Centre for Development and Emergency Practice (CENDEP)

CENDEP’s award-winning Masters degree in Development and Emergency Practice is known and respected for its practice base and strong culture of student and practitioner collaboration.

Since its founding in 1991 the Masters degree has established an international reputation for excellence. In that time well over 500 students have attended the programme from all around the world, with many going on to hold wide-ranging positions in community based groups, NGOs, UN and donor bodies, governments and the military.

The programme is above all multi-disciplinary: each year students come from all kinds of backgrounds and walks of life. While many have extensive experience working within aid agencies and are looking to make sense of their experience, others may be wanting to become engaged in issues of poverty, development, conflict and disaster. Others still may have found themselves caught up in emergencies and are now looking to refocus their careers.

For details on the programme please visit the School's Online Course Page

Queen's Anniversary Prize

[The degree is recognised for its] international reputation for pioneering education and training for humanitarian aid workers. Combining innovative practice-based study with a multi-disciplinary academic approach, its unique emphasis on educating humanitarian practitioners for work in war, political violence and disaster is a model for others.

In 2001 CENDEP's masters degree was awarded the Queen's anniversary prize for Higher and further education. The Prizes scheme was set up in 1993 by The Royal Anniversary Trust with the consent of the Queen and the approval of the Prime Minister and all political parties, and of the Charity Commision.

Uniquely in the field of education, these Prizes sit within the national honours system. They recognise and honour outstanding achievement and excellence in UK universities and colleges.

Postgraduate Certificate in Humanitarian Action and Conflict

Oxford Brookes University and the Université Paris Est-Créteil Val de Marne announced the first intake for the postgraduate certificate in April 2010. Aimed primarily at practitioners, the course will link practice with theory by sharing experience, by discussion with key practitioners and by critical reflection and debate.

The course will draw on knowledge and experience representative of the English and the French traditions in humanitarian theory and practice. As such, it offers a unique opportunity for dialogue between the two dominant approaches, the Anglo-Saxon (often based on service provision and co-operation with government organisations) and the French (the 'sans-frontierist' approach of radical independence). For more information about the postgraduate certificate please refer to the School's course page.