Beginning in 1990, the Graduate School was already firmly established in 2000, having developed into the leading interdisciplinary graduate school in development studies in Denmark and in the Nordic countries. It was then already recognized as a centre of excellence in the Danish academic system. The Graduate School was evaluated in 2003 and in 2009

Network collaboration constitutes an important part of the Graduate School. The network co-operation concerning the PhD. programme comprises several university departments and other research institutions in all the Nordic countries. The most important partner institution is the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS), the Danish Centre for Human Rights (DCHR) in Copenhagen, the UNEP Collaborating Centre on Environment and Energy, Risø, and the Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims (RCT). Senior researchers at these institutions act as co-supervisors for several of the PhD. students.

Moreover, the Graduate School acts as centralizing institution among its network of partners. A number of Danish institutions have formed a “PhD. Network in Development and International Relations” including Copenhagen Business School; Institute of Geography, Copenhagen University; Centre for African Studies, Copenhagen University; Institute of International Studies; Department of Political Science, Aarhus University; Department of Ethnology, Aarhus University; Centre for Middle East Studies, University of Southern Denmark; Research Center on Development and International Relations, Aalborg University. The Graduate School co-ordinates the planning of joint courses between the network institutions.

On top of these networking activities comes collaboration with Third World Institutions in Niger, Uganda, South Africa, India, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand.