Graduate Field of Development Studies

The Department of Global Development works together with the Cornell Graduate School to process applications. Required documents must be submitted online via the Graduate School online application and requested test scores must be sent through the testing agency.

Application deadline

December 1; no spring admissions

Before You Begin

• Graduate study at Cornell is organized using a field structure. You can familiarize yourself with this structure to gain a better understanding of which faculty members might serve on your dissertation committee.
• The application will ask for your major concentration. The options are Population and Development, Rural and Environmental Sociology, and State, Economy, and Society. Here you will find an overview of the concentrations as well as a list of core and affiliate faculty associated with each concentration. You can also review the Student Handbook. 
• You are encouraged to familiarize yourself with faculty members’ research areas before applying, and to identify in your personal statement faculty members with whom you are interested in working.  In order to have a consistent and fair admission process, this year we decided to not have individual meetings or correspondence between field faculty and potential students. Instead, we encourage you to look at our program website, including field faculty information, to make sure that your research interests align with faculty interests and expertise.
• We will not be arranging campus visits prior to the application deadline. Those applicants who are short-listed (usually around 10-12 applicants) will have opportunity to meet (virtually) with individual faculty and current graduate students. 

How to Apply

Submitted by the applicant via the online application

• all Graduate School Requirements, including the TOEFL Exam or IELTS Academic Exam for non-native English applicants
• Academic CV (upload PDF)
• Short writing sample (under 10 pages, upload PDF)

Submitted by recommenders via the online application

• Three letters of recommendation must be on business letter and contain a signature of the letter writer, two of which must be from academic recommenders

Submitted by the testing agency to the Cornell Graduate School upon applicant’s request

• TOEFL Exam scores are required of applicants from countries where the native language is not English; see the Cornell Graduate School website for requirements and exceptions.

Questions?

Contact Rachel Bezner Kerr, Director of the Development Studies Graduate Field at rbeznerkerr [at] cornell.edu (rbeznerkerr[at]cornell[dot]edu) or Derar Lulu, Graduate Field Coordinator, at dl987 [at] cornell.edu (dl987[at]cornell[dot]edu).

1. What is the deadline to apply? December 1, 2024.
2. Should I reach out to faculty members before applying?
   We ask that students do not reach out to faculty prior to applying in order to maintain an equitable admissions process. Shortlisted candidates will have the opportunity to interview with faculty as part of the admissions procedure. We do ask you to carefully review the field faculty list, and determine who might be best suited to work with you during the graduate program, based on your research interests and their area of expertise. You will be asked to list these faculty in your application. Development Studies Faculty. 
3. What are the English language requirements for admission?
   The English language proficiency requirements can be found on the Cornell Graduate School's website. Please refer to this link for detailed information: English Language Proficiency Requirements.
4. Is the GRE required for application?
   No, the GRE is not required for admission to our program.
5. Can I submit a writing sample longer than 10 pages?
   No, please do not submit a writing sample longer than 10 pages. We require a writing sample of 10 pages or fewer. 
6. What should the academic statement of purpose include?
   For guidance on writing your Academic Statement of Purpose (ASOP), please refer to the Cornell Graduate School's website: Statements of Purpose. Remember to include detailed information about what you want to study and why the Development Studies program is the best fit for your intended research.
7. Are there specific formatting requirements for the writing sample? Can I submit an extended abstract of a co-authored paper?
   There are no specific formatting requirements for the writing sample. You may submit any academic piece you would like to be reviewed. If submitting a co-authored paper, please specify which contributions were made by you.
8. Can I apply to the program without a master’s degree?
   Yes, you can apply to the program without a master’s degree. A master’s degree is not required for admission. Note, however, that students who are admitted to the program without a Master’s degree in a relevant (thesis-based) degree program (e.g. development studies, geography, anthropology, sociology, political science) must choose (in consultation with their committee chair) to either write a publishable qualifying paper or earn a MS as part of the PhD program. 
9. I have a master’s degree in another field. Will it count towards my degree?
   Having a master’s degree in a relevant field may allow you to be exempted from certain core required courses, but this decision is made by the Director of Graduate Studies in consultation with the instructor for the required course.
10. What methodologies and software should I be familiar with for the program?
    Our program is an interdisciplinary social science degree, which does not focus exclusively on quantitative, qualitative or geospatial research. The type of research you do will depend on your individual interests. Students are, however, required to take a core curriculum that includes one quantitative and one qualitative methods course.
11. How closely should the writing sample be related to my research proposal?
    It is entirely up to you, but ideally, you should submit the best writing sample that showcases your academic intellectuality and writing capabilities. Since this program has significant writing requirements, the sample should reflect your strengths in this area.
12. What type of research experience do you look for in applicants? Does it need to be academic or professional?
    We do not require prior research experience, and applicants have joined with varying levels of experience. We do, however, highly value professional and field experience, especially if it has allowed you to develop transferable skills that are beneficial for conducting research in our program.
13. How many students are admitted to the program each year?
    Admission numbers vary, but about 4-6 students are typically accepted per cohort.
14. Can I work with faculty members from other departments on my committee?
    Yes, you may work with faculty members from other departments. There are field members who are in other departments outside of Global Development. You must have a special committee chair who is a member of the Development Studies field. You can also have faculty members from other graduate fields as minor members of your committee. It is important to consider faculty whose research aligns closely with your own, and who are members of relevant graduate fields. For faculty information, you can reference the list of field faculty members within Development Studies: Development Studies Faculty.

