Doctoral Program

A PhD at the WTI

Our doctoral program gives you the opportunity to further your professional and academic career in economics, political science and law.

No open funded PhDs positions at the moment.
We accept applications on a rolling basis.
Decisions on applications are only made in June and December each year.

 

Welcome to the Graduate School of Economic Globalisation and Integration at the World Trade Institute

As a PhD candidate, you will benefit from a structured program that is designed to offer you maximum support in writing your thesis. This includes continuous feedback and academic guidance from our extraordinary global faculty – composed of leading scholars and practitioners from the world’s most renowned universities, policy research institutions, law firms and international organisations. 

Please note: the WTI is not in the position to fund your PhD. We encourage you to apply for outside funding with governments, foundations and other institutions once you have been academically admitted to the program. More information in the "Fees and Funding" section below.

Questions or info? Please email phd.wti@unibe.ch
Ready to apply? Please use our online application form.

Why the WTI doctoral program?

We take an interdisciplinary approach, continuously exploring the interconnections between economics, political science and law and how such linkages can be developed to enhance scientific theory and practice. In fact, this program is targeted at doctoral students who are interested in writing theses that cross the boundaries among the three disciplines.

When you enter the WTI, you become part of a unique community of scholars, thought leaders and policy shapers. You join a group of people from around the world who are making a difference. The doctoral program is structured in such a way as to encourage you to contribute to the overall experience and to help make it a success not only for yourself, but also for your colleagues.

PhD course: The rules and practice of treaty interpretation, including a specific focus on WTO law

16-20 September 2024

This interactive course combines in-depth analysis of the rules and practice of treaty interpretation with activities inviting participants to apply these rules to specific interpretative questions related to current challenges and conundrums. The course focuses on the Public International Law rules of interpretation, including those codified in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, other principles of interpretation not codified therein, and on the institutional, as well as the political and historical factors that influence the interpretation of treaties.

During the first part of the week, participants will explore the use of these rules and principles in the practice of different international adjudicating bodies dealing with investment, environment, and law of the sea matters.

During the second part of the week course, the focus will be on WTO dispute settlement reports. Participants will thus gain an understanding of the rules and practice of treaty interpretation both in general and in the specific context of WTO disputes. In addition, various exercises, including an "interpretation game", will allow them to acquire practical skills and to assess the role, the power, and the limits of interpretation in judicial reasoning and beyond. Students will be graded on the basis of exercises and class participation. 

Lecturers
Jenya Grigorova, Dispute Settlement Lawyer, Legal Affairs Division, WTO
Gabrielle Marceau, Senior Counsellor, Research Division (ERSD), WTO

Timetable
The course takes place from Monday 16.09 to Friday 20.09, from 9:30 to 12:00 and from 13:30 to 16:00

Lecture hours: 25

Location: Hallerstrasse 6, 3012 Bern (ONSITE ONLY)

ECTS: 4

Tuition fees: 500 CHF
Free for students from Swiss Universities

More information and detailed course content can be found in this flyer.

Online Application

PhD course: Spatial methods for economists using Python (CRED)

2-6 September 2024

This course is offered by the Center for Regional Economic Development (CRED), University of Bern

Lecturer: Olivier Schöni, Associate Professor at the Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration (IDHEAP), University of Lausanne.

Lecture hours: 32.5

ECTS: 6

More information and detailed course content can be found in this flyer.

Course closed to more applications.

PhD course: Real Estate Economics (CRED)

13-17 January 2025

This course is offered by the Center for Regional Economic Development (CRED), University of Bern

Lecturer: Simon Camilo Büchler, Assitant Professor of Finance, Miami University, Ohio

Lecture hours: 32.5

Location: University of Bern (ONSITE ONLY) Preference is first given to PhD students enrolled in a Swiss University. Applications will only be reviewed as of mid December 2024. Space is limited.

ECTS: 6

More information and detailed course content can be found in this flyer.

