FONDATION POUR L INSTITUT DE HAUTES ETUDES INTERNATIONALES ET DU DEVELOPPEMENT

Their core work

The Graduate Institute Geneva (IHEID) is a leading Swiss institution specializing in international affairs, development studies, and global governance. Their H2020 research focuses on international law, political sociology, conflict and post-conflict dynamics, and ethnographic studies of global phenomena — from nuclear nonproliferation regimes to gang cultures and mining futures. They produce deep, theory-driven social science research with direct relevance to policy, peacebuilding, and understanding how legal and political systems evolve under pressure.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 phase (2014-2018), IHEID concentrated on international law and regulatory systems — nuclear nonproliferation, financial regulation, transnational legal fields, and women's economic rights. From 2019 onward, the focus shifted markedly toward ethnographic and ground-level research on lived experiences: gang cultures, youth reintegration from armed conflict, mining futures, and women's political struggles in Africa. This evolution reflects a move from studying how global legal systems work on paper to examining how power, conflict, and change are experienced by people on the ground.

IHEID is moving toward ethnographic, ground-level research on how global transformations — automation, armed conflict, political exclusion — are experienced by affected communities, making them an increasingly valuable partner for projects needing qualitative fieldwork in fragile or transitional settings.

How they like to work

IHEID overwhelmingly leads its own research: 8 of 10 projects are self-coordinated, mostly through prestigious ERC and MSCA individual grants. Their two participant roles are in larger consortia (REACTION, EQUALS-EU), suggesting they join multi-partner projects selectively. With 31 unique partners across 20 countries, they maintain a broad but not deep network — typical of an institution that wins independent grants rather than building repeat-partner consortia.

IHEID has collaborated with 31 unique partners across 20 countries, reflecting a wide geographic spread typical of an institution focused on global affairs. Their network is broad rather than deep, built project-by-project through ERC-funded research rather than through repeated consortium partnerships.

What sets them apart

IHEID occupies a rare niche as a graduate-level institution entirely dedicated to international affairs and development, combining deep theoretical expertise with extensive fieldwork capacity in conflict zones, post-colonial settings, and the Global South. Unlike large generalist universities, their compact focus means every researcher works at the intersection of global governance, law, and lived experience. For consortium builders, they bring credibility in politically sensitive research contexts — from nuclear sanctions regimes to gang reintegration — that few European institutions can match.

Highlights from their portfolio

• PATHS
  Largest single grant (EUR 2.47M ERC Advanced Grant) examining how international law changes over time — a foundational question with direct policy relevance.
• GANGS
  EUR 2.3M ERC grant for a global comparative ethnography of gang cultures — an unusually ambitious scope combining fieldwork across multiple continents.
• SYNTHLIVES
  Marks a new direction for IHEID into the future of extractive industries and automation, bridging social science with technology and environmental transformation.