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International Institute of Social Studies

Type	Public
Established	1952
Endowment	€24.5 million[1]
Rector	Professor Inge Hutter
Academic staff	145[1]
Students	280
Location	The Hague , Netherlands
Colours	Black and Red[1]
Affiliations	Ceres[2] The Hague Academic Coalition[3]
Website	http://www.iss.nl/
ISS Logo

The International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam in The Hague is annindependent and international graduate school of policy-oriented critical social science. It brings together students and teachers from the Global South and the North in a European environment. Established in 1952 as the International Institute of Social Studies by Dutch universities and the Netherlands Ministry of Education it does research, teaching and public service in the field of development studies and international cooperation. ISS is located in The Hague, known as 'The World’s Legal Capital'.

Between 300 and 400 students are enrolled in the ISS programmes, mostly in the MA and PhD programme in Development Studies. ISS staff members specialize in topics from land reform to enterprise development, and from the World Bank to slum politics, from human rights to genocide, and from inequality to social movements, from global migration to the role of media in conflict. In addition to its teaching and research, ISS is active in the fields of advisory work and institutional capacity building projects. All ISS activities are characterised by an interdisciplinary approach and are conducted by an international staff which reflects a broad range of experience and theoretical interests.

ISS has close relations ships with many universities and research institutes throughout the world.

ISS was founded in 1952^[4] by the Dutch government to assist in the training and further education of professionals, especially, but not only, from developing countries. ISS is part of Erasmus University Rotterdam.^[5]

When the ISS was created, the idea was to train and bring to the Netherlands young, bright people, mainly government employees initially, from mainly post-colonial countries. This was one way in which the Netherlands sought to develop good relationships with intellectuals and policy makers in partner countries, including and beyond former Dutch colonies. For many years, the main funding body for ISS Masters students was the Dutch government, most recently through the Nuffic Foundation, which is usually administered through Embassies in the students' countries of origin. Over the past decades there has been an increase in the variety of funding for ISS students. The Institute's former academic staff and students form a kind of diasporic community that often retain close ties to the Institute. Their shared concerns include thinking 'outside the box' of conventional economic development policies. There is a shared view that good practice and good analysis should go together in the world of development. Across interests as diverse as development economics, human rights, women and gender and agrarian change, ISS students and staff often work together as well as learn together. A strong historical trend has been to study and research 'alternatives' to mainstream thinking about development. A wide range of disciplines is represented, from economics to women's studies and international law. Across all the work of ISS, what seems to emerge as a common theme is the question of how theory and practice connect in constructing development outcomes.

ISS research is clustered in the research programme Global Development and Social Justice. It is at the cutting edge of a range of development-related areas.^[6] Many articles and books have been published on a regular basis by ISS staff to share the findings of their academic work. Much of the research carried out in the Institute is available through no-cost publications on-line, like the ISS Working Papers.^[7]

The ISS Working Paper series are mainly work in progress and the best, award-winning dissertations by Masters students are also published in this way. Those who seek to be widely read can publish a working paper and hope to elicit comments from readers and thus generate debate. Debate is indeed a vital part of the activities and remit of the Institute. Seminar and research workshops, conference and special events are announced on the website on an ongoing basis.^[8] As well as seminars by staff and PhD participants, visiting researchers and invited experts come to speak at ISS on a regular basis. The wider diplomatic and academic community is often invited to major debates and other events.

ISS is part of Erasmus University Rotterdam since 2009 and provides education in the social sciences to postgraduate professionals, mostly from developing countries and countries in transition.^[9] The courses are all taught in English in a number of fields, including development economics, migration, public policy, governance, gender, agriculture, food, population, social security, children and youth, and human rights.^[9]

