USI Raiffeisen Best Teaching Award to Ilaria Espa and Adriano Fabris

During USI's 29th Dies academicus, held on Saturday, 10 May 2025 on the West Campus Lugano, the USI Raiffeisen Best Teaching Award was conferred on Ilaria Espa and Adriano Fabris, "for the quality of their teaching".

The USI Raiffeisen Best Teaching Award is an honour that celebrates excellence in teaching and is accompanied by a prize of 10,000 CHF, divided among the winners. The award is promoted by the Quality Assurance Service and has been approved by the Rectorate. It is based on a structured process that incorporates both qualitative and quantitative assessments, with active participation from both faculty and students. The sponsorship from Raiffeisen further enhances the value of this award.

Laudatio for Ilaria Espa

Diana Da Costa Santos
Student representative of the Faculty of Economics

The delivered speech is the official text.

Studying is a personal journey that can often be demanding. However, teaching carries an even greater responsibility: it is a conscious choice to shape the future of students. For her dedication, openness to dialogue, innovative teaching methods, and commitment to the student community, the Faculty of Economics recognises Professor Ilaria Espa for the exceptional quality of her teaching.

Laudatio for Adriano Fabris

Andrea Serughetti
Student representative of the Faculty of Theology

The delivered speech is the official text.

Professor Adriano Fabris is receiving the USI Raiffeisen Best Teaching Award today for his dedicated and consistent efforts to provide an exceptional educational experience in the fields of Ethics, the History of Philosophy, and the Philosophy of Religions. His remarkable ability to foster dialogue—both academic and personal—across various disciplines, methodologies, and cultural contexts is commendable. Additionally, his unwavering commitment to promoting effective and peaceful interreligious dialogue and the high quality of his teaching further distinguish him as an outstanding educator.

Ilaria Espa is an Associate Professor of International Economic Law at the USI Law Institute and Senior Research Fellow at the World Trade Institute (WTI) of the University of Bern. She is also an 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).

Her scientific interests include (international and European) economics, environmental and energy law and policy, with a particular focus on the sustainable management of natural resources and climate change, and their mutual interconnections. Winner of the 2013 SIDI Prize, she has recently published the volumes Export Restrictions on Critical Minerals and Metals: Testing the Adequacy of WTO Disciplines (Cambridge University Press, 2015) and International Trade in Sustainable Electricity: Regulatory Challenges in International Economic Law (Cambridge University Press, 2017), as well as numerous articles in prestigious international journals in the field including Journal of International Economic Law, World Trade Review, Journal of World Trade, European Yearbook of International Economic Law and Journal of World Investment and Trade. She is a member of numerous professional and academic associations and regularly consults for government, international, and non-governmental organisations.

Adriano Fabris is a Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Pisa, where he also teaches Ethics of Communication. At the same University, he is Director of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Communication Research. He is director of the ReTe (Religioni e Teologia) research institute at Università della Svizzera italiana (USI), Facoltà di Teologia di Lugano. In this field, he has promoted research on interreligious dialogue, digital religions and an international online Master's programme on "Science, Philosophy and Theology of Religions" (in Italian and English).

He is president of the National Council of Philosophy and a member of the Board of Directors of the Golinelli Foundation. He is currently co-PI of the transversal project on AI ethics and deontology of the PNRR Fair project.