The department is a lively community that is recognised internationally as one of the top centres for research and teaching in development studies.

Our courses offer excellent training for a career in international development or for advanced study, and attract students of the highest calibre from across the world.
“I had waited for 10 years before my dream to study in Oxford became a reality and the experience was truly beyond expectation”
Our students are taught to develop as critical and independent thinkers and when they leave us they are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to bring about real change.
“My time at Oxford strengthened my critical analysis and provided me with a unique interdisciplinary grounding in history, politics and economics that has equipped me well in dealing with public policy issues and program development strategy.”
Our courses offer excellent training for a career in international development or for advanced study, and attract students of the highest calibre from across the world.
“I had waited for 10 years before my dream to study in Oxford became a reality and the experience was truly beyond expectation”
Our courses offer excellent training for a career in international development or for advanced study, and attract students of the highest calibre from across the world.
“I had waited for 10 years before my dream to study in Oxford became a reality and the experience was truly beyond expectation”
Our students are taught to develop as critical and independent thinkers and when they leave us they are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to bring about real change.
“My time at Oxford strengthened my critical analysis and provided me with a unique interdisciplinary grounding in history, politics and economics that has equipped me well in dealing with public policy issues and program development strategy.”
Our students are taught to develop as critical and independent thinkers and when they leave us they are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to bring about real change.
“My time at Oxford strengthened my critical analysis and provided me with a unique interdisciplinary grounding in history, politics and economics that has equipped me well in dealing with public policy issues and program development strategy.”
As an ODID student you will benefit from small class sizes, personal supervision by world-class academics, and a vibrant and diverse community of peers.
Our degrees offer flexibility in learning, with a range of option courses to enable you to match your study to your interests. You will also have the opportunity to research a subject in depth through a dissertation or extended essay and, for the DPhil and MPhil, to support that research through fieldwork. Our master's courses also offer training in research methods, enabling outstanding students to apply to proceed to doctoral study.
At Oxford, you will become part of an exceptional intellectual environment. You will have access to the rich resources of the University's historic libraries and to a wide range of talks and events delivered by world-leading scholars who are drawn to the city by its global reputation. You will also benefit academically and socially from Oxford's unique multidisciplinary college communities.
Find out more about our courses below.
Please bear in mind that the information on the following course pages reflects the situation for students studying at ODID in 2021-22.
All course-related enquiries should be addressed to admissions@qeh.ox.ac.uk
The DPhil in Migration Studies offers the unrivalled opportunity to undertake an in-depth interdisciplinary project focused on a specific and important contemporary challenge facing the world by drawing on world-class research departments, centres and scholars.
The DPhil in International Development provides an opportunity for outstanding students to pursue in-depth research into processes of social, political and economic development and change in the global South, in a uniquely multidisciplinary academic environment. It can form the basis for an academic career or for a senior post in policy research.
The two-year MPhil in Development Studies will provide you with a rigorous and critical introduction to development as a process of managed and unmanaged change in societies in the global South. The course is an excellent preparation for a career in development policy or practice or for further study in the field.
This is a nine-month degree in development economics with a strong emphasis on bringing methods of modern economic analysis to economic development theory and policy. The course will prepare you for further academic research or for work as a professional development economist in international agencies, governments or the private sector.
The MSc in Global Governance and Diplomacy is a nine-month course designed to provide high-quality graduate training about the institutions and processes of global governance and diplomacy and will prepare you for a career in those fields or beyond.
This interdisciplinary, nine-month master’s degree integrates the study of migration and mobility with broader processes of development and social transformation world-wide. Taught by world-class researchers, it will introduce you to key migration and mobility-related concepts, methods and theories across the social sciences, and prepare you for further research or a professional career.
This nine-month master’s degree places forced migration in an academic framework, preparing you for doctoral study or for work relevant to human rights, refugees and migration. It offers an intellectually demanding, interdisciplinary route to understanding forced migration in contexts of conflict, repression, natural disasters, environmental change and development policy-making.