Manfred Elsig joined the WTI as a senior research fellow. He is affiliated through the project with the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva. He studied at the Universities of Bern and Bordeaux and earned a degree in political science in 1997. He worked from 1997-1999 at the Swiss Federal Office for Foreign Economic Affairs. He later joined the Political Science Institute of the University of Zurich and received his PhD (Dr. phil) in 2002. Before joining the WTI, he worked for UBS financial services group and as a personal advisor to the Minister of Economy of Canton Zurich. He taught at the University of Zurich, at the University of Berne and at the London School of Economics and Political Science courses on IPE, trade diplomacy, globalization and European integration. His research focuses primarily on the politics of international trade, European trade policy, US-EU relations, and private actors in global politics.