The MINT programme will see its first class of students graduate at the end of this academic year. What sets MINT apart as a Master’s programme?

Davide Rodogno : MINT is a 2-year interdisciplinary Master at the heart of International Geneva, preparing a new generation of professionals, ready for the current and complex challenges of the world.

MINT offers students the opportunity to choose specialties out of seven topics at the heart of global issues:  conflict, peace and security; human rights and humanitarianism; gender, race and diversity; environment and sustainability; global health; mobilities, migration and boundaries; sustainable trade and finance. Students are encouraged to then go beyond their chosen specialties and craft their curriculum accordingly. Additionally, Transversal Theme Electives allow students to explore how their specialisation is linked to other, broader issues that cut across specific topics.

MINT trains unique generalists equipped with solid knowledge on governance and development, with specialised expertise in an area of international affairs and an interdisciplinary way of thinking. MINT students understand interconnections between different components, and possess the skillset necessary to collaborate and communicate with a wide range of stakeholders in the international policy arena.

The Applied Research Projects (ARPs) are an integral part of the Master's programme and represent 15 credits. What is an ARP, and what added value do they bring to students?

Claudia Seymour: ARPs are a key component of the MINT programme, required for all students. They involve student-led, group-based, policy-relevant research for institutional partners working in Geneva and beyond on issues of global concern. Interested organisations propose research projects for our students. As part of their research process, students conduct in-depth literature reviews, design research methodologies, and undertake original research.

The main pedagogical aim of ARPs is for students to apply their classroom learning and their analytical and research skills to real world policy challenges. They receive academic support in this process, including supervision by an ARP Faculty Lead, who is both an academic researcher and an expert practitioner. Faculty Leads maintain a close liaison between the partner organisations and the students, guiding students in how to bridge the academic and policy worlds.

Through their participation, students learn first-hand how to apply their critical analytical skills in a way that is relevant for policy and practice beyond their MINT degree, and to bridge the research-policy divide. As MINT students represent an expansive diversity of nationalities, cultures, and academic backgrounds, ARPs offer a key learning opportunity to collaborate intensively and to practice interpersonal skills invaluable to their future careers.

Davide Rodogno : MINT is training future researchers, practitioners and leaders, and ARPs are one of the first reality-checks with the professional world. While students can indicate preferred projects, they often do not get their top choice, and in all cases, they are expected to work on the project blueprint and guidelines as defined by the partner organisation. Students must adapt to these external constraints, and learn to apply their skills of analytical rigor and precision, impeccable presentation, clarity of their writing-style and intelligibility of their arguments. This is a challenging and a very difficult task.

Students must also learn to use their diplomatic skills in group settings. They must show all the creativity they have and their intellectual and academic skills to prove that their arguments are compelling and worth being pursued. They must persevere, persevere… and persevere.

Which organisations do you collaborate with on ARPs, and on what themes?

Claudia Seymour: Applied research collaborations have been implemented by the Institute since 2009, and since then hundreds of successful partnerships have been forged, including with past ARP students, now alums, commissioning ARPs on their organisations’ behalf. Partners include UN agencies, international organisations, NGOs, as well as private enterprises, benefit from our students’ fresh and interdisciplinary perspectives. Projects cover a wide range of topics relating to the seven MINT specialisations and often address cutting-edge topics that are at the frontiers of international relations, from cyber mediation and artificial intelligence, to pandemic response, to climate policies.

A last word?

Davide Rodogno : Sometimes I hear MINT students complaining about the organisation, logistics and difficulties of the ARPs. They are right. Of course, the ARPs are the ultimate challenge for the Institute. They are extremely difficult to organise, entailing layered complications for us and for the students. They are totally worth it. We, instructors, patiently wait for our students to graduate. A few years later, some of them contact us, letting us know that the world out there is terribly complicated, confusing, and ambiguous. The ARPs offer a small and limited ersatz of this real world, where it is difficult it is to make change happen and to have an impact. As head of the programme, I am extremely proud of our ARPs. Needless to say, I will persevere to improve all aspects related to the ARPs, together with Claudia and our fourteen faculty-leads, so that we can offer the best possible training for our MINT students.