Institute Development Studies

The Institute of Development Studies (IDS) was established in 1966 as a national centre for research and teaching on development. Situated on the campus of the University of Sussex in the south of England, IDS has close links with the University but remains financially and constitutionally independent. The Institute has grown over the years and taken on more diverse functions, including policy advisory work, graduate studies and international collaboration Research, however, remains the foundation of the Institute's work, on which other activities rest. Its purpose is to inform development policy-makers and practitioners at all levels and ultimately to contribute to the reduction of poverty and the creation of secure livelihoods. IDS works in most of the Developing World with a particular focus on Africa, and South and East Asia, but is also increasingly involved in Eastern Europe and the countries of the former Soviet Union Around sixty full time researchers work on a wide range of development themes. Much of the work has a strong inter-disciplinary flavour Economists work together with sociologists, political scientists, ecologists and other specialists to bring an integrated approach to some of today's most pressing development problems. Priority areas include: poverty reduction, food issues, environment, education, employment, gender, health, democracy and governance, trade, industry and finance. The British Library for Development Studies (BLDS), based at IDS, is one of the most comprehensive libraries of its kind in Europe, and one of the three largest in the world. Over 245,000 documents and 16,000 serial titles are held. This includes a high proportion of non-conventional literature, which can be difficult to obtain. IDS can also be reached on-line. Devline is the IDS on-line information service, accessible via the Internet (http://www.ids.ac.uk). ELDIS forms part of the IDS site and offers an Electronic Development Information Service for sources on development and the environment and the BLDS homepage enables people to search the library catalogue and resources. The final part of the IDS Internet site is the IDS homepage itself (http://www. ids.ac.uk/ids), which includes details of the institute s news, publications, research and teaching. The Institute has an active and evolving teaching programme. It offers postgraduate degree courses in Development Studies, Gender and Development and provides for doctoral degrees. It also runs a variety of short training courses for administrators, policy-makers and development practitioners. Some of these are well stablished international courses with long track-records: others are tailor-made to suit specific demands. Courses can be held either at IDS, using its excellent on-site facilities, or overseas. The institute hosts regular workshops and conferences and has a strong publications programme which includes the IDS Bulletin and the Policy Briefing Series. Among recent titles in the series are New thinking on gender and the environment; Confronting famine in Africa; Can aid promote good government? and Business associations in developing countries. Free copies of any of the Policy Briefing Series and further information on IDS can be obtained from: Paul Elgood Communications Coordinator Institute of Development Studies Falmer Brighton East Sussex BN1 9RE UK Tel: + 44 (0) 1273 606261 Fax: +44 (0) 1273 62 1202 email: p.elgood@sussex.ac.ukThe Institute of Development Studies (IDS) was established in 1966 as a national centre for research and teaching on development. Situated on the campus of the University of Sussex in the south of England, IDS has close links with the University but..