Research Group

Prof. Elisa Baroncini, cum laude Law Degree and PhD in EU Law, Certificate of the Centre for Studies and Research of The Hague Academy of International Law, Jean Monnet Chair, is Full Professor of International Law at the Department of Legal Studies of the University of Bologna, where she currently teaches International Economic Law, International Law on Sustainable Development, and International Energy Law. Since October 2026, she is Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague. After having served for ten years (2012-2022) as Co-Chair of the ESIL Interest Group on International Economic Law, in 2019 Prof. Baroncini 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. Prof. Baroncini 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 funds by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the projects on the WTO as major actor of sustainable development and the plurilateral agreements and initiatives for the governance of a new world economic order. Elisa Baroncini has 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) and of the Scientific Committee of the Institute of Advanced Studies (ISA) of the University of Bologna, she has also been part of the Promoting Committee of the University of Bologna to honour the 1972 UNESCO Convention. In June 2022 Prof. Baroncini 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, she has been appointed Independent Non-executive Director of the Board of Eni S.p.A. Prof. Baroncini is Member of the Editorial Board of “The Journal of World Investment & Trade” and the Editorial Board - Section of Bologna of “Diritto del commercio internazionale”. Her fields of research include: the reform process of the WTO system; 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; renewable energies and International Economic Law; plurilateral tools for the governance of the global economy. 

Giorgio Sacerdoti is a distinguished Italian professor of International Law. He graduated in Law from the University of Milan and earned a Master of Comparative Law from Columbia University. He became a full professor at Bocconi University in 1994 and was appointed Jean Monnet Chair in European Law in 2004, becoming Emeritus Professor in 2016. He has taught at various universities, including Milan, Bergamo, Bari, and Urbino, and held guest professorships at institutions like the Institut des Hautes Etudes Internationales in Paris. He has been an ICSID Arbitrator (World Bank) and served as Vice-President of the OECD Anti-Corruption Committee (1995-2001). From 2001 to 2009, he was a member of the WTO Appellate Body, including serving as its President in 2006-2007. He has been the President of the CDEC-Onlus Foundation since 2004 and is a member of the Italian National Group of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) since 2024. Professor Sacerdoti has published extensively on international trade law, investments, international contracts and arbitration. His last publication "International Trade and Investment Dispute Settlement. From Rise to Crisis and Reform", co-authored with Niall Moran, was released in 2025.

Giovanna Adinolfi is Full Professor of International Law at the University of Milan, where she teaches and conducts research within the Department of International, Legal, and Historical-Political Studies. She is also a member of the doctoral faculty in Public, International, and European Law.

Professor Adinolfi’s academic career spans over two decades, during which she has held positions as Associate Professor and Researcher at the same institution, and has been actively involved in doctoral programs at both the University of Milan and Bocconi University. Her teaching portfolio includes courses in international trade law, international economic law, and environmental law across undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate levels.

Her research focuses on international economic law, including international trade law, EU trade policy, international monetary and financial law, and the legal dimensions of disaster response and sustainable development. Professor Adinolfi has also gained professional experience at the international level, including consultancy work with the World Trade Organization and participation in the Italian delegation to the United Nations. She currently serves as an expert and arbitrator for the European Commission in trade-related disputes.

Federico Casolari is Full professor of European Union Law at the Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, where he teaches EU law and EU Constitutional Law. He currently serves as Chair of the Law Deans Group - The Guild (2024-2026), and is a member of the Joint Managerial Committee of the China-EU School of Law (CESL), a member of the National Biodiversity Future Centre and a member of the Interuniversity Centre on the Law of Economic International Organizations. He is also a member of the Centre for Digital Ethics (CedE) and of the International Research Centre on European Law (CIRDE) of the University of Bologna and tutor at the Collegio Superiore of the same university (2016-2025). He is the Director of the Master Programme in European Funds and Funding Projects Expert (MEFFE).

He is Head of the Department of Legal Studies of the University of Bologna (Dean, School of Law).