Those admitted to the Ph.D. program are guaranteed 5 years of funding. This includes tuition, health insurance, and a stipend.

Stipend information can be found on the Cornell Graduate School website. Additional information on financial aid for graduate students can be found here.

Application Fee Waiver

In cases of extreme financial need, the Graduate School will consider a request for a fee waiver.  If you think you are eligible for a waiver, please submit your application and the fee waiver request at the same time, right in the application form.  The Graduate School reviews waiver requests and notifications are sent within one to three business days.  Whenever possible, please submit your application with the fee waiver request at least three days before your application deadline.  If your request is denied, you will receive a notification asking you to revisit your application and pay the fee.  Please visit the Graduate School Application Fees website for additional information on fee waivers.

Cornell offers several fellowships for newly admitted students, including the CALS Excellence Award and the SUNY Diversity Fellowship.  These are determined by the department at the time of admission.

Teaching and Research Assistantships

• determined on a yearly basis
• include tuition, a stipend and student health insurance
• students are expected to work about 15 hours per week

Information on stipends for graduate students at Cornell can be found on the Graduate School website. Summer and conference travel grants are available for students to apply to. The Graduate School offers more information on available fellowships for Cornell students.

Cornell Graduate School Travel Funding

The Graduate School is pleased to provide research degree students (M.A./M.S., Ph.D., J.S.D., D.M.A., M.F.A.) with financial support for travel that is linked to research and scholarship.  Eligible students are encouraged to apply for grant funding related to professional conferences, research travel, or summer language education. Ph.D. students are eligible for travel grants starting in their first semester until the end of the fourteenth semester of enrollment.

Visit the Graduate School Travel Funding Opportunities page to learn about the following: 

• Conference Grant 
• Research Travel Grant 
• Intercampus Travel Grant 
• Summer Foreign Language Grant 

Department Conference Travel Grants

• Graduate students will be eligible for up to two conference grants of $400 during their graduate career.  A student must be making an oral presentation at a conference in order to be eligible for an award.  Graduate students who wish to use conference grant funding from the Graduate School or any other source and conference grant funding from Global Development must demonstrate a financial need by presenting a budget to the graduate program coordinator for review and approval.
• Travelers should review Cornell’s Travel website.

Mario Einaudi Center grants

• Funding opportunities for students

Dissertation Research Grant

• Andrew W. Mellon Environmental Research Grant, Cornell University

The Ronny Adhikarya Niche Award (RANA)

• The R-Adhikarya “Niche” Award (RANA) empowers students to pursue innovative thinking in their studies and careers. This $10,000 annual prize to a graduate student in Global Development recognizes young visionaries who dare to think differently. Matriculated Ph.D. students may apply for this opportunity in the Fall of even years. 

