Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies

The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies is an institution of research and higher education dedicated to the study of world affairs, with a particular emphasis on the cross-cutting fields of international relations and development issues. Through our core activities, we aim to promote international cooperation and make a contribution to the progress of developing societies. More broadly, we endeavour to develop creative thinking on the major challenges of our time, foster global responsibility and advance respect for diversity. We are a cosmopolitan community located in the heart of Geneva, an international city and a centre of global governance. By intensely engaging with international organisations, NGO’s, governments and multinational companies, we participate in global discussions and prepare future policy-makers to lead tomorrow’s world.

The Graduate Institute is an institution of further education that offers study programmes, executive education and expertise in international relations and development studies. It seeks to offer independent and rigorous analysis of major contemporary global issues as part of efforts to promote international cooperation and make an academic contribution to the progress of less-developed societies. The Institute offers students from all over the world an opportunity to undertake advanced bilingual (English-French) disciplinary and interdisciplinary (Masters and PhDs) studies intended to give them the high-level skills necessary to enable them to make an important contribution towards peace and development.

The Institute combines teaching and academic research with expertise and executive education as part of efforts to respond in a flexible manner to the needs of public and private international actors. Thanks to its position in Geneva, it is able to take advantage of contributions from the many international governmental and non-governmental organisations in Geneva as well as of the city’s diplomatic missions. It offers the international community and the Swiss diplomatic community a forum for meetings and a platform for forward-looking reflection. The Institute is the focal point for the Swiss Network of International Studies, a network which includes the the University of Geneva and other Swiss academic partners, intended to strengthen the field of international studies in Switzerland and to encourage, following in the tradition of its predecessor the RUIG, cooperation between academic institutions and international organisations. The Institute also maintains and develops partnerships and participates in international exchange networks.

The Institute is governed independently according to a clearly defined set of responsbilities for all its entities and a management system based on the principles of efficiency and flexibility.

The Institute encourages widespread participation in its activities. The Institute offers a public service and is supported in its mission by financial contributions from the Swiss Confederation and the Canton of Geneva. As part of efforts to fulfill the objectives it has set for itself the Institute is seeking to diversify its sources of funding to increase the number of scholarships it can offer and create employment opportunities.

We are well-placed to meet this challenge thanks to several comparative advantages:

• Our cosmopolitanism, which allows students from over a hundred countries to experience global diversity and build lifelong connections
• A small community, which facilitates close and productive interaction between teachers and students
• A remarkable wealth of expertise, which includes both accomplished specialists and junior researchers (PhD candidates make up nearly half of the student body) and is reinforced by our commitment to interdisciplinary cooperation
• Our strong ties to International Geneva, with its range of actors (diplomatic missions as well as international and non-governmental organisations) and focus areas which are crucial to the future of our world (humanitarian action and human rights, trade, peacebuilding, the environment, migration, health, and more), providing numerous opportunities for cooperation
• An international network of academic partners, notably in the principal emerging countries, which offers our students valuable opportunities for study and research exchanges
• A commitment to excellence, upon which our reputation is based and which guarantees the value of our diplomas

Our Institute has earned a worldwide reputation for preparing students for international careers. We are committed to strengthening this reputation by building upon tradition and encouraging innovation, but above all by ensuring the professional success of our graduates, whether they choose to pursue careers in the public sector, the private sector or the non-profit sector. Whichever path they follow, they will benefit from an education that combines intellectual rigour with a practical focus, to allow them to make a beneficial impact on our world.