IHE Delft International Graduate School for Water and Development

IHE Delft is a unique knowledge institute in the Dutch research and educational landscape, combining excellence in research and PhD training with a mission to strengthen capacity in the water sector and support sustainable development. The Graduate School manages the PhD programme and helps coordinate Institute research. It works closely with partner universities around the world to strengthen doctoral education.

PhD candidates conduct a major part of IHE Delft’s research. They undertake scientific research structured around themes that address key societal challenges. Their research focuses on solutions to problems and is often directly related to water challenges in their home countries or regions.

The IHE Delft PhD programme offers an internationally oriented environment in which PhD candidates grow into highly qualified researchers and skilled professionals. Candidates work together with academic staff and international partners on topics related to water and development in all its different facets.

To maximize its relevance and impact, IHE Delft’s research is linked to five essential elements of sustainability.

First is to meet basic needs, which refers mainly to water supply, sanitation, hygiene, and food security.

Second is to protect the integrity of the resource base, which refers to water resources (freshwater, estuarine, and coastal) and ecosystems that constitute natural heritage as well as the raw materials necessary for economic growth.

Third is to ensure equity and reduce conflict, with an emphasis on gender equality for women and girls as well as the role of water in promoting cooperation.

Fourth is to mitigate risks and build resilience, which emphasizes floods and droughts and considers hard and soft engineering and management approaches in urban and rural settings and in response to climate change.

And finally, fifth is to enable economic development, which emphasizes going beyond basic needs to support sustainable agriculture, energy generation, and other productive uses of water that increase income and raise living standards.

PhD degrees are awarded through partnerships with Delft University of Technology, Wageningen University & Research, University of Amsterdam, and University of Twente. IHE Delft is also a member of the Netherlands Research School for Socio-Economic and Natural Sciences of the Environment (SENSE), which is a joint venture of environmental research groups of several Dutch universities and institutes.

These partnerships add value to the PhD programme and research of the institute by broadening the research scope, by increasing the range of resources and facilities available and by helping to maintain high quality.