Doctoral Programme

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 programme 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 programme 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 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 see the section below.

10 - 14 September
Topic: Treaty Interpretation (4 ECTS)

The goal of the course is to gain an understanding of the interpretation of treaties from the perspective of general international law and in more specialised legal systems, in particular world trade law. The first part of the course will focus on the role of the Vienna Convention of the Law of Treaties in the practice of different international courts and other independent bodies. Pertinent recent work on the UN International Law Commission will be discussed, in particular in relation to WTO Appellate Body jurisprudence. The second part of the course will consist of lectures, exercises and activities applying the treaty interpretation principles discussed during the first two days. There will be a special focus on WTO disputes. In this regard, the Wednesday and Thursday morning lectures will focus on treaty interpretation applied in the specific context of WTO disputes. On Thursday afternoon, participants will be grouped into three teams for an interpretation game exercise: Each team on the basis of the interpretation principles previously discussed will prepare the relevant argumentation to support its interpretation of treaty provisions in its chosen area (e.g. trade, investment, human rights and environmental law). The results of the exercises will be discussed collectively on Friday morning / afternoon and students will be graded on the basis of their participation in this exercise.

For course and registration details, please read our Treaty Interpretation programme flyer. Please note: you must apply using the application form.

Prof George Nolte reading list found here.

Prof Gabrielle Marceau course bibliography and outline found here.

Prof Michael Hahn reading list found here.

17 – 21 September
Topic: Bayesian Econometrics (4 ECTS)

In recent decades, Bayesian econometrics has expanded in many areas such as micro and macroeconomics, finance or marketing. Bayesian inference allows processing information from different sources, coherent uncertainty quantification and efficient model selection. The computational revolution in simulation techniques is a key driver in this expansion. The goal of the course is to gain a thorough understanding of (a) a wide range of flexible statistical models, (b) efficient estimation within a Bayesian framework using the Markov chain Monte Carlo method and (c) selected applications to problems in Bayesian econometrics including time series analysis or causal interference. After the course, students should be able to apply some of these models to data from their own research field.

For course and registration details, please read our Bayesian Econometrics programme flyer. Please note: you must apply using the application form.

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 programme. 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

Programme Coordinators
For study-related questions, the programme coordinators Dr Doris Oberdabernig and Dr Octavio Fernández-Amador are your first point of contact. They are responsible for the doctoral programme. Their 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. They regularly schedule events that provide PhD students with an opportunity to present and discuss research with peers.

English language support
The strength of your PhD is demonstrated not only by the content of your research, but also by how convincingly you present your argument. At the WTI, English language support is provided by the University of Bern's academic English services.

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 programme 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 seminars
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 Seminar and to attend your colleagues’ presentations. Doctoral Seminars take place once 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.

Interdisciplinary seminar series
Every month, one doctoral student has the opportunity to present a piece of selected literature relating to trade and investment. The theme of the interdisciplinary seminar series changes every year and is selected by the doctoral coordinators and the thesis supervisors. This year PhD students are presenting a chapter from the book by Dunoff & Pollack, Interdisciplinary Perspectives on International Law and International Relations: The State of the Art (IL-IR). This is introductory compulsory reading for all PhD students at the WTI.

Doctoral programme conference series
To help you expand your professional network, the Programme Director will support you in organising a conference related to your specific PhD topic.
Experts who are invited to be panel members at your event will receive a copy of your CV. This ensures that even if the invitation is declined, your research becomes known to specialists in your field who may remember you when you are searching for a job after graduation.

Database and citation software training
Several different software programmes for citation will be available to you, including Zotero. Zotero is a reference management programme 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.

How to apply

To apply, and for details of our requirements, please download the application form (Word document) on the right. Send your complete application by email to phd.applications@wti.org with the subject line: Application Doctoral Programme – ‘Discipline’ (‘Law’ or ‘Economics’ or ‘Political Science’).

