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.”
We are delighted to announce that three members of the department – Dr Sabina Alkire, Professor Xiaolan Fu, and Emeritus Professor Frances Stewart – have been conferred the award of Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.
The Academy of Social Sciences is the national academy of academics, practitioners, and learned societies in social science. It champions the vital role social sciences play in education, government, and business.
Fellows are recognised, after an independent peer review process, for the excellence and impact of their work and their wider contributions to the social sciences for public benefit.
Dr Alkire is Director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) at ODID. Her research focuses on multidimensional poverty measurement and analysis. Together with Professor James Foster of George Washington University she devised a new method for measuring poverty that has been adopted by governments around the world.
Professor Fu is Professor of Technology and International Development and Director of the Technology and Management Centre for Development (TMCD) at ODID. Her research interests include innovation, technology and industrialisation; trade, foreign direct investment and economic development; emerging Asian economies; and innovation and productivity in the UK/US. Her work has been influential in changing our understanding of the role of innovation in enabling development.
Professor Stewart is Emeritus Professor of Development Economics and was Director of ODID between 1993 and 2003. In 2009 she was awarded the UNDP’s Mahbub ul Haq award for her lifetime’s achievements in promoting human development.
"It is a real honour to have three members of our department selected as new fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences”, said Professor Diego Sánchez-Ancochea, Head of Department. “It is a well-deserved recognition of their contribution to international development and demonstrates once again the vibrancy of our community and the quality of all our work".