Young Journal of European Affairs
YJEA Student Conference 2026
Integration or Fragmentation? The European Union’s Next Chapter
31 October – 1 November 2026
Hörsaalzentrum (HZ), Campus Westend, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main
Application deadline for presenters, discussants, scholarships, accommodation and networking events: 31 August 2026
Date
Saturday 31 October – Sunday 1 November 2026
Location
Hörsaalzentrum (HZ), 3rd floor
Campus Westend
Goethe University Frankfurt am Main
Why participate?
The YJEA Student Conference 2026 brings together students, young researchers and professionals in European affairs for two days at Goethe University Frankfurt, asking how Europe positions itself between deeper integration and growing fragmentation. The programme combines high-level keynotes by professionals from European institutions, open panel discussions between practitioners, academics and students, student paper presentations in an academic workshop format with structured feedback, and exchange with practitioners from a range of professional backgrounds.
Networking events will be part of the programme, bringing you together with speakers, participants and fellow students interested in European affairs. Applying early is worth it. Our travel and accommodation scholarships are allocated on a need and first-come, first-served basis, so earlier applications have a higher chance of being funded.
And if you would rather help build the conference than only attend it, you can join as a volunteer, gain hands-on experience in organising an international academic conference, and work directly with one of our workstream leads.
Apply early
Applications for presenters, discussants, scholarships, accommodation and networking events close on 31 August 2026. Travel and accommodation support is limited and allocated on a need and first-come, first-served basis.
Programme
The conference is built on four formats.
Keynotes
Senior practitioners from European institutions will set out the EU’s external posture and its political-economy agenda.
Panel discussions
Moderated debates with open Q&A for the audience.
Student paper presentations
Participants present their working paper in an academic workshop format.
Practitioner strand
Think tanks, foundations, research institutes, consultancies and political-communication professionals run parallel workshops on how their organisation works, and how a study, policy paper or case study is actually written.
Detailed schedule: to be published.
Speakers: to be announced.
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
Present a working paper you intend to publish with the journal. You submit an abstract of max. 500 words with your application. If accepted, you submit a draft working paper by 30 September 2026.
Requirements: open to students currently in a bachelor’s or master’s programme. PhD candidates may apply only with work written during their bachelor’s or master’s studies. Max. 8,000 words excluding bibliography, footnotes, tables and figures. Co-authored papers are possible.
Discussant
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. Applications for general audience remain open after 31 August.
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.
Deadlines
31 August 2026 — applications as presenter, discussant, volunteer, and all applications for scholarships and accommodation
30 September 2026 — draft working paper due for presenters
Scholarships & accommodation
Travel and accommodation scholarships
We are a student-run journal with limited funding and are applying for external support. We cannot guarantee a scholarship, but we make every effort to fund as many participants as possible. Funding is allocated on a need and first-come, first-served basis, and may cover only part of your costs.
Apply in the same form: you state your city of departure, your estimated travel costs, the amount you are requesting, and whether you can attend without full funding. You will hear from conference@yjea.org by 1 October 2026.
Accommodation
We have arranged beds in a hostel in Frankfurt, in shared rooms for Friday and/or Saturday night. The cost for two nights is around €60.
Rooms are allocated by gender; if you want to share with someone in particular, tell us in the form. You can request a bed as a self-paying participant. Accessibility needs and accommodation requirements can be stated in the form.
Speakers & partners
Speakers will be announced here as confirmations come in.
Supported by: funders and partners to be announced.
Getting there & practical info
Venue: Hörsaalzentrum (HZ), 3rd floor, Campus Westend, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main
Questions: conference@yjea.org
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.
Contact & follow
conference@yjea.org
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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.