Postgraduate certificates provide the opportunity for continuing professional development in the same area as an original degree. Postgraduate certificates are available to graduates who wish to build on an earlier degree, and who have appropriate practical, professional or scholarly experience. Waikato University offers specialist postgraduate certificates as well as postgraduate certificates. The Postgraduate Certificate comprises a minimum of 60 points at 500 level or above. International Relations and Security Studies Studying International Relations and Security Studies at Waikato includes aspects of international law and trade, and focuses on particular regions of concern (notably, the Middle-East and South-East Asia). A wide range of different length dissertations and theses can be undertaken allowing you to focus on an area of special interest. Like most states, New Zealand depends for its security and prosperity on regional and international stability. Its political, economic and societal well-being can be affected by, for example, major power relations; global financial crisis; and the rise of violent extremist non-state actors and the responses to them. As a good international citizen, New Zealand seeks to play a role in the international institutions which try to uphold international law and order and to contribute to international stabilisation operations in various countries. Given the significance of such issues, International Relations and Security Studies is available as a specialisation within the Political Science major. Career opportunities Diplomat Foreign Policy Analyst International Defence Relations Officer National Assessments Bureau National and International NGOs New Zealand Defence Force Officer Security and Intelligence Officer