About CID :: Center for International Development at Harvard University (CID)

About the Center for International Development

The mission of the Center for International Development (CID) at Harvard University is to advance human well-being and social progress in the developing world by expanding the understanding of development challenges and offering viable solutions to problems of global poverty. CID�s three goals are:

To build an interdisciplinary network at Harvard to analyze and address the challenges of developing societies.
To improve the effectiveness of international development policies and institutions.
To educate and train the next generation of leaders in development science and practice.

The industrial countries today enjoy a level of prosperity, health, freedom and security that would have seemed impossible 50 years ago. By contrast, much of the world�s population still lives in deprivation. While rapid progress is being made in some countries, especially in East Asia, ample regions of the world are falling further behind. In this age of plenty, what deprives people of adequate food, shelter, clean water, education, good health and enough income to live on with dignity? What can governments, international agencies, and non-governmental organizations do to make the dream a reality? These are the questions that animate the work at the Center for International Development.

The leadership of CID recognizes that solutions to global challenges are possible, but will require breakthroughs in approaches at the cutting edge of the hard sciences, the social sciences, ethics and politics. The Center for International Development seeks to bridge the gaps between disciplines to address the world�s most intractable problems. By convening Harvard�s leading experts and engaging colleagues throughout the world, CID pursues the science of explaining the sources of and remedies for entrenched global poverty and the political and environmental circumstances that surround it.

CID serves as Harvard�s primary center for research on international development. As a University-wide research center, CID draws upon faculty, staff, and researchers from the Kennedy School of Government, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the School of Public Health, the Medical School, the Graduate School of Education, the Graduate School of Design, the Law School, and the Business School. Ricardo Hausmann, Professor of the Practice of Economic Development at the Kennedy School, became the Director of CID on October 12, 2005. CID also has a faculty Steering Committee, comprised of Philippe Aghion (Department of Economics), William C. Clark (Kennedy School), Merilee Grindle (Kennedy School), Michael R. Kremer (Department of Economics), Sendhil Mullainathan (Department of Economics), Rohini Pande (Kennedy School), Lant Pritchett (Kennedy School), James Robinson (Department of Government), Dani Rodrik (Kennedy School), and Debora L. Spar (Business School). Housed at the Kennedy School of Government, CID is positioned to engage directly with governments and to access policy makers to effect good policy decisions and increase prosperity in all regions of the globe.

Research at CID is conducted within an overall program that addresses the core intellectual challenges of sustainable development. Faculty-based initiatives include programs in Growth Diagnostics, Sustainability Science, Public Health, Remittances and Migration, Gender Equity, Program Evaluation and Public Sector Reform.

CID�s primary objectives are to:

Enhance research and teaching on the fundamental implications of under-development;;
Advance the formulation and discussion of innovative development policy;
Promote research-intensive interaction with the policy problems of individual countries;
Strengthen the dialogue between the different social sciences on the issues pertaining to development;
Serve as an academic resource for international organizations and policy makers; and
Engage scholars and practitioners in a collective reflection on development issues.

CID places special importance on its student programs. Harvard�s students of international development will be future policy leaders of the world. Through both graduate and undergraduate fellowships, as well as close ties to the Master in Public Administration in International Development (MPA/ID) at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, CID is investing in the future of global development.

Research Programs: Research at CID is conducted within an overall program that addresses the core intellectual challenges of sustainable development. Faculty-based initiatives include programs in Economic Growth; Remittances and Migration; Mexican Public Policy Education; Micro-Development; the Political Economy of Religion; Science, Environment and Development; and Sustainability Science. More details and the most current list of research initiatives can be found at www.cid.harvard.edu/cidresearch.

Student Programs: CID is committed to cultivating and supporting interest in international development at all academic levels. Toward this end, we offer seminar series, fellowships, travel grants, and special events throughout the year for students across the university. For the most current information, please visit our web site at www.cid.harvard.edu/cidstudents.

CID is a research center and, as such, neither confers degrees nor offers classes. Prospective students interested in studying international development should consider the Kennedy School�s MPA/ID degree program or its Executive Education programs.

Events: CID maintains a full calendar of events throughout the academic year, including regular seminars, research conferences and workshops. Please visit www.cid.harvard.edu/events for an up-to-date and complete listing. From there, you may also sign up to receive a weekly email of upcoming events at CID.

Publications: CID publishes the CID Working Paper Series to provide an interactive forum for CID Faculty Associates and senior researchers to share recent research related to international development. CID also has a second working paper series to provide a means for Harvard graduate students and research fellows affiliated with CID to share recent job-talk papers and papers submitted for presentation at competitive conferences. Visit www.cid.harvard.edu/cidwp to download the papers and sign up to receive a monthly email announcing new CID working papers.

CID provides support for additional affiliated publications, including: Bhumi: Harvard�s International Development Magazine (published by the student group HIDO); Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD) Working Papers and Policy Papers; the Thinking Global web site (a guide to studying international development at Harvard); and the Global Trade Negotiations (GTN) Home Page (a centralized information resource on global trade negotiations).

Contact Information: CID is located on floors 3, 4, and 5 of the Rubenstein Building in the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

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Copyright �2008 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College.