PhD Events

PhD2PhD Workshop: Multi-level Evolutions in Public Law: Projections, Predictions, and Perspectives

Calling all PhD students in the realm of public law!

For the past decade, the public law sphere has endured crisis after crisis. However, a new dawn seems to be on the horizon. The recent elections in Poland, the upcoming elections for the European Parliament, and the appointment of a new EU commission, provide for an ideal moment of reflection on these past crises, in order to offer projections, predictions, and perspectives for this new dawn. Organised by and for PhD students in public law, the doctoral workshop invites young researchers to seize this momentum to explore the future of national, supranational, and international public law.

Our mission? To provide a welcoming and accessible platform for you to share your ongoing research, benefit from feedback directly from a peer in your panel and cultivate a robust network within the community of PhD researchers in international, national, and European public law.

Not ready to present your ongoing research yet? No problem! Non-presenting participants will be involved in the proceedings of the workshop in the introductory and closing roundtables, where they will have the opportunity to share the subject of their research, and problems they might have encountered along the way. Each panel will be followed by a Q&A-session, allowing non-presenting participants to give feedback or ask questions to the presenting participants.

Don't miss out on this unique chance to amplify your research and expand your professional network. Submit your abstract today and benefit fully from a low-threshold opportunity to showcase your work in a unique event tailored specifically for emerging scholars like you. The doctoral workshop will take place on 11 October 2024 at the Stadscampus of the University of Antwerp, Belgium.

Participants are encouraged to address the following issues:

Panel 1: People in Power

This panel delves into mechanisms for adapting to the challenges posed by new leaders both at the domestic and international levels.  Potential submissions include, but are not limited to:

·       Reshaping international and EU policies;

·       Impact on domestic agendas; Relationships; and

·       Adaptation strategies.

Panel 2: Institutional Reforms

This panel looks into institutional reforms and the evolution of public governance mechanisms in different regulatory levels (local, regional, national, and international). Submissions may cover the following topics, not being limited to them:

·       Governance challenges facing the EU;

·       Democratic accountability; and

·       Emergence of new actors and variations between different States.

Panel 3: Evolution of Constitutional Principles

This panel will take stock of and provide for an outlook towards the future on the evolution of constitutional principles on the local, national, supra- and international level. Submissions are encouraged to tackle, but not limited to, the following topics:         

·       Vertical and horizontal enforcement of the rule of law and judicial independence;

·       Principles governing the relationship between the different legal orders;

·       The emergence, scope, and boundaries of national constitutional identity and the identity of the EU; and

·       The enforcement and scope of the principle of solidarity.

Who should apply?

The workshop is open to PhD researchers at any stage. Though organised by the UAntwerp Government & Law Research Group, and as such, focused on public law, the group values interdisciplinary research, and thus, submissions both from legal as well as social and political researchers are welcome. The aim of this workshop is to facilitate a cooperative dialogue where ideas and perspectives can be shared, enhancing the depth of the discussions. Abstracts should be submitted by 5 July 2024. The registration and submission form can be found here. Participants will be notified by 20 July 2024.

Workshop format

The workshop will consist out of three panels, each guided by a chair versed with the specific topics of the panel. Participants will play a dual role in the workshop: as presenters and as discussants.  The format of the doctoral workshop also implies and encourages all participants in the audience panel to actively join the discussions in the panel. Namely, after each panel there will be a Q&A session.

This workshop aims to provide an open and inclusive environment. Participants are not required to submit a draft paper in order to take part in the workshop but are encouraged to do so if they wish to receive more detailed feedback on, for instance, e.g., a draft thesis chapter or a draft article intended for publication. Those who wish to submit a paper should be ready to do so by 14 September 2024. Selected participants who submit their papers will be offered a possibility for publication in the inaugural issue of Antwerp Law Review.

Preliminary Agenda

Date: 11th October 2024.

Location: University of Antwerp, Stadscampus Lessiuszaal S.E.122

Schedule: *please note this may still change ahead of the workshop

We are happy to invite you to this year’s PhD event titled "How to Grow Confidence in Conducting and Presenting your Research”. This half day workshop will have two speakers. First, Ann De Ron from FishGrowFeet will give a workshop on how to present and pitch your research with confidence. She has eight years of experience coaching researchers in communicating their research in an accessible manner. After that, Amber Davis will give a workshop on productivity and self-care. Amber has a PhD and now coaches others through the mental challenges that come with this line of work. The day will conclude with a reception. The event is open to all doctoral students and postdoctoral students from the University of Antwerp.