Online Application

Current doctoral students

Current doctoral students - with year of commencement in brackets

Law:

Biksadsky, Boris (2018)
Cahueñas Muñoz, Hugo - "Disaster Risk Governance and International Trade of Goods: The Role of WTO and GATT 1994 in Disasters” (2018)
Claros, Roberto - "Exceptions that protect National Security and Public Order in IIAS: Challenges and Prospects for Latin American States" (2014)
Haqnazar, Umida - "SPS in Eurasian Economic Union, comparison with WTO SPS and EU law" (2017)
Kucheriava, Yuliia - "Compliance with Carbon Border Adjustment Instruments: The Case of Countries with Economies in Transition. Initial findings." (2020)
Liu, Yinuo - "Reconciling Personal Data Rules and WTO Law: Mission Impossible?" (2018)
Peng, Delei - "The Balance between Foreign Investor Protection and State Regulation under New Treaties: China as a Host State" (2016)
RenRu, Ma (2023)
Saadeh, Wafaa (2023)
Singh, Shailja (2021)
Stacy, Sean - "The Role of Law Reform Programs for Economic Growth" (2016)
Tressler, Frank (2023)
Weissert, Irina - "The BRICS: A New Source of International Intellectual Property Standards?" (2016)
Wu, Hsin-Yi  - "Temporal Rules in WTO Law" (2019)

Economics:

Ahmadzai, Khwaja Muhammad - "Impact of Trade Liberalisation on Economic Growth in Landlocked Low Income Countries" (2016)
DeSilvestro, Valentino - "The Effects of Investment and Trade Agreements on Foreign Direct Investment, Technology Transfer and Global Value Chains Participation" (2015)
Hauser, Selina (2020)
Baumann, David - "Essays in International Environmental Macroeconomics“ (2021)
Jehli, Martin - "Essays in Computational Econometrics" (2021)
Jhunjhunwala, Kirti  (2023)
Rosenow, Samuel - "Empirical Essays in International Trade" (2018)
Orlov, Daniil (2021)
El Chammaa, Roudayna - "Essays on the International Trade of Services" (2023)

Political Science:

Ganeson, Kirthana (2021)
Roux, Marine (2021) - "Trade Treaties and Democracy: Short- and Long-Term Effects of Bargaining Power"

About the PhD courses

PhD courses at the WTI are aimed at providing PhD students, young postdocs and practitioners with an opportunity to update their training in fields within the range of expertise of the WTI.

At least two one-week summer courses are taught each year, in August and September.

Courses are taught in English, and limited to a maximum enrollment of 35. To derive maximum benefit, we recommend that during the week of the course participants devote themselves exclusively to course work.

For details of courses in the current year as well as past courses, see the section below.

For Economics and Political Science PhD students:

For Law PhD students: 

Supervision, coordination and support

Thesis supervisor
The supervisor is responsible for ensuring that you carry out and report on your PhD research and that you skilfully apply theories and research methods to your thesis.

Members of the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences of the University of Bern oversee the WTI's doctoral program. Please look closely at the research interests indicated by the professors in their personal web pages to learn more about the kinds of research topics that can be supervised at the WTI. The more general lines of research pursued by the professors who are available to supervise new researchers are set out below.

  • Economics: International Trade Economics and Policy, International Migration, Climate Change, International Economics, International Macroeconomics and Finance
  • Law: International and European Economic Law, WTO Law, Intellectual Property Law, Competition Law and Media Law
  • Political Science: International Political Economy of Trade, International Organisations, International Economic Courts, Investment, Commodities

Academic Coordinator
For study-related questions, the program coordinator is Dr. Octavio Fernández-Amador. His role is to organise the core set of activities comprising the mandatory curriculum and to guide PhD students through the different steps of their studies. He regularly schedules events that provide PhD students with an opportunity to present and discuss research with peers.

Program Coordinators
Karin Rosenberg and Sophia Thompson

Contacts
For questions please email phd.wti@unibe.ch 

Your PhD at the WTI

ECTS credits
PhDs generally take 3-5 years to complete. Once enrolled, WTI doctoral students will be required to collect a minimum of 24 ECTS credits in courses and other mandatory activities offered under the WTI Doctoral Programme. One credit equals approximately 25-30 hours of work.

