VOX-Pol coordinating institution Dublin City University will be joining the University of Glasgow and Charles University, Prague, and the as a degree awarding partner for the EU-funded International Masters qualification in Security, Intelligence & Strategic Studies (IMSISS). Funded as part of the Erasmus+ initiative, this 24-month programme will offer a unique experience to students around the world, tying theory with practical application and work placements relating to security and intelligence. VOX-Pol will be a lead contributor to the new MA.
VOX-Pol has been actively engaging with a similar existing University of Glasgow-coordinated IM Programme (SecIntel), which serves as a precursor to the new IMSISS programme. In September 2016, DCU hosted several students from SecIntel in a successful week-long Summer School on online extremism, organised by the School of Law & Government’s Dr. James Fitzgerald and VOX-Pol’s Professor Maura Conway. The Summer School had a particular focus on research methods in the study of online extremism.
The IMSISS consortium brings together a wide range of academic and non-academic partners and will provide the appropriate infrastructure for effective knowledge-transfer initiatives; these include policy-orientated dissertations and a practical summer school on intelligence research methods at OTH Regensburg.
There will be an opportunity for some incoming IMSISS students to participate in a work placement with VOX-Pol during the two year study period. This innovative scheme will allow students to put their skills to use outside the classroom while gaining hands-on research experience in a topical area and helping to produce policy-relevant and impactful output. As James Fitzgerald outlines:
“While there exist various excellent degree programmes on International Relations and Security Studies, students often find that they can be quite heavy on theory, and sparse on practical application. The ethos behind IMSISS is to more closely intertwine the theories and practices of security and intelligence and to provide students with hands-on opportunities to produce meaningful research output. Thanks to EU funding, we can establish a dynamic infrastructure comprised of academic and non-academic partners, whilst also attracting leading security/intelligence academics and practitioners to contribute to our programme. The geographical distribution of scholarships will also ensure a truly global and intercultural dynamic on IMSISS–something that is perhaps more significant than ever. We are delighted to have VOX-Pol as one of our leading partners, particularly given its success in marrying academic research with policy-relevant output to date. We have scholarships and funding for visiting scholars; so, if you are eligible and reading this, please apply!”
The new course is currently accepting scholarship applications for the 2017 – 2019 cohort. The deadline for applying for a scholarship is 31 January 2017. Full details about the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship can be found here. Details of the Visiting Scholarships can be found here.