German Development Institute
The German Development Institute / 
Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) is one of the leading think tanks for development policy worldwide. This has been attested in January 2013 by the ranking of the Global Go To Think Tanks Report (of the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP)): For the fifth consecutive time, DIE has been selected as one of the Top Ten influential think tanks and research institutions in the field of development policy worldwide. The German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) is one of only three European research institutes ranked in this Top Ten list. DIE improved its visibility in the international context in the current ranking on a wide scale, such as in the categories Top Think Tanks in Western Europe, Top Think Tanks – Worldwide and Best Government Affiliated Think Tanks. Once again, DIE belongs to the Top 20 institutions among the Think Tanks with the Most Innovative Policy Ideas/Proposals. Furthermore, DIE was evaluated in a number of categories for the first time, e.g., within the category Think Tanks with Outstanding Policy-Oriented Research Programs) or in the field of knowledge marketing (Think Tanks with the Best External Relations/Public Engagement Program). The Institute is based in the UN-City of Bonn. DIE builds bridges between theory and practice and works within international research networks. The key to DIE’s success is its institutional independence, which is guaranteed by the Institute’s founding statute.
The German DIE is a non-profit company with limited liability. The Institute’s institutional independence is guaranteed by its founding statute. The shareholders are the Federal Republic of Germany and the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia. The Institute is headed by Prof. Dr. Dirk Messner (Director). At present, DIE has a staff of more than 100, two-thirds of whom are researchers.
Since its founding in 1964, the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) has based its work on the interplay between Research, Consulting and Training. These three areas complement each other and are the factors responsible for the Institute’s distinctive profile.
Research and consulting
DIE draws together the knowledge of development research available worldwide, dedicating its work to key issues facing the future of development policy. DIE’s research is theory-based, empirically backed, and application-oriented. It serves as the basis for the Institute’s consulting activities, which in turn provide the initiative for further research programmes. DIE’s Postgraduate Training Programme is an integral component of the Research and Consulting process. The many years of experience of the Institute’s professional staff as well as the creative impulses generated by the future development experts and managers trained at the Institute serve to reinforce one another. The policy advice and consulting services DIE provides are bearing on the framework conditions of development policy, including issues concerned with world economic policy, foreign policy, and security policy.
Training
The Institute’s Postgraduate Training Programme is concentrated on courses dedicated to development-related themes and issues bound up with shaping the process of globalisation as well as with improving trainee communicative and social skills. The cornerstone of the Postgraduate Training Programme – field research carried out by small interdisciplinary groups in a developing country – serves to provide trainees with an opportunity to gain practical experience with what they have learned by participating in concrete consulting-oriented research projects. Once they have completed the Postgraduate Training Programme, the graduates find career opportunities with development organisations in Germany and abroad.
In addition to the Postgraduate Training Programme, the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) offers Young Professionals from selected partner countries of Germany’s international cooperation the participation in the “Global Governance School”. The highly qualified participants from Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan and South Africa work in governments, Ministries, Universities, policy-orientated Think Tanks or research institutions. This unique exchange and learning opportunity supports the creation of a sustainable, equitable and effective global governance architecture.
Thematic focus
The research staff is involved in numerous international renowned research projects and contributes to policy networks. Their research and publications focus on practice-oriented research and is divided into the following research fields and concentrates on the following regions:
- Bi- and Multilateral Development Cooperation
- Competitiveness and Social Development
- Governance, Statehood, Security
- Environmental Policy and Management of Natural Resources
- World Economy and Development Financing
- Asia
- Central and East Europe, former SU
- Latin America
- Near and Middle East, North Africa
- Sub-Saharan Africa
Library and documentation
The library of the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) is structured like a public reference library. It has some 48,000 volumes, 150 periodicals and the most important German and English daily and weekly newspapers. The DIE places great value in maintaining and evaluating national and international periodicals. The evaluation follows the research and consulting activities of the DIE and the FIV rules. The DIE is a member of the German Information Network International Relations and Area Studies (Fachinformationsverbund Internationale Beziehungen und Länderkunde /FIV-IBLK). The indexing is part of the database "World Affairs Online” (WAO) and is searchable via the IREON portal. The DIE publications are part of the IBLK-catalogue.