Could you benefit from a refresher course at the WTI? Are you interested in our programmes but cannot commit to an entire year? Now is your chance to get a taste of what we offer and earn a certificate of attendance, Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) or a Diploma of Advanced Studies (DAS).
CAS and DAS Programmes
For public and private sector professionals
Our offer
The WTI offers you a unique opportunity to update and deepen your knowledge of international economic governance, trade and investment by participating in intensive, week-long courses on a wide range of topics. These interdisciplinary courses, which are part of the Master in International Law and Economics (MILE) programme and the Master in International Trade and Investment Law (TRAIL+), are taught by a faculty of renowned experts and practitioners.
Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) - Participants who earn 8 ECTS in course work (3 courses) and 4 ECTS by writing a research paper are awarded a Certificate of Advanced Studies in International Law and Economics (CAS ILE).
Diploma of Advanced Studies (DAS) - Participants who earn 22 ECTS in course work (8 courses) and 8 ECTS by writing a research paper are awarded a Diploma of Advanced Studies in International Law and Economics (DAS ILE).
During the academy year 2022/2023, we offer four different specialisations (details below):
- specialisation Trade Law - 23 January-16 February 2023
- specialisation Applied Trade Policy Modeling (TRADEMOD) - 12-30 June 2023
- specialisation International Climate Governance (CLIMGOV) - 10-28 July 2023
- specialisation Trade, Investment and Sustainable Development (TRADESUS) - 3-21 July 2023
If you cannot commit to a CAS, you can take single weekly courses on à la carte basis, as a part of our Winter and Summer Academies. Visit the Winter and Summer Academy page for a current list of à la carte courses, course descriptions, and fee information.
CAS ILE with a specialisation on Trade Law (23 January-16 February 2023)
IMPORTANT: you have to pass three of the courses below and write a paper to obtain a Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS)
Course 1 | WTO Law on Border Measures and Trade Facilitation
23 – 27 January 2023 (Take-home assessment on 28 January)
Monday – Friday 10 am – 3 pm (Central European time)
Lecturers: Roy Santana and Sara Núñez-Évora
ECTS: 3
Syllabus here
Course 2 | WTO Law on Anti-Dumping and Safeguard Measures
30 January – 3 February 2023 (Take-home assessment on 4 February)
Monday – Friday 10 am – 3 pm (Central European time)
Lecturers: Fernando Piérola and Edwin Vermulst
ECTS: 3
Syllabus here
Course 3 | WTO Law on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures
6 - 9 February 2023 (Take-home assessment on 10 February)
Monday – Thursday 9 am – 4 pm (Central European time)
Lecturers: James Flett and Luca Rubini
ECTS: 3
Syllabus here
Course 4 | The Law and Policy of Trade in Services
13 - 16 February 2023 (Take-home assessment on 17 February)
Monday – Thursday 9 am – 4 pm (Central European time)
Lecturers: Pierre Sauvé and Jan Bohanes
ECTS: 3
Syllabus here
CAS ILE with a specialisation on International Climate Governance (CLIMGOV) (10-28 July 2023)
IMPORTANT: you have to pass all three courses below and write a paper to obtain a Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) or you can pick one alternative course of the Summer Academy offer to replace one of the indicated courses.
Week 1 | Challenges to International Climate Governance
3-7 July 2023
Lecturers: Christoph Raible, Gabriele Spilker and Eddy Bekkers
Description: (coming soon)
ECTS: 3
Week 2 | International Law and Policy Options for Climate Mitigation
17-21 July 2023
Lecturers: Nicolas Lockhart and Dominic Coppens
Description: There is broad concensus on the urgent need to pursue climate mitigation but not on the ways to do so. This course will guide particpants through the internatinal law framework governing climate mitigation, and then explore the climate mitigation policies that public and private actors can pursue consistently with the framework. This course is for anyone interested in the law and policy of climate change – policymakers, academics, NGOs, and lawyers working on sustainability issues.