Short-listed applicants will get a conditional acceptance to WTI Doctoral School and will be able to get in touch with a potential supervisor. Official acceptance is due to the completion of the admission process to doctoral studies at the University of Bern and the corresponding faculty.

For Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship applicants (see below under Fees and Funding > Funding opportunities), it is recommended that applications be sent by    1 September for the next academic year (fall semester) with the subject line: Early Application Doctoral Programme – ‘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, please contact our PhD programme coordination office.

Application process: important steps

Fall Semester
31 March: Application deadline

May: Decision notifications
June-September: Administrative enrolment of successful applicants with the faculty of interest of the University of Bern

Spring Semester
31 August: Application deadline
November: Decision notifications

December-March: Administrative enrolment of successful applicants with the faculty of interest of the University of Bern

Application deadline
The deadline for submitting the application form along with all required documents is midnight of the relevant date (24:00 CET).

Early application deadline for Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship:

see above under Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship

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

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.
• The SECO/WTI Academic Cooperation Project may fund your PhD studies if you are a native of one of their partner countries. This scholarship covers your entire tuition fee and includes a monthly living allowance for your time in Switzerland. The funding decision is made after your admission to the doctoral programme. In the absence of eligible candidates from SECO partner countries, natives of SECO priority countries may be considered for this scholarship.
• Swiss National Science Foundation Doc.ch and Doc.mobility schemes. In both cases the application deadlines are 1 March and 1 September.

We encourage you to apply for outside funding with governments, foundations and other institutions once you have been academically admitted to the programme.

Current doctoral students - with year of commencement in brackets

Law:

Ahmad, Zaker - Common Concern in International Law:  Case Study on Climate Change and Trade (2015)
Beyleveld, Alexander - Common Concern in International Law:  Case Study on Investment (2015)
Bhattacharya, Alexandra - Extraterritorial Application of Intellectual Property Law (2016)
Bodganova, Iryna - Common Concern in International Law:  Case Study on Human Rights and Labour Rights Protection (2016)
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)
Markitanova, Ana - (2017)
Namo, Freddi - (2017)
Nybert, Beatrice - The Evolution of Patent Law Enforcement (2014)
Peng, Delei - The Balance between Foreign Investor Protection and State Regulation under New Treaties: China as a Host State (2016)
Satragno, Lucia - Common Concern in International Law:  Case Study on Financial Regulation and Monetary Affairs (2014)
Schäli, Judith - Plastic Garbage in the High Sea: Analysis from an International Law Perspective (2012)
Schläpfer, Andrea - International Financial Assistance Agreements and Policy Conditionality: An Analysis of Legal Frameworks for Conditional Sovereign Lending (2015)
Siziba, Clarence - The Regulation of Goods Originating in Conflict Zones in Public International Law (2014)
Stacy, Sean - The Role of Law Reform Programs for Economic Growth (2016)
Vasquez, Maria del Carmen - Big Data, The Interpretation of Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) Clause in International Investment Arbitration Settlement (2017)
Wang, Anqi - The Interpretation of Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) Clause in International Investment Arbitration (2017)
Weissert, Irina - The BRICS: A New Source of International Intellectual Property Standards? (2016)
Yildiz, Aylin - Working title: Understanding the global governance of environmental change, migration and human rights at the local level: the Pacific Small Island Developing States as our Common Concern (2017)

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)
Vogt, Achim - Non-tariff measures in international trade - Perspectives on costs and benefits (2016)

Political Science:

Angeli, Marietta - Preferential Trade Agreements and Developing Countries: The Challenges of Market Access (2017)
Klotz, Sebastian - Regulatory standard-setting and preferential trade agreements (2016)
Ren, Wanlin - Outflow Chinese foreign investment and labour protections (2017)
Surbeck, Jenny - Intellectual Property Rights in Preferential Trade Agreements: Design and Effects (2014)
Wagner, Patrick - Contagion Effect of Patient Zero: Inter- and Intraregional diffusion of labor standards through trade and foreign investment linkages (2017)