Mission
The SNIS promotes academic research in the interdisciplinary area of international studies with an interest in phenomena that transcend traditional nation-state boundaries.
It supports different perspectives by valuing contributions from a diverse group of academic researchers including political scientists, economists, legal scholars, social and cultural anthropologists, historians, sociologists, geographers, environmental and public health scientists, as well as other academics.
Thematic areas of interest include environment, development, health, human rights, and education, among others, as well as topics such as international and civil wars, sustainable development, public health, migration and refugees, gender issues, globalisation, trade and financial markets, human and cultural rights, and European politics.
History
The Swiss Network for International Studies (SNIS) was founded in 2008 as the successor institution of the former Geneva International Academic Network (GIAN).
While the former GIAN was mostly active in Geneva due to the mandatory research collaboration with international organisations, the SNIS was set up by joint decision by the Canton of Geneva and the Swiss Confederation (State Secretariat of Research and Education) with the mandate to extend its activities and funding activities to academic institutions and researchers all over Switzerland.
The SNIS has been set up according to a contract concluded between the University of Geneva and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, which are the founding institutions. Its legal statute is a “société simple”.
Partner institutions involved in the activities and decision-making process are:
– Center for Comparative and International Studies, Zürich
– World Trade Institute, Bern
– Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel
– School of Management, Economics, Law, Social Sciences and International Affairs, St. Gallen
The SNIS has succeeded in its mission to promote international studies in Switzerland. The past calls for proposals showed a fairly balanced breakdown of pre-proposals received from a wide range of academic institutions in Switzerland. In 2016, 40% project proposals emanated from German speaking cantons, followed by Geneva with 29%, 27.5% of other French speaking cantons and finally Ticino with a rate of 3.5%.
Governing Committee
The Governing Committee heads the Swiss Network for International Studies and the bodies created within. It validates the selection of projects qualified for funding made by the Scientific Committee and approves the evaluations made by the juries of the SNIS awards.
The Governing Committee defines the long term strategy of the SNIS.
It includes representatives of SNIS founding institutions as well as of SNIS founding partners.
Marie-Laure Salles Djelic
Director
Geneva Graduate Institute
Agi Veres
Director of UNDP
Representation Office
Geneva
James W. Davis
Director of the institute of political science
University of St. Gallen
Peter van den Bossche
Director of Studies
World Trade Institute – University of Berne
Isabel Günther
Director NADEL
ETH Zurich
Jürg Utzinger
Director
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute
Stéphane Berthet
Vice-Rector
University of Geneva
SNIS Award Committee
The Jury for the “SNIS Award for the best thesis in international studies” is composed of 6 scholars from the domain of international studies and practice.
They come from various disciplinary backgrounds and from a variety of different Swiss and international institutions. The jury is independent in its decisions and convenes annually to determine the winner of the Award by consensus.
Mira Burri
Senior Lecturer and Managing Director for Internationalization
University of Lucerne
Anki Sjoeberg
Head of Operations
Fight for Humanity
Siegfried Weichlein
Professor
University of Fribourg
Daniel Meier
Associated researcher
Sciences Po Grenoble
Vally Koubi
Professor
Center for Comparative and International Studies, ETH Zurich and University of Bern
International Geneva Committee
The International Geneva Committee is composed of high-level representatives of international organisations (IOs) in order to establish a link between Swiss scientists and IO’s headquartered in Geneva.
The main function of the International Geneva Committee is to define the yearly thematic issue for the SNIS call for projects. It furthermore acts as a Jury of the International Geneva Award. Finally, it contributes to a series of round-table debates taking place at various universities in Switzerland.
Antonia Mihaylova
Special Advisor to the Director General
International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Marcelo Di Pietro Peralta
Director
World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)
Adam Day
Head of the UNU Geneva office
Francesco Pisano
Director
UN Library – UNOG
Bernard Kuiten
Head of External Relations
World Trade Organisation (WTO)
Richard Lukacs
Specialist, Global Risks and Geopolitical Agenda
World Economic Forum
Andres Vikat
Chief of Section
UNECE
Céline Bauloz
Head Migration Research Unit
IOM
Samir Yeddes
First Secretary,
Global Affairs Team
Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN
Catherine Saget
Chief of Unit
ILO research Department
Agi Veres
Deputy Director,
UNDP Europe and the CIS
Charlotte Warakaulle
Director for International Relations
European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN)
Catalin Marinescu
Head, Corporate Strategy Division, ITU
Ana Luiza Thompson-Flores
Director of the UNESCO Liaison Office in Geneva
Scientific Committee
The Scientific Committee is composed of nine scholars from the domain of international studies and practice.
They come from various disciplinary backgrounds and from a variety of different Swiss and international institutions.
Susan Parnell
Professor of Human Geography
University of Bristol, UK
Jan Klabbers
Professor of International Conflict Management and Peace Research
Academy of Finland
Nina Schneider
Research group leader
Global cooperation research
University of Duisburg Essen
Ellen Hertz
Professor of Anthropology
University of Neuchâtel
Jeanette H. Magnus
Director,
Centre for Global Health
University of Oslo, Norway
Peter Egger
Professor of Applied Economics
ETH Zurich
Anja Jetschke
Professor of Political Science
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Kenneth Harttgen
Professor for development economics
ETH Zürich
Arno Hold
CEO of Hold Consulting
Secretariat
The Secretariat is the executive body of the Swiss Network for International Studies. It implements the decisions taken by the Governing Committee.
The Secretariat organises the annual call for projects and supports the Scientific Committee. It involves the Academic Council of International Geneva in its activities with the objective to create a network between IOs and researchers in Switzerland.
Bernhard Fuhrer
Director
+41 22 525 31 77
Damien Marti
Program Manager
+41 22 525 21 88
Ruxandra Stoicescu
Communication, Scientific Mediation & Events
+41 22 525 37 55
