micro-level institutions and processes, and how these condition the effectiveness, at the local level, of development efforts aimed at exploiting the opportunities raised by globalisation and/or at remedying its adverse effects on the poorer and weaker groups in society. Students are offered a choice of policy domains for a more in-depth treatment of specific policy challenges at the local-global interface (see options below).

The programme is intended for participants with work experience in local, regional and/or national government institutions, at research institutes or universities, or with local NGOs, advocacy or entrepreneurial associations, and in international organisations (e.g. international NGOs, bilateral and multilateral institutions). The candidates should be involved with and have an interest in development or poverty-reduction initiatives, micro or meso-level projects and programmes, and/or macro-level policymaking. Professionally, the candidates should hold (and aspire to) middle or higher management or policy (research) positions entailing at least some experience at the interface between different policy levels (international to local, national to international) or between different arenas (e.g. civil society-government, government-international forums and institutions, 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: Globalisation and Development (9 weeks – 12 credits)
This module is organised by the Thematic Group ‘The Impact of Globalisation’. Different dimensions of globalisation, such as trade, finance, labour/migration and environment, are covered in a multidisciplinary fashion. Case studies are used to demonstrate how developing countries can obtain significant benefits from globalisation in general, while reducing or remedying its risks and constraints through more effective development policies and programmes. The topic is discussed at all levels of analysis, from the global to the local, and drawing on insights from, among other methods, the “global chain” approach.

Module III: Local Institutions and Poverty Reduction (9 weeks – 12 credits)
This module is organised by the Thematic Group ‘Poverty and Well-being as a Local Institutional Process’. The module analyses how the interactions of actor strategies and institutional structures generate inequality and poverty as well as well-being. It applies this analysis to specific policy domains: value chain development, microfinance, land policies, gender, public services, role of local government, management of natural resources, migration and the impact of trade (the latter topic emphasises measurement and quantitative assessment, while the others involve qualitative and quantitative approaches).

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 following candidates are eligible to apply for the Master’s programmes:

• Applicants from the South must hold a university degree (Bachelor or Master) of at least four years of study in Social Sciences (Economics, Political Science, Sociology, International Relations, or related disciplines). Applicants from the South who hold a Bachelor’s degree of only three years of study must demonstrate very strong and relevant professional experience and/or have successfully completed additional training. Applicants from the North must hold a Master’s degree in Social Sciences Only applicants with excellent academic records will be accepted.

• Our ideal participant has at least two years of professional experience in a sector relevant to the programme. Applicants from the North should have relevant field experience in the South.

• Applicants must be proficient in English. Those who have received a university education in English must provide an official certificate confirming this. Other applicants must submit one of the following test results:
o TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language): minimum score of 550 for paper-based test or 79 for Internet-based test. Information about this test is available at www.toefl.org.

o IELTS (International English Language Testing System): minimum score of 6.0. Information about this test is available at www.ielts.org.
o Special facilities are offered for students from other language backgrounds (in particular for French-speaking students). Students with paper-based TOEFL scores between 500 and 550 (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’s programme. For students selected for a VLIR-UOS scholarship,
the cost of this language course is borne by the Institute (see below for details).
• Motivation and Matching: see description of student profile per Master and Trajectory.

Type of diploma : Master's degree

You can apply for this scholarship by clicking hereApplication for this scholarship
is possible from 01/10/2009 until 01/02/2010



If you apply through this link (you have to fill in all fields), VLIR-UOS will prescreen your file. When the evaluation is negative you will receive an e-mail with the reason why. When the evaluation is positive you will receive an e-mail with a link to the application form from the host university where the programme is organised. More detailed information and some documents are asked through this form for the second evaluation. YOU WILL RECEIVE THE E-MAIL WITHIN TWO WEEKS AFTER YOU FILLED IN THIS PRE-SCREENING FORM. Notice that YOU CAN APPLY FOR ONLY ONE Training OR ONE Master Programme FOR THE COMING ACADEMIC YEAR, so choose carefully!


Period: September 2010 - September 2011
Language: English
Number of VLIR-UOS Scholarships: 10

Contact:
Mrs G. Annaert
Institute of Development Policy and Management (IOB)
University of Antwerp
T +32 (0)3 265 57 70
F +32 (0)3 265 57 71
dev@ua.ac.be
http://www.ua.ac.be/iob/education


http://www.scholarships.vliruos.be/index.php?language=EN&navid=244&direct_to=Home


Please kindly mention Scholarization.blogspot.com when applying for this scholarship


Bookmark and Share

Other Recommended Scholarships



Join us and fill in the form below with your email address to get free scholarship information:

Privacy Guarantee: we will not share your personal information with anyone.

0 comments:


Post a Comment

Get free scholarship Info into your inbox!

Fill in your e-mail address below to get free scholarship information:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Click on "Like" to receive scholarship updates via facebook

Recent Scholarships

free counters

Blog Archive

 
Scholarship Team: Ph.D Scholar Krisstofferson Joniel Scholarship Adviser, PhD Scholar Vitom Chea Scholarship Adviser, PhD Scholar Rebecca T. Dalisay Scholarship Adviser, Ph.D Student Jiao Wang Scholarship Coordinator, MSc Student Dennise Maricel Scholarship Coordinator
Creative Commons License
The published information is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Creative Commons
Scholarship Team: Ph.D Scholar Krisstofferson Joniel Scholarship Adviser, PhD Scholar Chea Vitom Scholarship Adviser and Senior Lecturer, PhD Scholar Rebecca T. Dalisay Scholarship Adviser, Ph.D Student Jiao Wang Scholarship Coordinator, MSc Student Dennise Maricel Scholarship Coordinator