From left:M. Lantz, S. Cunningham, L. Casier, S. Bruderer, M. Hurley, and W. Alschner

In May, Master in International Law students Selina Bruderer, Stephanie Cunningham and Max Lantz, with Master in Development Studies student Liesbeth Casier, took first place at the European Law Students’ Association (ELSA) moot court competition on WTO law. This year marks the first time a team from the Institute has won this competition. They outshined teams from LSE, Harvard Law School and Ottawa University. The team made it to the competition in Montpellier, France after winning the European round in Münster, Germany where Stephanie Cunningham was named best orator of the finals. This year’s team was coached by Mikella Hurley, Farzan Sabet, Luca Pasquet and Wolfgang Alschner. The team’s participation would not have been possible without guidance and support from Professor Joost Pauwelyn and the Centre for Trade and Economic Integration (CTEI). The ELSA moot court is a prestigious competition on WTO law which attracts teams from well-known universities from around the world every year.


From left: S.Pralong (President), J.Bouaouli, S. Voicu, L. Canham, C.Filippini (Sec. General)

Also in May, the 2012 C. Pralong Prize was awarded to Master in Development Studies students Lyndsey Canham and Sabina Voicu for their project entitled EcoSan. The project aims to create environmentally friendly toilets in Borel, Haiti. These above ground toilettes help avoid contamination of drinking water and outbreaks of diseases like cholera which spread on the island in 2010. The compost from the toilets will be used in reforestation projects. The Pralong prize provides students with funding to carry out social, entrepreneurial, or academic projects in emerging countries or in the European Union.

In April, three Institute students won prizes at the International Studies Association (ISA) Annual conference in San Diego. Rachelle Cloutier (PhD in International Relations/Political Science candidate) won the Alexander George Award for her paper "The Ties that Bind? Human Rights Violations and the Sanctioning of Misbehaving Friends". Olivier Schmitt, who graduated from the Master in International Affairs programme in 2010 received honourable mention for the Alexander George Award for his paper "Explaining the Recourse to the Use of Military Force in ESDP Operations". Heidi Hardt, who graduated with a PhD in International Relations/Political Science in 2011, was given the Lawrence Finkelstein Award. Elena Gadjanova, who is pursuing a PhD in International Relations/Political Science, won Honorable Mention (1st runner-up) for the Martin O. Heissler Award of the Ethnicity, Nationalism, and Migration Studies Section for her paper: "Pandering politicians and susceptible minds". ISA was established in 1959 to create communities of scholars of international studies.

Congratulations to all of our winners!