The core set of activities composing the mandatory curriculum is meant to provide doctoral students with a uniquely structured program which guides them through the different steps of their PhD studies and encourages interdisciplinarity. PhD students are also encouraged to earn extra credits (up to a total of 30 ECTS) through additional external activities such as presenting papers at conferences and publishing their work in academic journals.

Doctoral colloquia
One of the many benefits of being a PhD candidate at the WTI is obtaining peer feedback. You will be asked to present the results of your work at least once a year at a doctoral colloquium and to attend your colleagues’ presentations. Doctoral colloquia take place at least twice a year and provide a venue for the exchange of ideas, suggestions and comments. This is also where your thesis supervisor will provide guidelines and direction. The whole exercise provides a platform for you to practise the oral defence of your thesis.

Database and citation software training
Several different software program for citation will be available to you, including Zotero. Zotero is a reference management program that facilitates the collection, organisation, citation and sharing of research resources. You can take advantage of technical training in Zotero at the WTI.
Along with citation software training, you can benefit from training on legal and economic databases by librarians and external experts.

Admissions procedure

No open funded PhDs positions at the moment.

How to apply

FIRST STEP: please apply via the WTI’s online application form. The review of your application can take up to 30 days. Once you have been conditionally accepted by WTI Doctoral School and have a potential supervisor in mind, move on the next application step.

SECOND STEP: if you get accepted, the WTI will send you an acceptance letter. With this letter, you can start the admission process for the University of Bern and the corresponding faculty. Acceptance to the WTI Doctoral School is only final after the corresponding faculty and University of Bern matriculation office have confirmed your acceptance.

For Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship applicants (for more information on funding opportunities see below), it is recommended that applications for the next academic year (fall semester) be sent by 31 August with the subject line: Early Application Doctoral Program – ‘Discipline’ (‘Law’ or ‘Economics’ or ‘Political Science’)’’. Early notifications will be sent to successful applicants to support them in their scholarship application.

For any questions related to the application process, contact our PhD program coordination office.


NOTE: ONLY complete applications with ALL the below documents will be reviewed.
The application documents you need:

  1. a detailed CV
  2. a letter of motivation
  3. BA and MA diplomas and transcripts 
  4. grading scale for the transcripts and degrees of all completed college/university courses
  5. a letter from the university from which you obtained your Master’s degree, confirming that you fulfil the requirements for admission to its doctoral programme. Further training qualifications (Master of Advanced Studies, Executive Master) and degrees from a university of applied sciences or a university of teacher education are not accepted for admission to doctoral studies
  6. evidence of English proficiency for non-native speakers (e.g. TOEFL/IELTS scores)
  7. two letters of recommendation
  8. research proposal (see template on the website)
  9. attach a funding proposal, describe how your PhD studies will be financed

We accept applications on a rolling basis.
Decisions on applications are only made in June and December each year.

English language requirements

When evaluating your application, the selection committee pays close attention to evidence of your proficiency in English. You are required to submit objective test scores of one of the accepted tests listed below:

Test                          Minimum Score  
TOEFL ibT                100 points or above   

IELTS                        7.0 or above
   
Exemptions
The following applicants are exempt from submitting test scores:

  • Native English speakers
  • Students with an undergraduate and/or graduate degree from an institution in the USA, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia or New Zealand, where English was the primary language of instruction and the degree was awarded no longer than five years ago.

Unsure of your exemption status? Please contact us we are glad to help. 

 

Fees and funding

Fees
The University of Bern determines tuition and semester fees for all programs (see link on right). Students who have paid registration fees to the University of Bern are not charged a fee for the doctoral program.

Funding opportunities
There are a number of ways to receive funding for your doctoral studies: 

  • The Swiss Federal Commission for Scholarships for Foreign Students (FCS) awards postgraduate scholarships to foreign scholars and researchers (see link on right to Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships). Deadlines vary depending on the country of residence.
  • Swiss National Science Foundation Doc.ch and Postdoc.Mobility schemes. In both cases the application deadlines are 1 March and 1 September.

As the WTI is not in the position to fund your PhD, we encourage you to apply for outside funding with governments, foundations and other institutions once you have been academically admitted to the program.