The World Trade Institute (WTI) is located in Bern, Switzerland and directed by Professor Joseph Francois. The institute was founded in 1999 by the universities of Bern, Fribourg and Neuchâtel. The WTI provides graduate studies and a forum for interdisciplinary research and teaching in international trade law and economics. Offers include a graduate master's programme in international trade law and economics (MILE), an annual summer academy, WTO accession training, an executive education programme, and tailor-made courses in trade regulation and economics. Since 2005 the WTI has been the leading research centre for the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research - NCCR Trade Regulation - which is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. The WTI also hosts an annual World Trade Forum conference where interdisciplinary speakers and scholars from the fields of law, economy, political science and international relations discuss contemporary topics of the world trading system. Papers, comments and conclusions from these conferences are published in the World Trade Forum Book Series by Cambridge University Press.
