Each year, space in residence is reserved for a select number of scholars who secure their own funding and who are interested in affiliating with research projects and scholars at the Graduate Institute Visiting Programmes while they conduct their thesis and/or field research in Geneva. Forty are currently collaborating in the different research centres and departments. Discussion with one of them, Marusa Veber from the University of Ljubljana, based until end of May at the Programme for the Study of International Governance (PSIG).
 

Why did you decide to come as Visiting Fellow at the Graduate Institute?

As a young researcher and a PhD candidate I am fully aware how important it is to pursue research in different research environments and interact with scholars and practitioners from the field of your research. I have applied for the Visiting Fellowship at the Graduate Institute because it is one of the most prominent institutions for studying international law and international relations and because it hosts many world-renowned professors from these fields. Moreover, the Programme for the Study of International Governance, where I am based, extensively deals with the topic of my research, sanctions. It has various projects on this issue, including e.g. the Targeted Sanctions Consortium Database and the Geneva Targeted Sanctions Research Network. Also, the Institute’s library is one of the best in Europe and has an outstanding collection of books and other materials from the field of international law in particular. An important factor for my decision was also the fact that the Institute is located in Geneva, which is a centre of many international organisations and other research institutions. I especially wanted to have access to the United Nations and to meet some of the experts from the World Trade Organization for the purpose of my research.

What is your current research project?

I have devoted most of my time here at the Graduate Institute to my research project, which grapples with the topic of international legal aspects of European Union’s sanctions against third (non-member states) and is part of my PhD thesis. The European Union is becoming an increasingly important actor in the sphere of international peace and security and imposes sanctions against states outside Europe on a regular basis. Currently it has 38 sanctions regimes in force. These measures can be based on the United Nations Security Council resolutions (such as sanctions against the Central African Republic), be pursued as autonomous measures of the European Union (for example, sanctions against Russia), or represent a mixture of both (for example sanctions against Iran). I am interested especially in two aspects of this trend. The first is a collective security perspective and the relationship between the United Nations and the European Union in the course of implementation of sanctions, whereas the second one relates to determining the international legal status of European Union autonomous measures, especially debates surrounding their possible (il)legality.

So your stay at the Graduate Institute has proved helpful for your research.

It has indeed. As I have already mentioned, the Programme for the Study of International Governance has a very active research group dealing with various aspects of contemporary sanctions regimes in an interdisciplinary manner, with special emphasis on interaction with policymakers. During my stay I have been able to listen to and meet numerous academics and practitioners from the field. For example, I have engaged in discussions with members of the United Nations sanctions committees and the office of the United Nations special rapporteur on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights. Moreover, I had the opportunity to present my work to the Geneva Targeted Sanctions Research Network, which was very important and beneficial for my research.

Apart from my research at the Institute I also had the chance to interact with experts from the World Trade Organization and the University of Geneva. I also benefited from the proximity of the UN, which enabled me to attend some of the events organised there and listen to the sessions of the e.g. International Law Commission.  

A word on the plus of the Graduate Institute and about your life in Geneva?

I feel privileged to be able to experience life in Geneva and to be part of the Graduate Institute research community. Apart from enriching my professional work by meeting numerous scholars, I have also made some very good friends on a more personal level. Geneva as a city is a very nice place to live in and it is very easy to find your way around. My way of transport was bicycle, and I enjoyed every single morning ride along the coast of the lake on my way to the Graduate Institute.