The Cornell Graduate School hosts a database containing over 700 funding opportunities. Here is a list of common sources of funding for Development Studies students, based on the previous five years:

• UCLA funding Searchable Database 
• Fulbright-Hays Awards 
• Fulbright U.S. Student Program (deadline: September) 
• Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowship (FLAS) (deadline: Spring) 
• NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (deadline: October) 
• U.S. Borlaug Fellows Graduate Research Grant (deadline: February) 
• Boren Awards for International Study (deadline: January)
• American Association of University Women fellowships (deadline: November/December) 
• Wenner-Gren Foundation Dissertation Fieldwork Grants (deadline: November and May) 
• Social Science Research Council Dissertation Proposal Development Fellowship (deadline: October) 
• Social Science Research Council International Dissertation Research Fellowship (deadline: November)
• Rural Sociological Society Dissertation Research Award (Dissertation Research Grant) 

Other funding sources:

• U.S. Department of Homeland Security (deadline: January) 
• EPA Star 
• Lynn Reyer Award in Tribal Community Development (Dissertation Research Grant), Society for the Preservation of American Indian Culture (deadline: March)  
• Southwest Communities and Natural Resources Fellowship, (Pre-dissertation Research Fellowship), Community Forestry and Environmental Research Partnerships, University of California, Berkeley 
• Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowships (deadline: December) 

Faculty in the field rely on a wide range of domestic and international funding to support research and graduate students. Graduate students also successfully apply for a wide range of internal and external grants for their fieldwork, such as the Wenner Gren fellowship, National Science Foundation and Fulbright fellowships.
 
Students and faculty members are actively conducting research around the globe, both in the United States and elsewhere. Although some doctoral dissertations are based on field-collected data, other candidates rely on rich secondary-data resources, working closely with the Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research (CISER) and the various libraries on campus.

Faculty members also participate in other fields such as Natural Resources, City and Regional Planning, Anthropology, Crop and Soil Sciences, in the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, and in the area studies programs for Africa, Latin America, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Several of those programs have supported dissertation research overseas. The department is also home to the Polson Institute for Global Development, which funds assorted working group research initiatives in the U.S. and abroad.

 

Students in the field of Development Studies engage in theoretical and applied research, teaching, and outreach on the causes, dynamics, and consequences of social, cultural, political and economic change.

The program offers preparation for academic careers in development studies, sociology, rural sociology, geography and related fields, and for applied careers in development studies, including development work in the United States and other countries.

For the Ph.D. degree, students are expected to demonstrate (1) a thorough knowledge of social theory, with special emphasis on theories in their academic concentrations, (2) comprehensive knowledge of the body of work that is pertinent to their concentrations, and (3) knowledge of multiple research methods, with special emphasis on research design, data collection, and analytical techniques used in the discipline.

Learning Goals

By the time you graduate from our program, you should be able to analyze the world as a social scientist with expertise in development studies. This means that you will be able to synthesize a range of social science and related technical knowledge and apply it to today’s problems. You should be able to think critically and independently and generate research that makes a substantial contribution to the field.  We offer courses that foster foundational skills in both theory and method, and we provide courses that teach specialized skills in sub-areas that are central to Development Studies.  You should be able to use what you learn here to enter a career in academia, in the public or private sector, or in development practice.

Students in our field must be able to convey the results of their research in writing and through their spoken abilities. You will be given ample opportunity to prepare your research for presentation in coursework and eventually at conferences. It will be important to organize material for a clear and concise presentation and to adhere to time guidelines. When you are ready to present your work at professional meetings, we will encourage an in-house public presentation first, so that you can receive constructive feedback on the substance or your work and your presentation style.

It is critical that Development Studies scholars be aware of and able to adhere to ethical guidelines regarding the conduct and dissemination of their research, whether the research is an individual project or a collaborative one. Students in our program must take part in Institutional Review Board (IRB) training and any research involving human subjects must receive IRB approval before it is begun.

Proficiencies

A candidate for a Ph.D. in Development Studies is expected to demonstrate mastery of knowledge in theory and method and to be able to make original and significant contributions to the field upon completion of her/his degree. 

Proficiencies that are required to be demonstrated by the candidate:

Make an original and substantial contribution to the discipline through the following:

• Demonstrate your understanding of the field of knowledge in our discipline
• Be able to identify new research opportunities 
• Be able to identify an important research question
• Think critically and creatively
• Synthesize knowledge and apply in important innovative research 

Acquire and communicate advanced research skills

• Synthesize existing knowledge
• Master existing quantitative and qualitative research methods 
• Master oral and written communication skills for conveying information clearly and effectively

A commitment to advancing scholarship

• Gain and maintain familiarity with core knowledge and advances in the field