WTI Winter and Summer Academy
World Trade Institute
Key Information
Campus location
Bern, Switzerland
Languages
English
Study format
Distance Learning, On-Campus
Duration
1 - 6 week
Pace
Full time, Part time
Tuition fees
CHF 1,200 / per course *
Application deadline
Request info
Earliest start date
Request info
* 1200 CHF for one week | 2,200 CHF for two weeks | 3,200 CHF for three weeks | 4,200 CHF for four weeks | 5,200 CHF for five weeks | 6,200 CHF for six weeks
Introduction
In lectures, discussions and case studies, renowned experts will teach you how to blend the policy aspects of trade and investment with thorough legal interpretation and economic analysis. By becoming a part of the WTI community, you will establish valuable contacts with fellow-minded professionals and lecturers.
Winter and Summer Academy modules can be taken individually on an à la carte basis. Students who take multiple courses in the Winter or Summer Academy can become eligible for a Diploma of Advanced Studies (DAS) or a Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in International Law and Economics. Visit our CAS / DAS Programmes page to learn more.
Are you a graduate of our MILE or TRAIL+ programmes? If so, you qualify for a 50% discount on the week-long courses offered in our Winter and Summer Academies. In your application, please indicate that you are a MILE or TRAIL+ alumna/alumnus.
Admissions
Gallery
Curriculum
These courses are offered on an "a la carte" basis, meaning that students can enrol on one or more of the below courses.
The Summer Academy 2022 courses will be offered in a hybrid format and are as follows:
Week 1
Foundations of Trade Policy and Trade Policy Data
7 -10 June 2022
Lecturers : Patrick Tomberger, Manfred Elsig, 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
13 - 17 June 2022
Lecturers: Octavio Fernández-Amador, Achim Vogt and Irene Garcés Iriarte
Description: This course presents the main econometric framework to perform an 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
Introduction to Input-Output and Applied General Equilibrium Models
20 - 24 June 2022
Lecturers: Patrick Tomberger and Hugo Rojas-Romagosa
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
The Proposed EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM): its Legality, Effectiveness and Impact
20 - 23 June 2022
Lecturers: Peter Van den Bossche, Yuliia Kucheriava, Joseph Francois, Christian Häberli, Ilaria Espa, Nicolas Lockhart, Dominic Coppens and Manfred Elsig
Description: This course focuses on the European Commission’s proposal for a carbon border adjustment mechanism as it is currently being discussed in the European Parliament and by the EU Member States. The course will address this proposal, possible amendments and alternatives from a legal, economic and international relations perspective. In a series of interactive lectures, the course will deal with the consistency of the CBAM proposal and possible amendments to the WTO and other international agreements. The course will also address the economic impact and effectiveness of the proposed CBAM as well as its effect on international efforts to address climate change. The course will be concluded with a Roundtable discussion with:
- Dr Sebastian Klotz, Senior Associate at PwC Switzerland
- Dr Gracia Marin Duran, Associate Professor of International Economic Law, Faculty of Laws, University College London
- Mr Ignacio Garcia Bercero, Director and Chief Negotiator, DG Trade, European Commission, Brussels
- Dr David Kleimann, Visiting Fellow, Bruegel, Brussels
- Professor Dr Gabrielle Marceau, Professor of International Economic Law, Université de Genève, Geneva
ECTS: 3
Innovation and Intellectual Property Protection: Foundations and Challenges
20 - 24 June 2022
Lecturers: Thomas Cottier and Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property
Description: Intellectual property rights play an increasing role in international trade and the process of globalization and regionalization. Global value chains and division of labour strongly depend upon intellectual property protection which in turn also influences trade flows. The course expounds on the fundamental principles of IP protection in the multilateral trading system of the WTO and preferential trade agreements. It offers an introduction to different forms of rights, and the scope of rights, and students are exposed to leading case law. It particularly focuses on a case study on the implications of patents on public health and pharmaceuticals in the developing world. The course offers an introduction to trademarks and geographical indications and explains the different modes of registration of intellectual property rights and research tools for patent and trademark landscaping.
ECTS: 3
Week 4
Applied Trade Policy Modeling using Computational General Equilibrium Models
27 June - 1 July 2022
Lecturer: Eddy Bekkers
Description: This course covers how to model trade policy instruments in the framework of computational general equilibrium models. The course covers topics such as the structure of the main multi-country, multi-sector general equilibrium models specially designed for the analysis of trade, the definition of shocks, the calibration of the model, and how to read the results.
ECTS: 3
WTO Law on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) & Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS)
27 June - 1 July 2022
Lecturers: Arthur Appleton and Christian Häberli
Description: This course builds on basic knowledge regarding GATT obligations and applies this knowledge to trade-related regulatory issues that affect operators along various value chains. These regulatory issues are of considerable interest to civil society. The classroom activities will focus on the policy space that Members have under the WTO Agreements on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) to regulate trade in goods, including the social and environmental implications. Based on participant interest in societal concerns, we will discuss trade and investment-related issues arising under the WTO and regional trade agreements (RTAs), including climate change mitigation, pandemic and public health, food safety, consumer protection, child and forced labour, public morals, the protection of the environment, and similar issues. Particular attention will also be given to the needs of the business community – businesses thrive when government regulations are legitimate, transparent, and stable.
