April 23-24, 2024 the University of Edinburgh will host the CAS/CeSeR Annual Conference. This conference, hosted by the Centre of African Studies and the Centre for Security Research at the University of Edinburgh, will focus on the relationships between everyday actors and state-driven violence.

The University of Edinburgh also runs two PhD programmes, in International Development and in African Studies. Recent graduates have worked on topics ranging from water infrastructure in Chad, the expansion of Chinese firms in Kenya, and disaster relief in Malawi. Interested students are encouraged to apply.

The Ph.D. in African Studies at the University of Edinburgh is an interdisciplinary doctoral programme and one of the leading places in Europe to study political, economic, and social developments on the continent.

In recent years, graduates of the Ph.D. in African Studies have accepted prestigious academic appointments and influential roles in non-profit, governmental, and international organisations. 

One such example is Elisa Gambino, whose PhD project was titled “The Political Economy of Sino-African Infrastructural Engagement: The Internationalisation of Chinese State-Owned Companies in Kenya”, and was part of the broader African Governance and Space (AFRIGOS) project in CAS, focused on the development of transport corridors in Africa. Her doctorate was a study of the development of the key large-scale infrastructure projects with Chinese participation in Kenya, with a focus on Lamu port.

She has since expanded her work on Chinese companies’ internationalisation, beginning to look at private companies’ internationalisation modalities and leading to her current project, titled “African Hubs, Chinese trade, and Global Circulation”, for which she was awarded a Hallsworth Fellowship in Political Economy at Manchester.

Find out more about where a PhD in African Studies at the University of Edinburgh can take you.

The MSc This programme sits within the Centre of African Studies (CAS). Founded in 1962, it iis one of the oldest and largest African Studies centres in Europe.

Edinburgh’s new MSc in International Development via online distance learning is a great addition to their portfolio of world-leading postgraduate study and research in this area.

Find out more.