ECTS: 3
Week 3 | International Energy Law and Governance
24-28 July 2023
Lecturers: Anna-Alexandra Marhold
Description: Europe and the World are confronted by a pressing, multi-level energy crisis propelled by the perfect storm of rapidly progressing climate change and Russia’s war in Ukraine. Globally, as well as in Europe, a fine balance must constantly be maintained between ensuring a secure, competitive, affordable, but also a sustainable energy supply. The transition to a low carbon economy is moreover accompanied by many obstacles (regulatory, geo-political and technical). This course aims to give a comprehensive insight into international energy law and governance and the challenges ahead. Participants will gain a solid understanding of the relevant actors and international and regional agreements in the area of energy. It will centre on the intricacies of cross-border energy trade regulation under the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) and Preferential Trade Agreements. The course will always link energy law and governance to timely case studies, such as the shift of European energy regulation as a response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as to decarbonization and climate change mitigation.
ECTS: 3
CAS ILE with a specialisation on Trade, Investment and Sustainable Development (CAS TRADESUS) (3-21 July 2023)
IMPORTANT: you have to pass all three courses below and write a paper to obtain a Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) or you can pick one alternative course of the Summer Academy offer to replace one of the indicated courses.
Week 1 | Technical Barriers to Trade in Pursuit of Sustainable Development
3-7 July 2023
Lecturers: Christian Häberli and Arthur Appleton
Description: This course will explore how to harness the international trade system to advance sustainable development. We will look at what is now permitted under the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and what should be permitted were the international regulatory architecture to be revised to better meet the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs). First, the legal foundation of GATT Articles III and XX and the TBT Agreement will be discussed from the perspective of the SDGs; then we will explore whether existing international trade rules are adequate to meet environmental, governmental, labour and human rights challenges. Our thesis is that international trade rules and standards and regulations must evolve to meet the SDGs in general, and climate change in particular. Our case studies will draw upon the Climate Change agreements, the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), and over-exploitation of palm oil in environmentally sensitive tropical regions.
ECTS: 3
Week 2 | Non-Trade Concerns in International Trade: Public Health and Labour Standards
10-14 July 2023
Lecturers: Antony Taubman and Damien Raess
Description: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the fore longstanding concerns about how trade policy and its implementation bear on the fulfilment of public health outcomes. Trade policy settings can enable and facilitate access to vital medicines and medical technologies such as vaccines and personal protective equipment, but can also impede or disrupt production and supply chains. And the intellectual property system has attracted particular scrutiny, given its role in the innovation of new medical technologies and its impact on their equitable and effective diffusion dimension, especially at times when stark inequities in access were evident. This course provides a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary overview of the legal instruments, international institutions, domestic strategies and practical programs and initiatives involved in the trade policy dimension of the response to global health challenges, as exemplified by the pandemic. This module focuses on public approaches to protect labor standards through trade. Specifically, it focuses on the rise, design, determinants and impact of labor clauses in free trade agreements. By the end of the course participants will be able to: a) Conceptualize and analyze labor provisions in FTAs using the state-of-the-art LABPTA dataset; b) Explain the rise and design of labor provisions in FTAs; c) Assess the social and economic impact of the inclusion of labor provisions in FTAs; d) Evaluate recent policy reforms in labor / sustainable development chapters of FTAs in Europe and beyond; e) Reflect upon the interlinkages and potential trade-offs between the economic and social objectives of trade-labor linkage strategies.
ECTS: 3
Week 3 | International Investment Law and Sustainable Development
17-21 July 2023
Lecturers: Marie-Clare Cordonier and Markus Gehring
Description: (coming soon)
ECTS: 3
CAS ILE with a specialisation on Applied Trade Policy Modeling (TRADEMOD) - 12-30 June 2023
Goals and content
The integration of national economies into a global multilateral economic system is one of the landmarks of the recent economic history. The growth of international trade has been boosted by the recent trends of globalization and trade liberalization and policy coordination. The current international trade system is a complex network shaped by trade regulation and policies. It is therefore a demand for informed policy-making to provide a quantitative evaluation of the effects of such policies.
The Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) on Applied Trade Policy Modeling (TradeMod) offers a research-oriented teaching in the field of trade policy. The courses provided show the different theories and quantitative models and techniques used to analytically evaluate the past effects of trade policies. Applied econometric and applied general equilibrium modeling approaches are covered, as well as the management of the relevant trade policy databases. These tools are the standard used in specialized units in international organizations and national institutions. The courses are applied and will emphasize the use of econometric and computational programs and specialized software.
Structure and courses
The CAS TradeMod is structured around four one-week courses and a research paper that students write under the supervision of one of the lecturers. Students are required to take a minimum of three of the courses, but have the right to follow all four as part of the program.
