The graduate program in Development Studies (DEVs) at Kathmandu University offers Master’s and PhD degrees that aim to meet the growing complexity of development discourses & activities.

On completion of Masters in DEVS, students will have further developed their

• Knowledge, skills and understanding regarding contemporary high priority national and global development issues, and the underlying debate,

• Basic technical skills to effectively conduct research and analysis in different areas of development,

• Ability to communicate and discuss development issues with professionals and academicians,

• Foundations for further studies in related fields.

Career Prospects

• The Master in Development Studies program trains students in the understanding of current development issues and exposes them to a comprehensive range of tools and methods for the analysis of real-world development issues.

• Graduates can follow careers as development specialists and analysts in a wide variety of development agencies, both in the government and elsewhere.

Curriculum

The curriculum of the DEVS program aims at imparting both theoretical knowledge in and practical exposure to various issues. The major methods used will comprise of classroom lectures, case study analyses, field surveys, seminars, community internships, results discussions and presentations. The program emphasizes students’ active participation and involvement in the learning process wherein the instructors (faculty members) would mainly be playing the role of a facilitator.

Duration and Credit Hours

The Master in Development Studies (MDEVS) is a two-year program of four semesters. Students will have to complete altogether 48 credit hours of courses to successfully graduate from the program A three credit hour course requires 48 contact hours.

In the fourth semester, the students will have the following two options:

Option A: The first option is to write a dissertation of 9 credit hours under the regular supervision of an assigned supervisor. Each student will be assigned a supervisor only after the successful defense of her/his dissertation proposal. The students will have to submit the final dissertation to the department at the end of the two-year program.

Option B: The students who choose this option will have to take courses of 6 credit hours that include Community internship (3 credit hours) and independent study (3 credit hours).

If a student is not able to complete the program during the two- year period, he/she will have to pay additional fees as per the KU rules.

All students must complete the entire requirement for graduation within five academic years from the date of enrolment into the program.

Student Entry Criteria

Completion of minimum of 3 or 4-year Bachelor’s degree, or a master’s degree, with a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 2 out of 4.0, or an equivalent, or 45 per cent marks in general will be the criteria followed to evaluate the applicants. In addition, securing an acceptable level of ranking in the entrance test administered to measure required competencies including language proficiency and analytical ability will be essential. Only the candidates who pass the written exam will be selected for the interview, on the basis of which final selection will be made.

Intake Capacity

The maximum intake capacity for DEVS is 24 students per semester.

Admission Announcement

Usually the announcement for admissions for DEVS will be made in December every year.

How to Apply

Applications should be made on an official application form which is available from the office of School of Arts, Kathmandu University. Applicants should submit all relevant documents along with their application. Any inquiry regarding the course should be made at the concerned departments of School of Arts, Kathmandu University.

Grades and Grading Systems

Grades shall be assigned to individual students on the basis of instructor’s judgment of the student’s scholastic achievement as set forth in Section ii below.

• Grading System

Grades for students shall be reported by the following letters: A, A-, B, B+, B-, C+, C, C-, D, or F. The faculty member (instructor) will determine and execute the specific grading method, including the allocation of suitable weights to the methods. The instructor will explain the overall evaluation system to the students at the beginning of the course.

• Definition of Grades

The grades of A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D, and F indicate a graduation in quality from Excellent to Failure and are assigned the following grade-point equivalents:

All grading system is based on following rules:

The student must maintain an aggregate CGPA of 3.00 or above after completing the required 48 credit hours. If the aggregate CGPA is less than 3.00, the student will have to repeat certain courses until he/she maintains the required CGPA.