Lorenza Mola is Full Professor of International Law at the University of Turin, Department of Law, where she currently also acts as Vice-coordinator of the PhD in Law, the Individual and the Market and as PI of a project on the ecological and demographic transitions. She holds a PhD in International Economic Law from “Bocconi” University (Milan) and a M.Sc. in European Studies (External Relations) from the Université Libre de Bruxelles. Lorenza has authored two books, in Italian, on ‘national security in international investment law’ (2010) and on ‘the European Social Charter and the international control on its implementation’ (2023), and published extensively in Italian and foreign reviews. Lorenza has taught at all levels of academic education, participated in national and international research groups and spoken at conferences, both in Italy and abroad. She has been on the board of directors of the UniTo-ITCILO’s Master of Laws in International Trade Law since 2014. She also gained professional experience at the Italian Mission to the WTO, at the European Commission's DG Trade/Investment Unit, as an external consultant for the Italian Development Cooperation, and as research assistant on customs law. Her main research interests are in international economic law, international human rights law, and the law of EU external relations.

Luca Rubini is Associate Professor of International Law at the University of Milan and Faculty Member of the Center for Transnational Legal Studies in London. Previously he held positions at the Law Schools of the Universities of Turin, Birmingham and Leicester. Sometime in the past he served as legal secretary in the cabinet of Advocate General Jacobs at the European Court of Justice. Luca has law degrees from the Catholic University, Milan, and King’s College London.

Ilaria Espa is Associate Professor of International Economic Law at USI and Senior Research Fellow at the World Trade Institute (WTI) in Bern. She is furthermore Adjunct Professor at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, Faculty Board Member of the PhD Programme in Legal Studies of Bocconi University and Lead Counsel of the 'Natural Resources' Programme of the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL). Formerly awarded a Marie Curie fellowship from the European Commission for her post-doctoral studies (2013-2015), Ilaria was a member of the WTI-based NCCR Trade Regulation Programme until its expiration in 2017 in addition to acting as Scientific Coordinator of the WTI Doctoral Programme (2015-2017). She was also an Adjunct Professor at the Department of Environmental Science and Policy of the University of Milan (2015-2020). Ilaria holds a PhD in International Law and Economics from the Department of Legal Studies of Bocconi University (2013) and was a visiting scholar at Columbia Law School (2012). She also holds a BA in Political Science and an MA in International Relations from Luiss University. 

Davide Grespan, studied law at the university of Bologna (1995) and Oxford (2001). He succeeded the bar exam in Italy (1998) and worked for a few years in different law firms in Bologna and Rome. In 1999 he worked in Luxembourg in the cabinet of Professor Mengozzi, at the time judge of the Court of First Instance, and also as a free-lance translator for the Court of Justice. In 2001 he joined the European Commission, in DG Competition. Later he moved to DG Trade. From 2008 to 2022 he worked in the Legal Service of the European Commission, and in this role he built an impressive record as litigator before the EU courts, the WTO judicial bodies, and international arbitrators. From September 2022 he is the legal advisor to the Permanent Mission of the EU to the WTO. He published several articles on legal matters and contributed to several works on State aid law and WTO law in English and Italian. 

Mr. Jan Bohanes is Senior Counsel at the Advisory Centre on WTO Law (ACWL), which provides legal assistance to developing WTO Member governments.  As a member of the ACWL team, he provides advice to ACWL Member governments on all matters related to WTO law, assists them in WTO dispute settlement proceedings appearing regularly before WTO panels and the (former) Appellate Body, and conducts training activities.  Previously, he was a member of the Secretariat of the WTO’s Appellate Body from 2002 to 2006 where he assisted Appellate Body Members (judges) in deciding appeals in WTO dispute settlement proceedings.  Between 2006 and 2010, he worked for several years as associate attorney in the Geneva office of Sidley Austin LLP, where he advised governments and commercial stakeholders on all issues related to WTO law and appeared before both WTO panels and the Appellate Body.

Mr. Bohanes is a Czech and Austrian national. He holds a law degree from the University of Vienna; a doctorate in European law from the University of Vienna; a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Columbia University; as well as a Master of Arts (M.A.L.D.) degree in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.  He is a Visiting Lecturer at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (2015 – 2022 and 2024 – 2025) and regularly teaches at other academic institutions, including the World Trade Institute (WTI) in Bern and the Academy of International Economic Law and Policy in Barcelona/Athens.  He is a member of the New York bar.

Carlo M. Cantore is an attorney-at-law, specializing in international and EU trade law. Between 2018 and 2025, Carlo was a legal officer at the WTO Secretariat. In that capacity, he assisted panels in disputes between trading nations, and gave advice to Members on negotiations and institutional matters. Earlier in his career, Carlo worked for almost three years as an associate in the Brussels office of a major trade law firm (2015-2018). In parallel with his work at the WTO / private practice, Carlo has taught international trade law, international investment law, and EU external relations law at the universities of Antwerp, Turin, and Neuchâtel. Carlo is the author of a book on trade in financial services (Cambridge University Press in 2018) and several articles on trade law and EU law topics. Carlo holds a PhD and an LLM in international trade law from the European University Institute of Florence, and a law degree (cum laude) from the University of Pisa - Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna.

