The Geneva Center for International Dispute Settlement (CIDS) was pleased to continue its series of Doctoral Research Seminars, which was inaugurated in autumn 2018. This series offers Ph.D. students a platform to discuss central questions relating to doctoral research in international law, under the guidance of senior researchers in the field. The Seminars aim to achieve stimulating and provocative exchanges, leading doctoral students to ask important questions concerning research and to arrive at their own conclusions. Through these interactions, emerging international law scholars are expected to increase their autonomy as researchers and approach the challenges of the Ph.D. in a spirit of innovation.

The third Seminar of the series was convened on Wednesday, 12 June 2019:

• Discussion led by Jean d’Aspremont (Chair in Public International Law, University of Manchester; Professor, Sciences Po Paris) on ‘Why should a doctoral student ask herself what body of knowledge she wants to contribute to?’.

• Discussion led by Joost Pauwelyn (Professor of International Law, Graduate Institute, Geneva; Co-Director of the Centre for Trade and Economic Integration, Graduate Institute, Geneva; Murase Visiting Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center) on ‘Challenges of interdisciplinarity and heterodox approaches’.

Each semester includes two CIDS Doctoral Research Seminars. Themes considered for future Seminars include:

• Choosing the right sources for the thesis

• Can a descriptive work be good research?

• Can and should a Ph.D. in international law save the world?

• The craft of legal research

• How to interact with a supervisor

• Ways of using references: between ‘giving credit where it’s due’ and ‘arguments by authority’.

The seminars are free of charge and are limited to 15 participants per session. Ph.D. students in international dispute settlement at the University of Geneva and the Graduate Institute have first priority, then other Ph.D. students of the University and the Institute, then Ph.D. students from other institutions, with first-come first-served order within each category.

To register, please submit an email (subject: ‘CIDS PhD Seminars Registration: [your name]’) to info@cids.ch. Please attach to your email a research question addressed in your doctoral research (max. 100 words). The deadline for registration is 10 June 2019.

The registration will be confirmed within 24 hours after the deadline.