ECTS: 3
Intellectual Property and the Digital Economy
27 - 30 June 2022
Lecturers: Thomas Cottier, Mira Burri, Andreas Heinemann, Philippe Lionnet and Anne-Sophie Morand
Description: This course is dedicated to exploring the relationship between international trade, intellectual property and competition law in the digital economy. Expounding the law of copyright and domain name protection turns to new challenges in the field of competition law. New and unresolved issues of big data, data protection, artificial intelligence and IP-protected technical standards are discussed, also in relation to the US-Sino trade war. The module also includes the treatment of enforcing intellectual property rights which is particularly challenging in digital trade.
ECTS: 3
Week 5
More Agrifood Trade Governance
4 - 8 July 2022
Lecturers: Ken Ash and Christian Häberli
Description: In this course, we look at the history of, and the economic justification for, the rules in the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) and related agreements. We then examine how these rules, which were created in response to the agricultural policy landscape of the 1980s fit the current global context for food security, food safety, and climate change mitigation. In addition to participating in interactive lectures and exercises, participants will be invited to identify and present specific agriculture-related issues of their choice. In addition to the challenges mentioned above, topics could include sustainable development goals, “land grab”, human rights and gender issues, obesity and malnutrition, water allocation and wood scarcity, fish, biofuels and biotechnology. On the fourth day of the week, participants will lead a discussion on the selected topics highlighting the interaction between existing trade rules and policy space.
ECTS: 3
Week 6
Latest Developments in International Investment Law and Dispute Settlement
11 - 15 July 2022
Lecturers: Michele Potestà, Krista Nadakavukaren and Rodrigo Polanco
Description: This course will examine the latest trends in the negotiation and implementation of international investment agreements (IIAs), placing them into their political economy and public policy context, including issues such as the connection with poverty and the digital divide.
The sessions will devote particular attention to the criticism that the current investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) system is facing and the various reform efforts that States and other stakeholders are making to address such criticism. The course will in particular, deal with the work of UNCITRAL Working Group III with respect to ISDS reform, including the proposals of tribunals, ad hoc and standing multilateral mechanisms (multilateral advisory centre, stand-alone review or appellate mechanism, and standing the first instance and appeal investment court, with full-time judges); arbitrators and adjudicators appointment methods and ethics (ISDS tribunal members' selection appointment and challenge, and code of conduct); treaty Parties' involvement and control mechanisms on treaty interpretation; cost management and related procedures (expedited procedures, and principles/guidelines on allocation of cost and security for cost); and third-party funding, as well as the possible mechanisms to implement the reform options. The course will also address the recent ICSID Rules amendments, which have reformed the ICSID arbitration framework in a number of significant respects and which will come into effect in July 2022.
Additionally, the course will examine investor-State conflict management, as well as alternatives to replace it with other mechanisms, including the use of non-litigious means for addressing investor-State conflicts. It will also address issues of dispute prevention and mitigation, such as the strengthening of dispute settlement mechanisms other than arbitration (ombudsman, mediation).
Finally, this course will also analyse the latest developments of a possible future Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement as part of the joint statement initiative (JSI) at the WTO, as well as the investment facilitation provisions that have already been included in existing IIAs
ECTS: 3
Program Tuition Fee
Scholarships and Funding
Financial aid
Master's students registered at the University of Bern who wish to audit (without obtaining credits) can take Winter and Summer Academy courses for free. For Master's students who wish to obtain ECTS credits, special rates apply. All University of Bern students who register need to provide a confirmation of matriculation at the University of Bern.
A 50% tuition waiver is applicable to participants affiliated with the UNCTAD Virtual Institute (staff and students of the university and think tank members, with proof of institutional affiliation and/or registration). This discount is only available for participants from lower-middle income and low-income countries and cannot be combined with other discounts.
The winning team in the Final Oral Round of the John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition are awarded a tuition fee waiver for two weeks of the Winter or Summer Academy. The winning team in any of the Regional Rounds of the John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition are awarded a tuition fee waiver for one week of the Winter or Summer Academy.
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.
In all other cases, the WTI does not offer tuition waivers for the Winter and Summer Academies. Financial aid, if needed, should be requested from other organisations or institutions.
Career Opportunities
Many of our alumni have launched highly successful careers in a number of different sectors:
- International organisations, including WTO, World Bank, UNCTAD, WIPO, UNEP, ITC, and regional development banks
- National ministries of trade, investment, finance and foreign affairs
- Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Swiss Secretariat for Economic Affairs
- European Commission
- Private sector including PwC, JP Morgan, Audi Forum Ingolstadt, Syngenta, Novartis, Japan Tobacco International
- Leading law firms with a trade and investment practice, including the Advisory Centre on WTO Law (ACWL)
- Industry associations
- Non-governmental organisations