Programmes and degrees ISS provides education in the social sciences to postgraduate professionals, mostly from developing countries and countries in transition. The courses are all taught in English and cover a number of fields, including development economics, migration, public policy, governance, gender, agriculture, food, population, social security, children and youth, and human rights.
Doctoral programme The institute offers a four-year
Doctoral programme which leads to a degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies. PhD researchers are embedded into the research programmes at ISS, and are usually involved in one of four research groups: Civic Innovation, Development Economics, Political Ecology or Governance, Law and Social Justice. Currently there are about 125 enrolled PhD researchers and ISS has awarded over 250 PhD degrees since the programme was established. Within the Netherlands, ISS participates in the national doctoral research school CERES, and within Erasmus University in the Erasmus Graduate School of Social Sciences and the Humanities.
Master programmes ISS offers a 12-month Master in Development Studies and various postgraduate diploma programmes; there is also a two-year joint master's degree in Public Policy which requires students to study at ISS or at the
Central European University in the first academic year, and at the
University of York or the
Institute on International Relations in Barcelona (IBEI) in the second year. The ISS Master's degree in Development Studies is accredited by the Netherlands Flemish accreditation organisation
NVAO and provides eligibility for entry to PhD programmes in the Netherlands and other countries. In 2010 the ISS Master programme received the 'internationalization as a distinctive quality feature' accreditation from the NVAO. ISS also offers various joint programmes with academic partners. 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. 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. All degrees are recognized internationally and by Dutch legislation on higher education.
Research and publications ISS research is clustered in the research programme Global Development and Social Justice. Much of the research carried out in the institute is available through publications online, either as journal articles or in the ISS Working Papers. The ISS Working Paper series consists mainly of work in progress; the best, award-winning dissertations by Masters students are also published in this way. 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 also publishes the bi-annual journal, DevISSues. The journal promotes the International Institute of Social Studies as a leading centre for Development Studies. It does so by publicizing 'state of the art' high quality information about research and teaching at ISS and by stimulating debate on key and emerging development policy issues.
Library ISS has a 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. The library also has a substantial collection of report material, much of it "grey" literature.
Rectors Since its foundation the institute has had twelve rectors. • 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 (2015–2023) •
Ruard Ganzevoort (since 2023) ==ISS Alumni==