Gruppo di Ricerca
Elisa Baroncini, Coordinator
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.
Jorge Castro, Member
Jorge Castro is Director of the Legal Affairs Division in the World Trade Organization since July 2023. He joined the WTO Secretariat in 2003, where he previously served as Senior Dispute Settlement Lawyer in the Rules Division and the Legal Affairs Division, as Counsellor in the Office of the WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, and as Head of the Training Section in the WTO's Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation.
Before joining the WTO Secretariat, Mr Castro was the Legal Counsel of the Andean Community General Secretariat and, before that, the Legal Counsel of the Venezuelan Antidumping Commission. He also worked in private practice, where he advised governments and private firms.
Between 2001 and 2003, Mr Castro served as Member of the Permanent Group of Experts, created by the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, and in 2002 he was a WTO panelist in a trade dispute between Chile and Argentina.
Mr Castro graduated from the law school at the Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas. He has a Masters' Degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and attended the University of Michigan Law School.
He has taught university courses on different topics of international trade.
Davide Grespan, Member
Davide Grespan studied law at the university of Bologna (1995) and Oxford (2001). He succeeded the bar exam in Italy (1998) and practiced law for a few years in different 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 in English and Italian.
Jan Bohanes, Member
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.
Jan’s research interests include WTO dispute settlement, the participation of developing countries in WTO dispute settlement, WTO law on trade remedies as well as the intersection of trade and industrial policy. A complete publication list can be found on https://www.acwl.ch/team/mr-jan-bohanes/
Carlo Cantore, Member
Carlo Cantore is a dispute settlement lawyer at the Legal Affairs Division of the World Trade Organization (WTO). In that capacity, he assists WTO panels and arbitrators on the legal, historical, and procedural aspects of disputes between WTO Members. Prior to joining the WTO Secretariat in 2018, Mr Cantore worked as an associate in the Trade and Customs team of Van Bael & Bellis (2015 – 2018). Mr Cantore has taught WTO law, EU External Relations Law, and International Investment Law at the Universities of Antwerp (Belgium), Neuchâtel (Switzerland), and Turin (Italy). He holds a PhD in International Trade Law from the European University Institute, and a law degree (cum laude) from the University of Pisa – Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies.
Chiara Alvisi, Member
Chiara Alvisi is full professor of “Private law” and “Commercial communication law” at the University of Bologna, where she also teaches the course of “International contracts in global markets”, held in English.
Academic disciplines list for Italian University research and teaching: IUS/01 “Diritto Privato”
During her academic career, she lectured in “Institutions of Private Law”, as well as “Tourism Law” and “Financial Markets Law”.
She obtained a PhD in civil law with a dissertation entitled “Autodiscipline e autonomia privata”.
She is a member of the “Giurì di Autodisciplina Pubblicitaria”, the adjudicating body of the Italian Authority for Advertising Standards.
She has been appointed by the Bank of Italy as member of the Banking and Financial Ombudsman, in the panel of Bologna and Turin.
She has been appointed by the Universities' Council of the Italian Ministry for the University and Research as a member of the judiciary council at the Court of Appeal in Bologna
Chiara Alvisi is involved in several academic projects and collaborations, both at the national and international level.
She has been vising professor at the University of Paris-Assas.
She has been invited to deliver lectures and seminars in the following foreign and international universities: University of Malaga, Spain (2014, 2012, 2004); Fudan University, Shanghai, China (2014); Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, Shanghai, China (2008); European University Institute, Fiesole, Italy (2007); Pontificia Universidad Catòlica Argentina, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2004); Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel (2000); University of Shkodra “Luigi Gurakuqi”, Albania (2000).
She was in charge of the legal sector and member of the academic board of the Master of I level “Mercato, Diritti e Consumi” at the faculty of Economical Sciences of the University of Bologna and member of the academic board of the following doctoral programs: Phd in “Diritto civile”, Phd in “Diritto dei trasporti europeo” and Phd in “Stato e Persona negli Ordinamenti Giuridici”, private law sector.
Chiara Alvisi was appointed by the Minister for the European Affairs as member of the European Observatory on the European Citizen.
She represented Italy at the Uncitral (United Nations Commission on International Trade Law) as member of the Working Group on Transport Law, taking part into the drafting of the text of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea (New York, 2008), the so-called "Rotterdam Rules".
Chiara Alvisi is Principal Investigator of the PRIN 2022 research project "SOS - Smart and/or Sustainable? - Mobility". She's Jean Monnet Module Coordinator of a project entitled EU contract law in digital environments for citizens empowerement. She has been is in charge of several research project on the subject matter of contractual models, proprietary right in the hotel industry and protection of tourists, consumers, savers and subcontractors.
She organized several conferences and workshops and she has been invited as lecturer in many conferences, also international, presenting her research on themes of private law, data protection, commercial communication law, competition law, consumers and users protection, tourism law and sports law.
She is author of several monographies, numerous articles, essays and contributions to collective works, some of which have been translated in English, Spanish and Chinese, published on international journals and reviews on the following topics: personal data protection; online protection of copyrights and the balance with the freedom of information; legal issues in the digital economy; digital advertising and legal protection; independent authorities, codes of conduct and self-regulation; she also deals with the topic of regulation of financial information (market abuse and legal protection); protection of the saver and incentive plans based on financial disputes; law of the commercial communication; information technology law; consumer protection; weak party protection in contracts; commercial contract; subcontracting agreements; competition law and civil liability; tourism law; sports law.