The Institute offers a four-year Doctoral programme, a two-year joint MA degree in Public Policy,^[10] a 15.5-month MA in Development Studies with various Majors and postgraduate diploma programmes. The four-year Doctoral programme leads to an international recognised degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies. Within the Netherlands, ISS participates in the national doctoral research school CERES,^[11] and within the Erasmus University in the Erasmus Graduate School of Social Sciences and the Humanities ^[12] With a strong focus on training in the theory and methods relevant to development studies, the MA Programme aims to equip graduates to apply new insights in policy analysis in a practical context, leading to a master's degree in Development Studies.^[13] The ISS MA Degree in Development Studies is widely recognized, accredited by the Netherlands Flemish accreditation organisation NVAO and provides eligibility for entry to PhD programmes in the Netherlands and other countries worldwide. In 2010 the ISS Masters Programme received the 'internationalization as a distinctive quality feature' accreditation from the NVAO. Postgraduate diploma programmes are also offered catering to the needs of young and mid-career professionals who wish to deepen their knowledge in a particular field related to their research or occupation.^[14] ISS also offers various joint programmes with academic partners all over the world. In some programmes students take part of the programme elsewhere and part of the programme at ISS in The Hague. In other programmes ISS staff travel to the partner institute for contribute to teaching. ISS admits a limited number of auditors who wish to attend only some of the courses in the MA Programme. In addition, for Dutch residents, a more flexible arrangement of the MA programme can be requested, spreading the programme over a longer period ^[15] All degrees are recognised internationally and by Dutch legislation on higher education.

For the Doctoral programme applicants are required to have a master's degree in one of the social sciences. They must have obtained at least class 2.1, B+ or equivalent as determined by the Netherlands Organisation for International Cooperation in Higher Education Nuffic. For the MA programme and the Postgraduate Diploma programmes applicants are required to have a bachelor's degree in one of the social sciences or equivalent, comprising at least three years studies at a recognised university or institute of higher education. They must have obtained at least class 2.2 (Lower Second), B or equivalent, but preferably class 2.1 (Upper Second), B+ or equivalent Applicants from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Pakistan are required to have an MA degree. Professional experience relevant to the Specialisation which the applicant wishes to study is normally expected and is a preference for admission.^[16]

ISS language requirements are the same regardless of application of study. ISS does not require a language certificate from native English speakers. All other candidates must provide a certificate from either TOEFL or the IELTS (British Council). The IELTS score must be 6.5 overall for the Academic Test. The TOEFL score must be for the paper test (PBT) 580, for the computer-based test (CBT) 237 and for the internet test (IBT) 92.^[16]

ISS has a well-stocked specialised library available for the use of ISS staff and students and for visitors. The library focuses on the social sciences (development studies) with a predominant emphasis on developing countries and countries in transition. The collection comprises approximately 100,000 books, 450 current subscriptions to journals, a reference collection, as well as on-line and CD-ROM databases (e.g., World Bank Development Indicators). The library also has a substantial collection of report material, much of it "grey" literature.^[17]

Since its foundation the institute has had twelve rectors.^[18]

• Egbert de Vries (1956–1966)
• Jan Glastra van Loon (1966–1973)
• Chris van Nieuwenhuyze (1973–1975)
• Jos Hilhorst (1975–1976)
• Louis Emmerij (1976–1985)
• Charles Cooper (1985)
• Dik Wolfson (1986–1990)
• Geertje Lycklama à Nijeholt (1990–1995)
• Henk van Roosmalen (1995)
• Hans Opschoor (1996–2004)
• Louk de la Rive Box (2005–2010)
• Leo de Haan (2010-2015)
• Inge Hutter (since 2015) ^[19]

Over the past 65 years, over 13,000 students from more than 160 countries have studied at ISS. Many now hold leading positions in government, international organisations, higher education, planning agencies and non-governmental organisations.^[20] These former students create the international ISS alumni community. A community in which ideas, experiences and views are shared, often for a long time after graduating. Two alumni groups can be found on Facebook and LinkedIn: ISS Alumni and Connecting the world. Alumni relations are coordinated by the office ISS Alumni Relations in The Hague.

Many ISS alumni hold influential positions. For example, in governments, international NGOs, as well as in universities or other research institutions.

ISS's Honorary Fellows play an important role and support ISS activities in a lot of different ways.

Focuss.info was initiated by ISS and now has 26 collaborating organizations in the field of development studies and practice.^[49] Focuss.Info provides a search engine for practitioners, researchers and students in global development studies. And unlike generic search engines like Google or Yahoo, Focuss.info searches through a pre-selected database of electronic resources, which are recommended by librarians, researchers and practitioners in the participating institutions. Resources are selected on the basis of their relevance to development studies as well as their quality. A feature of Focuss.Info is that researchers, students and practitioners themselves can contribute by adding their own bookmarks. This builds a search engine grounded firmly in the research activities of a growing number of people working in related fields across international development.

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