Latest News in International Studies

Forum for Policy and Research: A Paradigm Shift in Research Policy and Development Cooperation?

The Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South is organising a forum for policy and research taking place in Bern on 4 June 2013, from 17:00 to 19:30.

The event will showcase highlights from the Centre's 12-year research programme and give representatives from policy, development, and research an opportunity to discuss the role and potential of research networks in promoting sustainable development in the global South.

more information and programme at: www.north-south.unibe.ch

Press Review: Integrating Psychological Knowledge in the Cambodian Khmer Rouge Trial

The on-line news magazine of the University of Zürich gives an interesting insight on this SNIS funded project that combines psychology and law in order to help and train lawyers confronted with witnesses suffering of post-traumatic disorders in the hearings of the Cambodia Khmer Rouge Trial.

The multidisciplinary approach combining law and psychology is meant to provide tools to be more effective in the hearings. Therefore, alongside with lawyers, psychologists have been involved for several purposes. They are able to take into account eventual traumas in the judicial procedures and are entrusted with monitoring the trial according to the evidences identified by their inquiries. Additionally, they are involved in a continuous educational process, which aims at providing the lawyers with tools to better understand the complex situation of victimhood. Amongst others, they have observed that witnesses have a different attitude depending on the person questioning them, which constitutes an important factor in the truth establishing process.

read the article (in German): http://www.uzh.ch/news/articles/2013/genug-der-traumata-in-kambodscha.html

EPFL: Certificate of Advanced Studies in Management of Development Projects

In today's globalized world, most countries face major social, economic, technological, political and institutional changes. In order to successfully implement a project, be it a development project, a public action or a private business, scientists, technicians and academics from the North and South will increasingly have to work together. The need to integrate different kinds of expertise will also be a necessity. In addition to the specialized skills in their respective fields, professionals will have to be able to understand specific historical and cultural backgrounds, to face new and changing situations and environments, and tackle different ways of thinking and implementing projects.

To help professionals to adapt to these situations and promote an interdisciplinary and multicultural approach to these problems, EPFL is organizing the second edition of the Certificate of Advanced Studies in Management of Development Projects (MaDePro) targeted at project managers, engineers, architects, social scientists and other equivalent university graduates.

further information and applications: http://cooperation.epfl.ch/madepro

Summary - Round-Table Debate on Global Trends in Inequalities

Academic Council Debate Series on Global Trends in Inequalities
The Challenge of Job Recovery in Times of Economic and Financial Crisis

The SNIS held on 11 March 2013 the last debate of the series on global trends in inequalities at the University of Basel, Department of Economics (WWZ), under the chair of Professor George Sheldon. The debate concentrated on the challenge of job recovery in times of economic and financial crises.

Ana Llena-Nozal (OECD), co-author of the study "Divided We Stand - Why Inequality Keeps Rising, released by the OECD in 2011, talked about the increasing trend in inequality, the main drivers that account for these trends and presented policy recommendations.

Miquel A. Malo (ILO) addressed the topic of job-friendly policies from a policy angle and mentioned the role that International Organizations can play in finding corporative solutions.

The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) was represented by Mr. Peter Utting, Deputy Director, who put the subject of inequality in the broader context of social equity, stuctural change and crisis. He presented key findings and messages of UNRISD's flagship report "Combating Poverty and Inequality".

read the fully summary

Swiss Global Change Day - Poster Session and Awards - 16.04.2013

The Swiss Global Change Day, organised by the Swiss Academy of Sciences, will take place on 16 April in Bern. The event offers a platform where the Science Community of all disciplines meets and interacts. Keynote speakers encompass topics of the physical climate system, the biochemical and geochemical processes and impacts, biodiversity and the human dimensions of global change. The poster session reflects the current research activities. Seven travel awards honour the most attractive and comprehensive posters.

Deadline for poster submission: 6 April 2013