She has been the curator of several collective volumes on markets regulation, consumer and user protection; human rights protection with regard to land grabbing and sports law.
She is a member of the scientific board of the academic journals Il diritto marittimo, Rivista italiana di diritto del turismo and Rassegna di diritto ed economia dello sport.
She is a member of the editorial board of the editoriale series "La cultura del diritto civile. Studi della Società Italiana degli Studiosi del Diritto Civile", E.S.I. publisher.
Chiara Alvisi speaks English, French and she hold a ZDAF certificate in German.
She has been elected as Presidente of the University of Bologna Women Professors Association for the temr 2020-2022 and again for the term 2023-2024
She has been elected Coordinator of the E.R. regional section of the Italian Private Law Society for the term 2023-2024.
Carla Gulotta, Member
Carla Gulotta, PhD in International Law, is Associate Professor of International Law at the University Milano-Bicocca, where she teaches Eu Law, International Economic Law and International Trade Law. She is the founder and Co-director of the Master on Sustainability in Law, Finance, and Management, now in its seventh edition, and Coordinator of the Module of International Law and Compliance in the Executive Master on Management of Research Infrastructures-EMMRI at the same University. She has published three monographs, numerous articles in journals and reviews, and peer-reviewed chapters and contributions in books. Her research fields include international trade and investments, the impact of economic activities on human rights, the concept of sustainability in the EU and international trade law, and the impact of emerging technologies on the protection of human rights. Carla is a member of the Academic Board of the PhD in Juridical Sciences of the University Milano-Bicocca and of the Scientific Board of the editorial collection of the same University's Department of Business and Law. She is a member of the Italian Society of International Law (ISIL) and of its Groups of Interest on International and European Health Law and International Economic Law (she has also been co-convener since, respectively, 2018 and 2019). She is a member of the Scientific Committee of the “CESISP - Centro Studi in economia e Regolazione dei Servizi dell’Industria e del Settore pubblico”. Carla has taken part as a speaker in national and international conferences and has organized events on several of her research topics. Since 2023, she has participated as a voting component to the Committee for elaborating the IEEE P7700 Recommended Practice for the Responsible Design and Development of Neurotechnologies.
Mandy Fang Meng, Member
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.
Federico Ferri, Member
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.
Niccolò Lanzoni, Member
Niccolò Lanzoni is post-doctoral research fellow in International Law at the Department of Law and adjunct professor in International Law 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, Member
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 Jean Monnet Chair “The EU as a Global Actor in the International Law for the Sustainable Development of the Planet – Advancing Fairness, Expanding Accountability and Promoting Security – SustainEUorPlanet”.
https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/alessandra.quarta5/
Pierfrancesco Mattiolo, Member
Pierfrancesco is a Graduate Teaching and Research Assistant at the University of Antwerp, specialising in European and International Economic Law. His PhD project examines the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation and its interaction with international trade and industrial policy. He has also been a Visiting Researcher at the Europa-Institut of the University of Saarland.
Prior to beginning his PhD, Pierfrancesco gained experience as a trade policy assistant trainee at the Italian Permanent Representation in Brussels, where he closely followed work on WTO reform, FTA negotiations, and legislative processes in the committees and working groups of the Council of the EU. His professional experience also includes previous roles with policy think tanks in Rome.
Pierfrancesco actively collaborates as an analyst with the Italy-ASEAN Association and ChinaFiles, a leading Italian news agency on Asian affairs. He is also one of the editors of the CELIS Institute blog, an emerging platform for professionals and scholars to discuss the law of economic security.
Klarissa Martins Sckayer Abicalam, Member
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” (Supervisors: Professor Elisa Baroncini and Pieralberto Mengozzi). She has been teaching tutor in international law in the a.y. 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 at the Ravenna Campus under the supervision of Prof. Elisa Baroncini. She is member of the research team of the Jean Monnet Module “Re-Globe - Reforming the Global Economic Governance: The EU for the SDGs in International Economic Law”. 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.
Federico Siscaro, Member
Federico Siscaro has been employed for the last two years as international relations officer at the Italian Customs and Monopolies Agency. Working in the Customs Directorate, he has participated as a representative of the Agency at meetings of national and international organizations such as the European Union and the World Customs Organization. From July 2024, he has become a trainee manager for the Italian National School of Administration, and will attend a one-year excellence training programme after which he will be assigned as a public manager in a central administration of the Italian government. Concurrently, he has been admitted to the PhD course in EU law at the University of Bologna with a research project on the impact of unilateral measures on the promotion of sustainable development and EU trade policy.
After graduating in law and getting the qualification as a lawyer, he attended a postgraduate course in Diplomacy, at the ISPI School in Milan and a Master's degree (LL.M) in European Law and Policies at LUISS University. Federico’s research focuses on international law and foreign affairs, with an emphasis on European Union policies. In March, he was a speaker at a series of seminars organized by the University of Bologna as part of the ReGlobe project, in which he presented the latest EU regulation on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and the advancement of sustainability goals within the new EU concept of open strategic autonomy.