For the 2026–2027 academic year, the Institute received a record 2,192 applications, an increase of 37.8% in two years. A total of 430 students have confirmed and are joining us: 393 at master level and 37 at PhD level. Their languages, histories, cultural and intellectual backgrounds, and personal experiences span the world, reaffirming the Institute’s vocation as a place where global challenges are examined through a multiplicity of perspectives.

The cohort is diverse in age and experience. The average age is 24.6 years, and the median age is 23, with students ranging from 20 to 54 years old. Women represent 70.7% of the incoming cohort and 73% of the master cohort, while the PhD cohort is close to gender parity.

The geographical reach is equally striking. Applications came from 132 nationalities, led by India, the United States, Switzerland, Italy, and China. The incoming cohort itself represents 66 nationalities and every world region: 195 students come from Europe, 110 from Asia, 67 from North America and 26 from Africa, alongside students from South and Central America, the Caribbean and Oceania. Switzerland is represented by 67 students, followed by the United States with 59, Italy with 49, and India with 32.

Academic backgrounds add another dimension to this cosmopolitanism. Applicants studied at 956 different institutions, while the incoming students come from 270 universities. The University of Geneva is the most represented institution of origin, followed by Leiden University, the University of The Gambia, and McGill University. These varied academic traditions and perspectives will enrich seminars, research, and conversations across the Institute.

This diversity is deeply rooted in the Institute’s history and purpose. Founded in 1927 by William Rappard and Paul Mantoux in the international environment created around the League of Nations, the Institute was conceived as a place where students from different countries could come together to study global questions. Nearly a century later, this new cohort gives renewed expression to that ambition.

Such diversity is both a source of intellectual richness and a shared responsibility. It calls for respect for different experiences and convictions, attentive listening, and a genuine commitment to dialogue, allowing complex and sometimes divisive questions to be addressed openly and constructively.

We warmly welcome our new students and look forward to the perspectives, ideas, and experiences they will bring to the Institute.