The RTG is a cooperative research and Ph.D. training group of the Leibniz Universität Hannover and the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen and is funded by the German Science Foundation (DFG).

Under the roof of the RTG nine professors of the cooperating universities collaborate on research and Ph.D. training in the field of globalization and development economics. Starting in October 2011 the RTG trains about ten Ph.D. students as its first cohort.

The activities of the RTG are complemented by the clusters in development economics of both institutions. Additional external partners include the Courant Research Centre "Poverty, Equality and Growth in Developing Countries", the research unit DFG-FOR 756 on Vulnerability in Southeast Asia as well as the Scandinavian Ph.D. Program in Development Economics.