At the Institute for Global Health and Development, we offer dynamic, skills-focused postgraduate courses that prepare health, development and humanitarian professionals for the challenges of today and the career opportunities of tomorrow. As a multidisciplinary institute for education and research, we address global and public health, humanitarian response and development issues across local, national and international contexts.
Our Institute for Global Health and Development's range of postgraduate courses:
Our Institute for Global Health and Development (IGHD) currently offers the following courses as part of its Master’s Programme in Global Health and Development:
- MSc Global Health
- MSc Global Health (Health Systems)
- MSc Mental Health and Psychosocial Support
- MSc Public Health
- MSc Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
The courses are designed to develop master's level knowledge and skills in global and public health; the thematic pathways encourage the development of more subject-specific knowledge and skills aligned with UK and international standards for the specialist fields, preparing you for the current and emerging job markets for those sectors.
Within the overall structure of our master’s course portfolio, you can choose from among five courses.
There are also opportunities to take modules from other courses at ҹɫֱ²¥ or from partner institutions in 19 other countries through the programme.
We also offer flexible in and .
Why ҹɫֱ²¥?
The IGHD masters courses, led by experienced subject specialists, draw together participants from diverse cultural, professional and academic backgrounds to share a student-centred experience emphasising mutual learning and support.
Our approach is marked by a commitment to critical thinking, practice engagement and social justice:
- Critical thinking means we bring fresh insight and perspectives to situations, with our work frequently involving innovative methodologies and approaches.
- Practice engagement means that we are committed to working directly with ministries of health, international and national organisations and local communities to develop real solutions to problems.
- Social justice means that we are always particularly mindful of the needs of the most disadvantaged and ways of improving their health and wellbeing.
A distinguished history of influence
For more than 30 years, the Institute for Global Health and Development has been at the forefront of postgraduate teaching and research in health, development and humanitarian studies. We launched the first UK Postgraduate Diploma in Primary Health Care designed specifically for participants from the Global South, and our work has continued to expand ever since.
Since our foundation, we have equipped more than 500 master’s and doctoral alumni - from Sub-Saharan Africa, South and East Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas - for leadership roles in the health, development and humanitarian sectors.
A setting for world-leading research
The Institute hosts world-leading research in the following two areas:
Health systems, particularly in fragile and low income settings - Our team is heavily engaged with the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)-funded . ReBUILD’s work is focused in Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Cambodia. Other recent and ongoing health systems work has been funded by the World Health Organisation (WHO), Medical Research Council, Economic and Social Research Council and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Work has addressed issues ranging from human resources for health in Africa to analysis of systems resilience in the Middle East and strategies supporting victims of stroke in Asia.
The psychosocial wellbeing, protection and integration of migrant, refugee and other vulnerable populations - Our work is typically with inter-governmental, governmental and non-governmental partners (such as UNICEF, World Vision and the Scottish Refugee Council).This work involves studies across diverse settings, with a consistent focus on refugee and other vulnerable or marginalised communities, both in humanitarian situations (for example, in Nepal, in Malawi post-floods, in the Middle East, in Somalia, and South Africa) and in contexts of refugee resettlement (including the settlement of Afghan refugees and Ukrainians displaced population in Scotland). Our ongoing work in this area has been funded by a range of academic funders such as the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), and the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE), the EU’s Asylum, Migration and Immigration Fund (AMIF), the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government and the Scottish Institute for Policing Research (SIPR).
Our impact highlights
In the past three decades, IGHD has shaped and advanced global health and development landscape through teaching, research and policy influence. Key achievements include:
- Shaping the UK Home Office's Indicators for Integration framework for refugee populations.
- Launching one of the world's first MSc degrees in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS).
- Working with multiple stakeholders to better understand strategies to strengthen refugee inclusion and health systems integration in settings such as Pakistan, Zambia, Mauritania, Peru, Kenya and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, among many others.
- Co-leading award-winning migration research collaborations that inform policy and practice in Latin America and other regions.
- Reaching the milestone of having helped to support and equip more than 500 women and men to earn their master’s and doctoral degrees through teaching and research supervision
- Creating and evaluating contextually adapted measures of psychological distress rooted within local contexts, belief systems and idioms of distress in Sierra Leone.
- Advancing the under-standing of how ‘social connections’ facilitate integration and psycho-social well-being in migration contexts in addition to influencing intimate partner violence coping strategies, with tools developed to support practitioners to map and better understand the function ‘social connections’ in their contexts.
- Hosting the NIHR Research Unit on Health in Situations of Fragility (RUHF) and working to strengthen health systems as a part of the UK FCDO-funded  alongside partner institutions in Europe, Myanmar, Sierra Leone, Nepal and Lebanon.
- Supporting research-driven development of a globally replicated community-based child protection intervention (World Vision International’s ‘Channels of Hope’) that engages faith leaders, their spouses, and faith communities to challenge traditional values and practices that undermine child protection, based on research in Senegal, Guatemala and Uganda.
- Advising WHO and global policymakers on the development of culturally and faith-sensitive MHPSS policies aimed at fulfilling human rights and strengthening the effectiveness of humanitarian responses.
Our teaching approach emphasises active, applied learning
The diverse background of our students and small/medium class sizes enables learning to be interactive, with lectures and online learning material supplemented with in-class group work and discussion.
Assignments are varied and geared towards both to critical thinking as well as practice applications and facilitating the extension of participants’ interests and development needs. Our teaching approach is guided by case-based learning, and the active engagement of teaching staff in applied research provides many opportunities to illustrate issues with contemporary field examples.
With a typical cohort size of around 25 students, our courses provide a learning environment focused on active learning and interchange of ideas and views between participants and educators.
Courses leading to a range of meaningful careers
Our courses lead to careers in a variety of settings. Many of our graduates are looking to progress into higher-level technical or management positions and others are looking for a complete change of career. In order to support students to strengthen their employability in their chosen field post-graduate, IGHD provides a range of support and career development opportunities.
In partnership with the ҹɫֱ²¥ Careers and Employment Service, IGHD offers students opportunities to apply for optional paid and voluntary work placements within ҹɫֱ²¥ and externally with our extensive local and international network.
Through these voluntary placement opportunities and by engaging with leading experts and guest lecturers in class sessions and in research events, you will have access to a range of subject specialists and industry connections from organisations, such as:
Additionally, working closely with the ҹɫֱ²¥ Careers and Employment Service, at IGHD we seek to provide tailored careers guidance and support resources. This includes course-specific input from experienced instructors, recommendations on strategies for job searching, links to job sites and job opportunities along with more in-depth career coaching, interview preparation coaching and support for curriculum development (provided by the Careers and Employment Service).
IGHD graduates have a strong track record long-term of ultimately securing mid and high-level roles in the health or social sectors within national or local NGOs and international organisations; in health services, charities and public health organisations; in higher education and research institutions; and within ministries of health and other government bodies. Other graduates have likewise launched and successfully led independent health or social sector non-governmental organisations as CEOs.
To apply to any of our courses, please visit the individual course pages on our website and follow the appliication link. More information is also available on our how to apply pages.