Young Journal of European Affairs
YJEA Student Conference 2026
Integration or Fragmentation? The European Union’s Next Chapter
Fri 30 Oct
from 14:00
Sat 31 Oct
09:00 – 22:00
Sun 1 Nov
09:00 – 13:00
Hörsaalzentrum (HZ), 3rd floor · Campus Westend · Goethe University Frankfurt am Main
Applications for the general audience are open until the conference starts. Travel and accommodation scholarships can still be requested.
Programme
The programme is still being finalised. Below you can find the sessions currently planned for the conference. Confirmed speakers are listed where available; further speakers and programme details will be added as they are confirmed.
Friday 30 October
Afternoon & evening
Welcome and opening remarks
Keynote: Where the Union stands
Confirmed speaker:
Stefan Lock, European Commission, Head of Regional Representation Bonn
The EU’s economic-security turn
Confirmed contributor:
Stefan Lock, European Commission
Can You Break Europe? A strategy game on hybrid war
European foreign policy
Workshop: Supporting Ukraine
Confirmed speaker:
Marie Gregor, Project Nadiya
Inside a think tank: policy research and what is going on in the EU
Welcome reception
Saturday 31 October
Morning
Student paper workshops
Security and external relations
Panel: Geoeconomics
Confirmed speaker:
Daniel Mertens
Networking lunch & coffee chats
Saturday 31 October
Afternoon & evening
Workshop: From academic research to a policy paper
Confirmed speakers:
Andreas Maurer and Kalkidan Tappeiner
TEPSA session
Panel: Competitiveness, trade and the level playing field
Confirmed speakers:
Thomas Weck, Frankfurt School, and Andreas Maurer
One Europe, Different Threats
Energy security
Munich European Forum
Integration or fragmentation from within
CEPS workshop
sinc.europaea × Yourope collaboration workshop
European Guanxi
Conference dinner & networking
Sunday 1 November
Morning
Student paper workshops — round 2
Young voices in the European debate
Confirmed speaker:
Robin Vandendriessche, European Studies Review
Closing remarks & outlook
Open-end community building
Programme in progress:
Additional speakers, partners and session details will be announced as they are confirmed. The programme may still be subject to change.
Taking part
Speakers, workshop hosts and partners confirmed so far:
European institutions
European Commission
Think tanks & research
CEPS – Centre for European Policy Studies
cep – Centrum für Europäische Politik
IEP – Institut für Europäische Politik
SWP – Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik
Universities
Frankfurt School of Finance & Management
Université libre de Bruxelles
University of Innsbruck
University of Mannheim
Osnabrück University
Civil society & student initiatives
EPIS
European Guanxi
European Student Think Tank (EST)
European Studies Review
People Spark AG
Project NADIYA e.V.
SupportUkraineNOW
Yourope
Application
Applications for the general audience are open until the conference starts. As a participant you attend the full programme – keynotes, panels, workshops and the networking events.
You can still apply for a travel and accommodation scholarship in the same form.
Conference fee: €30.
Scholarships & accommodation
Travel scholarships
You can still apply for a travel scholarship. We are a student-run journal with limited funding: scholarships are allocated on a need basis, may cover only part of your costs and cannot be guaranteed. State your city of departure, your estimated travel costs and the amount you request in the application form.
Accommodation
You can still apply for an accommodation scholarship: a bed in a shared room at the a&o Hostel Frankfurt Ostend for the nights of 30 and 31 October. You can also request a bed as a self-paying participant (around €60 for both nights). Rooms are allocated by gender; tell us in the form if you would like to share with someone in particular.
Getting there & practical info
The conference takes place at Goethe University Frankfurt’s Campus Westend. Below you can find information on travelling to Frankfurt and reaching the conference venue.
Getting to Frankfurt
By plane
Fly to Frankfurt Airport (FRA), which has direct flights from almost every European city. From the airport you reach the city centre in about 15 minutes by S-Bahn (local train).
Be careful with Frankfurt-Hahn (HHN): despite its name, it is about 120 km from Frankfurt. The bus from Hahn to Frankfurt main station takes around two hours and costs extra. Check this before booking a cheap flight to “Frankfurt-Hahn”.
By train
Frankfurt is one of the main hubs of Deutsche Bahn. High-speed ICE trains run to Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (main station) from neighbouring countries.
Approximate journey times:
Brussels: about 3 h
Amsterdam: about 4 h
Paris: about 4 h
Basel: about 3 h
Zurich: about 4 h
Vienna: about 7 h
Saver fares (Sparpreis) are much cheaper if you book early at bahn.com.
Night trains, including ÖBB Nightjet services, connect many European cities with Germany; check whether your connection stops in Frankfurt or requires one change. Long-distance buses such as FlixBus arrive at the south side of Frankfurt main station.
Getting to the venue
Conference venue:
Hörsaalzentrum (HZ), 3rd floor
Campus Westend, Goethe University
Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz
60323 Frankfurt am Main
From Frankfurt main station
(about 25 min)
- Take any S-Bahn (S1–S6, S8 or S9) two stops to Hauptwache.
- Change to the U-Bahn U1, U2, U3 or U8 to Holzhausenstraße – Uni Campus Westend.
- Walk about 10 minutes to the Hörsaalzentrum.
Alternatively, take bus 64 to Bremer Straße.
From Frankfurt Airport
(about 40 min)
- Take the S8 or S9 from the airport’s Regionalbahnhof (Terminal 1) towards the city to Hauptwache.
- Change to the U1, U2, U3 or U8 to Holzhausenstraße – Uni Campus Westend.
- Walk about 10 minutes to the Hörsaalzentrum.
From the a&o Hostel Frankfurt Ostend
(about 35–40 min)
Address: Hanauer Landstraße 207
Take the M32 bus to Miquel-/Hansaallee from Ostbahnhof/Sonnemannstraße.
Tickets & live connections
Buy single or day tickets at RMV machines or in the RMV or DB Navigator app. With a Deutschlandticket you can use local public transport. For live connections, use the RMV app or rmv.de.
About YJEA
The Young Journal of European Affairs is a student-run, open-access academic journal on European affairs, founded in 2020 at LMU Munich. We publish original work by students and early-career researchers, run a blog on EU policy and careers in international affairs, and connect our authors with senior scholars who give feedback on their work.
Ways to take part
There are four ways to join. Presenter, discussant and general audience are the participation roles; volunteering can be combined with any of them.
Presenter
Application for this role closed
Present a working paper you intend to publish with the journal. Accepted presenters submit a draft working paper and present their research during the student paper workshops.
Discussant
Application for this role closed
Read an assigned working paper and open the discussion with prepared, critical questions.
General audience
Attend the full programme, take part in open Q&As, panels, workshops and networking events. Applications for the general audience remain open until the conference starts.
Volunteer
Support one of our workstream leads in the final stage of preparation — accommodation and participants, programme and speakers, or the paper presentation workshops — and help run the conference on site. You gain hands-on experience in academic event planning and see how a student conference is put together from the inside.
Contact & follow
conference@yjea.org
Instagram
LinkedIn
Data protection:
The information you provide in the application form is accessed only by the YJEA team for the purpose of organising the 2026 student conference. We do not share your data with third parties. All data is stored securely and deleted after the conference.