Interdisciplinary at its best: Rainbow trout, musicology and international trade

What do sandboxes, rainbow trout and medical misdiagnoses have in common with political processes in the Swiss canton of Uri? How is dog behaviour, musicology and the history of the telephone in Latin America related to international trade?

In a deliberate effort to promote the exchange between different academic disciplines, the University of Bern supports young researchers in the pursuit of their research interests and provides them with an opportunity to communicate their findings to a broad audience. Every year, the format “8x8’ – Young Researchers present” invites 8 young researchers to present their work in an 8-minute presentation at the Haus der Universität. All of them are successful applicants for the University’s grant for the promotion of young researchers which supports individual projects with up to CHF 5000.

Sebastian Klotz, research fellow and doctoral candidate at the WTI, was among this year’s presenters. In 8 minutes, Sebastian introduced the audience to “The Governance of Big Data in Trade Agreements”, a project jointly run between the University of Lucerne and the WTI. Relying on first insights from network analysis, Sebastian illustrated the intricate web of preferential trade agreements and the differing degree to which these govern digital trade and big data. “It was a great opportunity to receive out-of-the-box feedback from geographers, historians and medical doctors and I learned a lot about various topics ranging from the immunological role of reproductive hormones in rainbow trout to the importance of musicology for diplomacy,”Sebastian summarised the night which concluded with a truly interdisciplinary apéro.