Directors Welcome

It’s my privilege to welcome you to the Graduate Studies in Strategy and Defence program (GSSD) located in the Australian National University's Strategic and Defence Studies Centre (the SDSC).

At GSSD we provide academically rigorous and policy-relevant Masters degrees which:

• Help our students develop strong analytical frameworks for comprehending today’s strategic, defence and security issues, and:
• Utilise the SDSC's internationally recognized expertise in Australian strategic policy, Asia-Pacific security and global strategic issues

These aims are reflected in the GSSD degree requirements:

• Two core courses (Strategic Studies & Security in the Asia-Pacific)
• Four elective courses chosen from an extensive range of relevant subjects
• A supervised research "sub-thesis" for MA (Strategic Studies) students

Your studies will be supported by friendly and professional GSSD staff and by the wider SDSC community of scholars. Your fellow students will be high achievers from diverse educational and professional backgrounds. And as a GSSD alumnus you’ll enjoy outstanding career prospects.

You’ll also find that at GSSD we:

• provide short courses for government organisations (including the Australian Department of Defence)
• run special student activities (including coastal retreats and in-house seminars)
• are very active in research and media commentary on strategic issues.

Please explore this website to find what GSSD has to offer. We look forward to hearing from you.

Dr Robert Ayson
Director of Studies
robert.ayson@anu.edu.au