Media centre Jobs Contact Research Learn Events News & opinion About Search About Governance In this section Introduction Organisational policies and codes The Institute of Development Studies (IDS) was founded in 1966 as an independent research institute based at the University of Sussex. IDS has close links with the University, but is financially and constitutionally independent. View IDS’s Articles of Association. IDS is registered in England and Wales as a charitable company (no. 00877338) limited by guarantee, and with registered charity number 306371. How we are funded IDS receives no core funding. Funds are secured from a range of organisations and represent a combination of research grants and fees from advisory work, teaching, and publication sales and some donations and legacies. The UK Department for International Development (DFID) is the Institute’s largest funder. IDS also receives funds from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the European Union, various UN agencies, and a wide range of aid agencies, trusts and foundations. Nearly all our research grants are won competitively and a significant proportion is transferred to partners, including research organisations, in developing countries. Funding ethics and transparency Our funding ethics policy sets out the parameters and principles for the Institute to accept (or reject) funding and donations. Our approach to funding transparency has the following components and, taken together, these should provide a high degree of confidence in how we reach decisions and the information we share about this aspect of our work: Of particular relevance to debates around transparency, the policy makes a public statement about the Institute’s approach that will be accessible to potential funders and those who want to understand how we operate in this area of our work. It also makes a number of important commitments to transparency. The Institute: will not accept funding that is wholly anonymous (i.e. where the donor will not make their identity known to the Institute even on a confidential basis) will only accept funding brokered by a third party with the approval of the Funding Ethics Panel requires full disclosure of any known connection between a potential funder and a member of Institute staff; a Trustee, or a student currently or recently registered for an academic award receiving tuition or supervision from the Institute will maintain a register of interests recording any such connections will extricate itself from the relationship immediately should it accept funding in good faith and subsequently discover that any of the exclusions apply reserves the right to publish information about major funders Transparify have recognized our commitment to accountability and transparency in their global rating of the financial transparency of major think tanks. For the third consecutive year it awarded IDS the highest five-star transparency rating. Financial information is available in our Annual Review and Full Accounts are listed on the Charity Commission website. How we are governed As an independent charity, IDS is governed by a Board of Trustees, who are responsible for agreeing our overall strategy, setting policy, monitoring performance and promoting the interests of the Institute. Our Board of Trustees consists of people from UK and overseas organisations with expertise in international development, research and policy. It includes two staff trustees and one trustee nominated by IDS alumni. The Board’s Nominations and Governance Committee consults widely about membership and aims to appoint according to a range of expertise and characteristics that support and reflect the Institute’s work. The Board meets three times a year, in March, July and December, and IDS’ Director of Finance and Operations serves as Company Secretary. See our current Board of Trustees. IDS Board of Trustees. Credit: G.Edwards/IDS Strategic Leadership Group The Strategic Leadership Group (SLG) is the executive decision-making body of the Institute. Its function is to take strategic decisions, and it’s supported by a number of sub-Committees that look at issues in the areas of risk management, research strategy, ICT, resources and space. See our current Strategic Leadership Group. Financial statements Find out more about our funding over the past year and how we've used it to help support transformative change. See our financial statements Related links Annual review Board of Trustees Vision & strategy Contact Subscribe to our newsletter(s) IDS Bulletin Disclaimer & cookies Privacy statement © 2021 Institute of Development Studies Design and development by Soapbox We use cookies to enable us to see how this website is being used. 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