Date: Thursday 25 May

Time: 12:30-17:30

Where: ViaVia Reiscafé –Wolstraat 43, 2000 Antwerp

Registration: Link will be posted closer to date.

Programme:

We are happy to invite you to this year’s PhD event titled “Law Careers Beyond Academia”. The central focus of this year’s event will be on facilitating and supporting the transition of young researchers to the non-academic job market. More concretely, the event will take half-day and will be divided in two moments. The first consists in a workshop on the competences needed outside academia: how to deal with a non-academic vacancy, what are our weaknesses and strengths as researchers etc. The second part of the event will be entirely dedicated to networking.  We will have the opportunity to meet stakeholders from the non-academic domain: lawyers, in-house corporate legal counsels, professionals working in government, EU institutions and NGOs etc.. Most of them have a PhD background, and we will have the opportunity to ask questions and hear their experiences. The event is open to all doctoral students and postdoctoral students from the University of Antwerp. You can register 

When: Friday 20 May, from 12:45h

Where: Via Via café, Wolstraat 43, 2000 Antwerp

Building a community in legal research: Practical skills and practice

Over the past nine years, doctoral students from the Government & Law research group have organised conferences for starting doctoral students. This (anniversary) year we want to leave this concept and organise an event in which the focus is not on individual research, but on connecting doctoral students and post-doctoral researchers working in the broad domain of "public law and governance". More specifically, we want to give researchers the opportunity to develop their communication skills, increase their self-knowledge and develop their own network. We do this by organising various workshops, each with a specific theme.

The programme is available here.

Date: 7 May 2021

Venue: Online

Building a community in legal research: Practical skills and practice

Over the past nine years, doctoral students from the Government & Law research group have organised conferences for starting doctoral students. This (anniversary) year we want to leave this concept and organise an event in which the focus is not on individual research, but on connecting doctoral students working in the broad domain of "public law and governance". More specifically, we want to give doctoral students the opportunity to develop their communication skills, increase their self-knowledge and develop their own network. We do this by organising various workshops, each with a specific theme.

The program is available here. 

Date: 30 October 2020

Venue: Klooster van de Grauwzusters, Lange Sint-Annastraat 7, 2000 Antwerp

Identity, Safety, Modernity in Public Law

Date: 24 May 2019

Venue: K202, Kleine Kauwenberg 14, 2000 Antwerpen. 

The programme can be found here.

​Values and principles in multilevel governance: challenges and opportunities

Date: 25 May 2018

More information about the programme.

​Hybrid Forms of Governance: Moving Beyond Traditional Public Law

Date: 17 May 2017

Democratic legitimation without Parliament: fact or fiction?

Under the auspices of the Government & Law Research Group of the University of Antwerp, we proudly present the sixth edition of the yearly doctoral conference. This conference is the result of fruitful cooperation between the University Antwerp, the KU Leuven, Hasselt University and Ghent University and is funded by the Flemish government. This year the theme of the conference is: ‘Democratic legitimation without Parliament: fact or fiction?’

Seven young researchers will present their research in various legal fields. As such, the topics of legitimacy in European asylum law, sports law and energy law are discussed. Furthermore, the conference will focus on legitimacy of judicial law making in general and of local government in specific. This year, an international dimension was added to the conference, thanks to the cooperation with international researchers from the European University Institute of Florence and of the Deusto University of Bilbao. The morning session will therefore take place in English. The afternoon session, which focuses more specifically on the Belgian context, will be held in Dutch. Each speaker has written an article in a special edition of the Journal for Governance studies and Public Law (Tijdschrift voor Bestuurswetenschappen en Publiekrecht) that will be available on the conference.

Date: 20 May 2016

The research group Government & Law, in collaboration with the Ghent University and the University of Hasselt, is hosting the fifth annual PhD seminar.  The seminar is organised with the financial support of the Flemish Government. The overarching theme of the 2015 edition is the impact of legal instruments on the democratic functioning. SevenPhD researchers will present their findings with regard to an issue that is intimately related to their own PhD topic. 

Date: 8 May 2015 

The research group Government & Law, in collaboration with the University of Ghent, the University of Hasselt, the Catholic University of Leuven and the Free University of Brussels, is hosting the fourth annual PhD seminar.  The seminar is organized with the financial support of the Flemish Government. The overarching theme of the 2014 edition is the blurred distinction between public law and private law. Eleven PhD researchers will present their findings in regard to an issue that is intimately related to their own PhD topic. The seminar will take place 

Date 7 May 2014

In 2013 our first seminar took place.