 Carlo de Stefano (Ph.D., Bocconi University) is Associate Professor of International law at the Department of Law of Roma Tre University. He has been visiting scholar at numerous research institutions including the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law of the University of Cambridge (Brandon Research Fellowship 2023) and the Edinburgh School of Law (MacCormick Fellowship 2025). His book “Attribution in International Law and Arbitration” was published by Oxford University Press in 2020.

Federico Ferri is qualified as Associate Professor in European Union Law and holds a joint PhD in European Law (University of Bologna) and Public Law (University of Strasbourg).

He works as Senior Assistant Professor in European Union Law at the University of Bologna and is Adjunct Professor of EU Internal Market at the University of Hamburg.

He published a book on the balance of fundamental rights within the EU’s digital single market, as well as numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on multiple topics relevant for the EU law. He collaborates with scientific journals. He is also is involved in research projects and further activities related to the UNIBO Department of Legal Studies, in particular the Una Europa Joint Bachelor of Arts in European Studies (BAES), the Overseas program, and the internal research commission.

Susanna Villani is Researcher in EU Law at the University of Bologna. She holds a joint PhD in EU law (with honours) from the University of Bologna and the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (2014-2017). From 2019 to 2023 she worked as a research fellow at the University of Bologna and in 2021 published a monography titled The Concept of Solidarity within EU Disaster Response Law. A Legal Assessment. She has been involved in several research projects of both national and supranational nature. So far, she has participated as a speaker in various conferences with contributions on the principle of sustainable development in EU free trade agreements, energy transition, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, and the role of the European Parliament in the EU institutional framework.

Dr. FANG Meng Mandy joined the City University School of Law as an Assistant Professor in July 2020. Her research interests focus on the interface between international trade, environmental protection, and energy transition. Her publications appear in journals such as the Virginia Journal of International Law, Leiden Journal of International Law, World Trade Review, Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, Utilities Policy, and edited books published by Cambridge University Press, among others. Her research project on China’s environmental governance of plastic pollution received competitive funding (HKD 471,500) from the Hong Kong Government, Research Grant Council for a duration of 24 months. She was awarded the Richard M. Buxbaum Prize for Teaching in Comparative Law by the American Society of Comparative Law in 2023.

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.

Elettra Bargellini is a Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute. Her research focuses on international subsidies regimes, such as the subsidy control regime established under the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). While grounded in legal doctrine, her analysis adopts a law-in-context approach, examining the influence of political and economic dynamics on the drafting and implementation of the TCA. Elettra holds a PhD in EU Law and International Trade Law from Dublin City University, an LLM in EU Law from King’s College London, and a LLM/LLB (Laurea Magistrale) from the University of Bologna. In 2024, she was a visiting researcher at Princeton University.

Federico Siscaro is a public manager with a strong academic background and professional experience in European and international affairs. He is currently a civil service executive at the Italian Ministry of Justice and a PhD candidate in European  Law at the University of Bologna, where his research focuses on the EU’s trade policy, strategic autonomy, and the sustainability agenda.

Federico previously served at the Italian Customs and Monopolies Agency, where he was responsible for monitoring international and EU policies, participating in high-level working groups of the European Commission and the World Customs Organization. 

He holds an LL.M. in EU Law and Policy from LUISS University, a Master's in Diplomacy from ISPI, and a Law degree with full marks. He passed the national bar exam and graduated from Italy’s top civil service training program (9th SNA Executive Course).

Giulia Bortino is a first-year PhD Candidate in Cultural and Environmental Heritage at the University of Bologna, where she carries out research on International Law and endangered cultural and natural heritage, and she is a member of the International PhD College of the Collegio Superiore at the University of Bologna. Cum laude Master's degree in International Cooperation on Human Rights and Intercultural Heritage, she graduated in 2024 with a dissertation on International Cultural Heritage Law and Sustainable Development. Giulia Bortino collaborates as a teaching tutor of the International Law Chair at the Ravenna Campus of the University of Bologna. After graduating, she carried out an Erasmus traineeship at Europa Nostra – the European voice of civil society committed to cultural heritage, in Brussels. Her main fields of research include cultural heritage in the EU external relations, and cultural heritage & climate change.