The summer 2023 courses will be:
Week 1 | Foundations of Trade Policy and Trade Policy Data
12-16 June 2023
Lecturers: Achim Vogt and Selina Hauser
Description: This course presents the theory of trade policy instruments (tariffs, preferential trade agreements, non-tariff measures, trade facilitation) and introduces the students to the use of the main international datasets covering those policy instruments.
ECTS: 3
Week 2 | Econometric Analysis of Trade Policy
19-23 June 2023
Lecturers: Joseph Francois, Octavio Fernández-Amador, Achim Vogt and Irene Garcés Iriarte
Description: This course presents the main econometric framework to perform ex-post analysis of trade policies: the structural gravity model of trade. This model predicts bilateral trade flows based on size and distance between exporter and importer units, e.g. geographical, cultural and policy-related barriers to trade. The students are also introduced to the management of bilateral trade data and the main gravity variables.
ECTS: 3
Week 3 | Input-Output and Applied General Equilibrium Models
26-30 June 2023
Lecturers: Patrick Tomberger
Description: This course shows the use of input-output tables and social accounting matrices, which constitute the data basis for applied general equilibrium models. After that, students are introduced to the basics of computable general equilibrium models.
ECTS: 3
Admission
Requirements
For the CAS/DAS programmes, we accept applicants who have completed an undergraduate degree in law, economics, finance, commerce, international relations, or political science, or in an unrelated field when supplemented by relevant working experience. Participants are expected to have a strong command of written and spoken English and should be ready to read a large amount of material in English both prior to and during the courses. Students whose first language is not English are required to provide TOEFL or IELTS test results (see MILE Admission). Exceptions may be granted on further examination, particularly where students have obtained their previous degree from a programme conducted entirely in English.
For the CAS and DAS programmes, applicants must demonstrate outstanding academic ability and provide credible references bearing witness to their research abilities. They also should possess at least one year of professional experience in a related field (lawyer, diplomat, export industry representative, trade economist, civil servant, etc). Exceptions to this rule may be granted upon reviewing individual applications.
How to apply
If you are interested in pursuing a CAS or DAS programmes, please:
- Consult the course offering above and choose the courses you wish to follow.
- Express your interest by email to inquire@wti.org
Deadline
Applications are accepted until the maximum number of participants is reached.
Cancellation policy
The following deadlines and penalties apply for persons who apply and have been accepted to the programme, but who subsequently withdraw:
- Cancellations 8 weeks before the course: the WTI refunds the tuition fee but deducts a 100 Swiss franc administration fee
- Cancellations 4 weeks before the course: the WTI refunds 70% of tuition fee
- Cancellations 2 weeks before the course: the WTI refunds 50% of tuition fee
- No show = no refund
Tuition fees
Tuition fees are due prior to starting your course(s). Information on courses will not be provided until the tuition fee has been paid.
The CAS and DAS tuition fees do not cover costs such as meals, housing or local transportation.
Weekly Courses
Participants may join one or more course(s) as a weekly student and receive a Certificate of Attendance upon completion.
The tuition per week is 1,200 Swiss francs.
*Week-long WTI PhD courses also count towards meeting the requirements for a CAS or DAS.
Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS)
Participants who earn 8 ECTS in course work and 4 ECTS by writing a research paper are awarded a Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in International Law and Economics.
The tuition fee for a CAS is 4,000 Swiss francs.
Diploma of Advanced Studies (DAS)
Participants who earn 22 ECTS in course work and 8 ECTS by writing a research paper are awarded a Diploma of Advanced Studies (DAS) in International Law and Economics.
The tuition fee for a DAS is 10,000 Swiss francs.
Financial aid
Special rates apply to students registered at the University of Bern.
A 50% tuition waiver is applicable to participants affiliated with the UNCTAD Virtual Institute (staff and students of university and think tank members, with proof of institutional affiliation and/or registration). For detailed information, please visit the UNCTAD VI website.
If you are a Bulgarian national, you are eligible for the exclusive financial support of the Fonds Katzarovi, specially designed for Graduate and PostGraduate studies in Switzerland. Deadline 15 March. More info here.
The WTI does not offer tuition waivers for CAS/DAS programmes or weekly courses. Financial aid, if needed, should be requested from other organisations or institutions.