Development studies often aim to prepare students to perform a deep investigation of the developing world. To this end, an academic program in this discipline might engage with any number of issues facing developing economies and societies.

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the western most point of Eurasia, Europe is usually divided from Asia by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting the Black and Aegean Seas.

A Master of Science or MSc is a postgraduate degree typically in the fields of sciences and social sciences. MSc may be course-based, research-based, or a mixture of the two.