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The Global Sanitation Graduate School (GSGS) is a voluntary network of academic and non-academic (supporting) institutions with a common goal – to increase the reach of sanitation education. The GSGS is not a legal entity. It is an organization governed by a board and led by the Global Director. It has regional hubs, each led by a Regional Director. The headquarters is in the Netherlands and hosted by IHE Delft Institute for Water Education. Regional hubs are hosted by one lead institution in each region.
The GSGS is an output/result of the grant investments provided by the Gates Foundation in 2016 and 2018. In 2018, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education launched a new Masterʼs Program on Sanitation with focus on non-sewered sanitation and faecal sludge management. This program was accredited by the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO) as an interdisciplinary program containing technical and non-technical courses and practical research thesis work. Soon after, this Delft-based curriculum was transferred to academic institutions in the Global South. In fact, the curriculum is available as a set of individual courses leading to a course certificate, package of courses making a professional diploma program leading to a diploma, and a fully-fledged Masterʼs program. Under the grant, a total of 42 universities initially adopted a minimum of 75% of the Delft-based curriculum. In the meantime, other universities joined the GSGS. In 2025, the GSGS was reorganized into five regional hubs and a headquarters in the Netherlands. Nowadays the ‘75% ruleʼ no longer applies, because given the current decentralized concept, academic partners are encouraged to increase the local, national, and regional relevance of the content. In 2025, non-academic (supporting) partners also joined the GSGS to make the GSGS even more connected to practice, and to make the GSGS sustainable beyond the grants provided by the Gates Foundation. The GSGS currently has 55 academic partners and 22 supporting partners, and counting; the GSGS remains open to embracing new partners.
In principle, the initial focus of the GSGS was non-sewered sanitation and faecal sludge management. Later, the scope expanded to sewered sanitation, wastewater and sludge treatment, and reuse, enabling the GSGS to support the City-wide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS) approach. It can be said that, to various extents, regional hubs embrace Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) courses, and demonstrate interest in climate-resilient sanitation. Basic information about each curriculum can be found on the LEARN section of this website.
Formally, academic partners of the GSGS are responsible for the quality assurance of the educational products they offer under the GSGS framework. Certificates, diplomas, and degrees are also provided exclusively by the academic partners; however they are free to use the GSGS logo for such purposes.
We are gladly sharing the abstracts of GSGS Masterʼs theses on a dedicated space on this website – THESIS ABSTRACTS. If you are interested in a full thesis manuscript, you may wish to contact the thesis author. The copyright owner of the thesis manuscript is usually the author of the thesis. For authors who registered themselves as GSGS alumni, the contact link will be displayed on the thesis abstract page. For others who are not registered (yet), unfortunately, we cannot share their contact due to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In such cases, please contact the academic institution in question and request the thesis manuscript –they may often be willing to share it publicly, subject to their regulations.
It is a rather straightforward procedure – simply contact the Regional Hub Director in your region and discuss the motivation for your institution joining the GSGS. Regional hub host institutions may offer you to sign a Partnership Agreement. The condition for an academic partner to join the GSGS is either to adopt one or more educational products in sanitation available in the GSGS portfolio, or to already have a course, diploma program or Masterʼs program in sanitation or sanitary/environmental engineering that match the GSGSʼs focus. The Partnership Agreement is a simple expression of interest to cooperate under the GSGS framework, and does not include any financial arrangements. For supporting partners, a clear motivation for cooperation with GSGS will be in general sufficient to enter the Partnership Agreement with the GSGS Regional Hub host.
In principle, yes, but only if they are staff of GSGS partners, or alumni of one or more GSGS educational offerings. On the CONNECT page in this website is a membership application form for staff and alumni.
You cannot directly apply to a GSGS program on this website, but you can search for the program that matches your interests, and then you will be diverted to the website of the academic institution of the program of your interest. Our academic partners will be happy to provide you with further information about the program and guidance regarding the application.
Many GSGS academic members have various possibilities to support students via scholarships or other means of financial assistance. You are advised to contact the academic institution directly for further information. The GSGS as the network organization does not have financial means to support students.
Sure, GSGS has invested a great deal of time and effort in producing open-access courses of high-quality – many containing pre-recorded video lectures, presentations, reading materials, and additional study materials. You can access our courses in the REPOSITORY of the INSPIRE section of this website. When you find the course that matches your interest, you just need to follow the link provided which will take you to a dedicated website where you can view lectures and download all the course materials (possible in most cases).
No, they do not. In principle, all the GSGS courses in the REPOSITORY section are currently not instructor-guided and do not include tutorials, exams, or certificates. However, access to the materials is free of charge.
In principle, no. If the course has a certificate possibility, in principle, getting the certificate will be dependent on the payment of a fee, and as such, the course will be listed in the LEARN section of this website, despite that fact that the access to the content may be free (thus also listed in the REPOSITORY section of this website). In general, the majority of courses and programs listed in the LEARN section include certificates, diplomas, and degrees, but these are not free of charge, unless stated differently.
In principle, you are encouraged to approach the GSGS academic partners if you wish to pursue a doctoral or post-doctoral program. However, the current focus of the GSGS remains a post-graduate (Masterʼs level) education and applied/practical research through the Masterʼs thesis work. It is possible that in the foreseeable future, the GSGS may embrace a more fundamental type of research in sanitation at doctoral and post-doctoral level.
Simply visit the CONNECT section of the website and search our database of alumni, staff and ambassadors. You may also be interested in our academic and supporting partners – they are also listed in the same section.
Yes. On request, GSGS partner(s) can provide training and services to individuals and institutions tailored to their needs and demands. Please refer to the CUSTOMIZED TRAINING section of this website and contact the Regional Hub Director in your region for further information using the link provided in the CONTACT section of the website. Customized training and services provided by GSGS are in principle not free of charge.
The GSGS as such cannot be a partner in the project because it is not a legal entity. However, member(s) of the GSGS can be partner(s) in a project, and may be interested to be so, if requested. You may wish to contact the Regional Hub Director or any of listed GSGS partners in your region for further information using the link provided in the CONTACT section of the website.
Yes, and gladly. However, funds, donations, and grants must be channeled via the host institution of the GSGS headquarters or one of the hosts of the GSGS Regional Hubs. This is because the GSGS is not a legal entity and as such does not have its own bank account. For such matters, we advise you to contact our Global Director or a Regional Hub Director in the region of interest.