The World Trade Institute invites applications for a Student Research Assistant (RA) position supporting our Swiss National Science Foundation funded project "In Search of a Geneva Consensus: The Trade-Development Nexus in the GATT / WTO and UNCTAD." This position offers an excellent opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge research on international economic governance while developing advanced computational research skills.
Starting November 2025 (or by agreement), the successful candidate will join our research team investigating how the GATT / WTO system and UNCTAD have evolved as international organizations over time. The RA will support the project through systematic collection of primary source materials from international organizations, potentially applying state-of-the-art text-as-data methodologies to understand institutional evolution in global economic governance.
Key Responsibilities
The role primarily involves systematically collecting, organizing and processing official documents from international organizations\' digital repositories, including WTO, UNCTAD, and historical GATT archives. The position requires efficient gathering of large volumes of documentary evidence while maintaining rigorous data quality standards. The RA will potentially apply natural language processing and text analysis methods to process collected materials and provide general research support for project activities.
Requirements
* Bachelor\'s or master\'s level degree in political science or computational science
* Currently enrolled in one of the Swiss universities and have a valid work permit
* Excellent English proficiency (knowledge of other languages is a plus)
* Coding skills in Python or R, or familiarity with web scraping techniques and NLP methodologies
* Attention to detail, collaborative skills for teamwork, while maintaining independence in research tasks
We offer
Please submit your cover letter detailing relevant experience and motivation, current CV, academic transcripts, and, if possible, a portfolio demonstrating technical skills such as coding samples. Applications should be sent to Dr Kirthana Ganeson. This position remains open until filled, and we encourage early applications for full consideration. Interviews are scheduled to be conducted in August 2025.
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