Research Team

Elisa Baroncini, cum laude Law Degree and PhD in EU Law, is Full Professor of International Law at the University of Bologna, where she currently teaches International Economic Law, International Law on Sustainable Development, and International Energy Law. After having served for ten years (2012-2022) as Co-Chair of the ESIL IG on International Economic Law, in 2019 Elisa co-founded and is currently Coordinator of the Interest Group on International Economic Law of the Italian Society of International Law (DIEcon); and in December 2023, she has been elected as Member of the Executive Council of the Society of International Economic Law (SIEL). She has been Visiting Professor at the China-EU School of Law, speaker and organizer of many international conferences, Visiting Researcher at the European University Institute. Elisa coordinates and participates in international and national research projects. She has been awarded the Jean Monnet Module “Re-Globe - Reforming the Global Economic Governance: The EU for SDGs in International Economic Law” (2022-2025), the Jean Monnet Chair “SustainEUorPlanet - The EU as a Global Actor in the International Law for the Sustainable Development of the Planet – Advancing Fairness, Expanding Accountability and Promoting Security” (2025-2028), and the research fund by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the project “L’Organizzazione mondiale del commercio quale protagonista dello sviluppo sostenibile nel rilancio del sistema multilaterale”. Elisa has recently been the Coordinator of two UNA Europa Seeds Research Projects: “WHC@50 - Forever Young: Celebrating 50 Years of the World Heritage Convention”; and “ImprovEUorGlobe - The UN 2030 Agenda in the EU Trade Policy: Improving Global Governance for a Sustainable New World”. Member of the Scientific Committee of the “Centro Interuniversitario sul Diritto delle Organizzazioni Internazionali Economiche” (CIDOIE), Elisa has also been part of the Promoting Committee of the University of Bologna to honour the 1972 UNESCO Convention, and Member of the Scientific Committee of the Institute of Advances Studies (ISA) of the University of Bologna. In June 2022 she has been appointed by the European Commission TSD Expert for the dispute settlement mechanisms of the new generation of EU free trade agreements. In May 2023, Elisa Baroncini has been appointed Independent Non-executive Director of the Board of Eni S.p.A. She is also Member of the Editorial Board of “The Journal of World Investment & Trade” and the Editorial Board - Section of Bologna of “Diritto del commercio internazionale”. Elisa publishes extensively mainly in English and Italian, and her main fields of research include: the reform process of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism; the relation between free trade and non-trade values; transparency and civil society in international economic law; the new generation of EU FTAs and their enforcement; the participation of the European Parliament and the Commission in the EU treaty-making power; the relation between free trade and investment protection and cultural heritage protection; EU and international energy law.

Alessandra Castellini is Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics and Appraisal at the Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences (Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna). She earned a PhD in “Agricultural Economics and Policy”.
She teaches a Triennial degree (Principles of Economics - Economics of International Agrifood Markets) and Master's degree (Strategic Management). From 2018-19 she’s been leading a Laboratory for master students about Business Creation and Entrepreneurship. Furthermore, she coordinates the module about “Agricultural Economics and Market” in a second-level Master about “Design and Management of innovative, sustainable and technologically advanced agricultural systems”, co-funded by the University of Bologna.
Current research interests include the study of the agrifood markets and global value chains, technical-economic analysis of production systems also linked to circular economic aspects, the value chain mapping and evaluation. Furthermore, marketing surveys on the agrifood consumer’s behaviour and the consumer's perceptions towards innovative foods. Regarding international trade, she’s working on GI products and has recently completed the ARISE+ - Indonesia Trade Support Facility, funded by the EU.
She has been involved in European projects, i.e. the H2020 project AgriFoodBoost (ended in 2024) and the Horizon Europe project ALLIANCE (2023-2025).
Member of the University of Bologna Presidio della Qualità, Teaching section.
Vice-President of the Professional Association of Agronomists and Foresters of Bologna.
She authored more than 100 papers.

Niccolò Lanzoni is post-doctoral research fellow and adjunct professor in International Law at the Department of Law and at the Department of Cultural Heritage.

He holds a PhD in International Law from the University of Bologna and has been admitted to the Italian Bar. He has obtained the "National Scientific Qualification" (Abilitazione Scientifica Nazionale) for the position of associate professor in International Law in Italian universities. Previously, he held the position of post-doctoral research fellow (assegnista di ricerca) and adjunct professor at the same university.

He is also adjunct professor in International Law at the Higher School for Linguistic Mediators (CIELS). A visiting research fellow at the Heidelberg Institute para América Latina and former guest lecturer at the Eastern Mediterranean University, he served as research assistant for the Italian Defence College in the M/V 'Norstar' case (Panama v Italy).

In 2023 he published the monograph L'acquiescenza nel diritto internazionale with Editoriale Scientifica.

Alessandra Quarta graduated, cum laude, in Law (master’s degree in single cycle) with a thesis in European Union Law on “Entry and Residence in Europe of Third-Country Nationals Seeking Employment”, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna. She is currently enrolled in the third year of the PhD Course in Cultural and Environmental Heritage at the University of Bologna, with a thesis on cultural heritage in the EU trade policy (Supervisor Prof. Elisa Baroncini) and collaborates as a teaching tutor of the European Union Law course at the Ravenna Campus of the University of Bologna.

She is also member of several international projects: Una Europa Seed funding Project “ImprovEUorGlobe - UN 2030 agenda in EU trade policy: improving global governance for a new sustainable world"; Una Europa Seed funding Project “WHC@50 Forever Young: Celebrating 50 Years of the World Heritage Convention”; Jean Monnet Module “Re-Globe – Reforming the Global Economic Governance: the EU for SDGs in International Economic Law” and the MAECI Project “L'organizzazione mondiale del commercio quale protagonista dello sviluppo sostenibile nel rilancio del sistema multilaterale”.

Grazia Eleonora Vita is a PhD candidate in International Law at the Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna and holds an LLM in International Dispute Resolution from King's College London. Her current research focuses on business and human rights and private international law aspects of transnational environmental disputes.

She has been a visiting researcher at the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies at Leiden Law School and at the University of Geneva.

She is a former Editor-in-Chief of the University of Bologna Law Review.

Klarissa Martins Sckayer Abicalam is a 2nd year PhD candidate in European Union Law - External Relations (39° cycle 2023/2024) at the University of Bologna with her project on "The EU Trade Policy for Women’s Economic Empowerment”  under the supervision of Prof. Elisa Baroncini.  She has a Master’s degree (Second Cycle/Two Year LLM 2020-2022) in Global and Transnational Legal Culture at the University of Bologna where she was graduated with full marks - 110 e Lode - and was awarded the best international student of Alma Mater in the academic year 2020/2021, having written her thesis on the topic “The New Era of Mega-Regional Trade Agreements and the Relevance of the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement in the Process of Re-Globalization”. Furthermore, she is a fully qualified lawyer in Brazil, with extensive experience in public and private law, having been graduated in Law at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo.