International Institute of Social Studies

Part of Erasmus University Rotterdam
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Apply MA in Development Studies

Ready to shape the future of global development?

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Focus on challenges around water, agriculture and food

Agrifood, Water and Technologies Academic Team

Find out more about this Academic Team dealing with issues around societal challenges around water, agriculture and food.

Read more about the AWT Academic Team
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Water, Securitization Anxieties and Border Imaginaries

How do ordinary people caught up in situations where water-bodies and border imaginaries are fiercely contested, make sense of their environment and exert agency to navigate and reimagine alternatives at the margins of securitized borders and accelerated environmental change?

Read more about this research project
Canoe on bank of river - WASABI project

Building urban resilience through urban agriculture?

Investigating how concrete Urban Agriculture (UA) initiatives contribute to resilience looking at initiatives such as garden associations, rooftop gardens and closed-loop agricultural production in urban areas.

Find out more about our research into urban agiculture
Urban gardener at Westerduin allotment gardens

International Centre for Frugal Innovation

(Re)designing products, services and systems at substantially lower costs and with a longer lifespan while there is no loss of functionality.

Read more about this innovative research
A farmer in Bangladesh carrying water to irrigate crops in a lush green field under a clear sky.

Highlights

'Giving Voice to Silence' now also available in Urdu

The meanings of transactional sex for militancy-affected people on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border

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Master Open Day

Visit us on Saturday, 21 November 2026

Prospective student listens attentively to an information session in a lecture hall.

ISS scholarship finder

Our country-based scholarship finder can help you identify funding opportunities for your MA at ISS

Students studying in the library
  • Justice, Law and the Possibilities for Systemic Change

    During this book launch the authors will share their experiences across the domains of academic research, legal practice and political activism
    Two book covers - Legal Mobilization and Radical Justice
  • Symposium & Inaugural Lecture Professor Matthias Rieger

    Global Health and Development Economics Symposium, followed by Matthias Rieger’s lecture on global health behaviors and randomised trials.
    Matthias Rieger
  • Master Open Day

    Visit the Master Open Day at Erasmus University Rotterdam on Saturday 21 November 2026 and find the programme that suits you!
    Students sit in the lecture benches and listen intently.

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