The Development Research School is a partnership established in January 2022, dealing with sustainable development and poverty reduction in low-income countries, with a particular focus on aspects of governance, power, and inequality. 

The partnership has two main objectives: (1) To contribute to high-quality and boundary-crossing doctoral research in the focus area. (2) To strengthen collaboration and networks between the four partner universities and between individual doctoral students within and beyond these universities.

The main activity within the Development Research School is to host jointly developed interdisciplinary doctoral courses. The work program also include regular research seminars, policy dialogues, and other capacity-building and skills training activities. 

While the school is coordinated and administered by Lund University, a programme committee and an international advisory board oversee its work. The school is open to doctoral students of any discipline, both from the four partner universitites and other universitites.

The Development Research School profits from existing networks and collaborations within, between and beyond the four partner institutions, for example with Swedish Development Research Network (SweDev) and Lund University Agenda 2030 Graduate School.