Fields of Specialization

Students at RSIS get globally competitive educational opportunities through four Master of Science (MSc) programs.

Joint Degrees

RSIS also offers the Nanyang MBA in International Studies, which is taught with the Nanyang Business School (NBS) of Nanyang Technological University. This program allows students to gain a solid base of knowledge in international affairs combined with a rigorous education in business. Students will become better equipped to handle the challenges of operating in an increasingly globalized economy.

Core Courses

For all RSIS MSc programs, students are required to take two core courses and either take five elective courses and complete a dissertation, or take seven elective courses if they are in the non-dissertation stream.

Students will also have to complete the "Professional Skills Enrichment" component, which involves participating in a number of seminars on research methods, contemporary strategic and security issues. The component also includes workshops on developing media skills, negotiation and conflict management, and management of defence technology.

For the Nanyang MBA in International Studies, students will take two core courses from RSIS in International Relations and International Political Economy as well as the "Professional Skills Enrichment" component. Students are then allowed to select any four electives from the range of courses offered in RSIS in Strategic Studies, International Relations, International Political Economy and Asian Studies.

Students will also take nine courses from the Nanyang Business School. They will also either 1) complete an individual 10,000 word research dissertation supervised by faculty at RSIS, or 2) participate in an overseas Business Study Mission supervised by NBS, or 3) complete two additional courses in either RSIS or NBS.

For the Ph.D. program, the award of the degree is based on the work presented in the thesis. Candidates are also expected to attend classes and to pass the examinations in at least three to six subjects. On completion of the research, the candidate is required to submit a thesis on his or her research for examination. There is also an oral examination on the subject matter in the thesis and other related subjects.