2.4: Graduate Degree Programs
Open graduate degree programs in areas aligned with research focus Other Information:
Measures: Numbers of students enrolled in and graduated from masters and doctoral programs; number and quality of applicants
to the programs; numbers of publications resulting from student research; placement of graduates; measurable added value of
the degree programs. UNU-IIST has pursued its mission to provide postgraduate training and capacity building by hosting fellows
at the institute, by co-supervising doctoral students, and by running short-term training courses. While these activities
have provided great benefit to the individuals involved, the impact has been limited. The institute will seek to achieve broader
impact by launching postgraduate programs in areas aligned with the institute‟s research focus, as mandated in the UNU strategic
plan. Since UNU-IIST research programs will be highly interdisciplinary, degree programs will be launched in partnership with
institutions that can provide complementary expertise, including universities and other UNU institutes. Postgraduate degree
programs will provide the added benefit of increasing the number of scholars involved in the institute‟s research programs.
UNU-IIST will seek to build upon the existing collaborative PhD program with the University of Pisa and transition it to a
joint or dual degree program. Such a program if formulated in a flexible manner could provide an umbrella for students to
pursue various dissertation topics aligned with the research programs within the institute. Funding would be sought in the
form of scholarships and by budgeting into research grants. UNU-IIST will launch one or two masters programs that cut across
and thus are able to draw upon resources of various programmatic areas in the institute. One promising area is ICT for Sustainable
Development, to which all programs in the institute could contribute. While programs exist in ICT for Development, few currently
address the sustainability aspect in a significant way. Thus the institute could fill an unmet need and further its establishment
as a leader in this area. It is likely that such a program would have strong appeal to students from developed countries who
would have the means to cover tuition fees. In that case, a tuition-discounting scheme could be used to subsidize students
from developing countries. In addition, it is likely that such a program would be of interest to foundations and donor agencies.
A second promising master program area is E-Governance and E-Policy, which is a natural combination of two of the institute‟s
programs. The masters program could include a mixture of technical courses in areas such as data analysis, decision support,
and organizational information systems, as well as courses in public policy, governance, and legal aspects. The Center for
Technology in Government at the University of Albany is a potential partner for such a program, which could be associated
with the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs. Such a program might well appeal to government agencies so that they would
be willing to fund their staff to pursue it.
Indicator(s):
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