The European Universities Debate Champions 2014 have been announced. In the category English as a Second Language, Stefan Siridzanski and Helena Ivanov from Belgrade B in Opening Opposition won the debate with the motion „This house would, assuming it was technically feasible, remove the ability of soldiers to feel fear.” In the Open final, Adam Hawksbee and Matthew Willmore from Sheffield A in Closing Opposition were able to beat their competitors in a debate with the motion „This house believes that the feminist movement should oppose military interventions that claim to further women's rights.” [caption id="attachment_24372" align="alignright" width="240"] Venue of the Open ...

From the 7th to the 9th November, the annual Tilbury House IV will take place in Cologne, Germany. The event will combine the debate tournament with the 2nd European Debates Conference. There will therefore be a public debate with politicians on an European issue. The tournament features five preliminary rounds with seven minute speeches and a break to the semi-finals. Chief Adjudicators (CAs) of the tournament will be Yael Bezalel, former finalist of the European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC) in the category English as a Second Language (ESL) and judge of the EUDC ESL final 2014; and Pete Doughton, octo-final ...

The World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC) is the largest international debating tournament. The first WUDC took place in Glasgow in 1981. Back then, 43 teams from seven nations participated. This year, more than 400 teams from all continents compete for the title of World Debating Champion. The WUDC 2015 will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is hosted by The Debate Society of the Universiti Technologiki Mara, one of the largest universities in Malaysia. The tournament starts on December 26th and lasts until January 3rd. The organisers published the following video:   Adjudication Team Chief Adjudicators (CAs) of the Malaysia Worlds will be ...

The break to the Finals at the European Universities Debating Championship 2014 has been announced. In the ESL category, Berlin A, Lund A, Belgrade B and BBU A made it through the semi-finals with the motion "This house believes that leaders of minority religions in Europe should strongly encourage their congregations to refrain from public displays of their faith". In the Open break, Oxford A, Sheffield A, Nottingham A, and Edinburgh A won the semi-finals with the motion "THBT the US should invade and forceably partition Iraq". Semi-finals of the Zagreb EUDC In the Open semi-final 1, the following teams competed: OG: Edinburgh A OO: ...

The break of the European Universities Debating Championship 2014 in Zagreb has been announced. The following teams will compete in the out-rounds on the 22nd of August (data might be inaccurate): Open Break 23: Cambridge C 22: Oxford B 21: Cambridge B 21: Oxford A 21: GUU A 20: Cambridge A 20: Oxford C 19: Edinburgh A 19: LSE A 19: Sheffield A 19: Durham B 19: KCL A 19: Hebrew A 19: Nottingham A 19: Durham C 18: BPP A ESL Break 19: Hebrew A 18; Belgrade B 18: Lund A 18: Tartu A 18: Berlin A 17: Tel Aviv B 17: Leiden A 17: Bucharest A 17: BBU A 17: Tilbury House A 17: Mannheim A 17: ELTE A 17 BGU A 16: Belgrade A 16: Tel Aviv A 16: tie of ...

Update: The Hashtag that will be used for Twitter from the 19th August on is #EUDC14 This Monday, the 18th of August, the European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC) 2014 starts in Zagreb, Croatia. For the next six days, 216 teams from 33 countries will compete in nine preliminary rounds, quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final for the title of European Debate Champion in the Open Break and in the category English as a Second Language (ESL). A list of all VDCH* teams will follow shortly. Nikos Bosse will be responsible for covering all news around the Zagreb EUDC for Achte Minute. Regular updates ...

From the 14th to the 15th November 2014, Molly McParland and Jamie Jackson of the Oxford Union will organise the annual Oxford IV in England. For international participants, the tournament offers a program already starting on Thursday the 13th November. The program comprises the Oxford Union Debate and an International Social on Thursday evening as well as a tour of Oxford and debating workshops on Friday. The tournament will feature five preliminary rounds with seven minute speeches, quarter- and semi-finals and a final. There will also be semi-finals and a final for speakers with English as a Second Language (ESL) as ...

From the 24th to the 26th October 2014, conveners Khanh Van Le and Beenish Waris from the Jacobs University Bremen Debating Society will host the annual Jacobs Open in Bremen, Germany. Henrik Maedler, whom Chief Adjudicator Niels Schröter called the "007 of debating", will also be part of the organisation team. The tournament features four Chief Adjudicators (CAs) and three Independent Adjudicators. The CA-team consists of the following: Peer Klüßendorf, European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC) winner in the category English as a Second Language (ESL); Niels Schröter, EUDC ESL finalist; Cerys Bradley, EUDC semi-finalist; and Bionda Merckens, CA of ...

Yael Bell and Dan Lahav have won the first BBU Open that took place from the 11th to the 13th July 2014 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The team from Tel Aviv won from Closing Opposition in a debate with the motion: You are a scientist. You have discovered absolute conclusive proof that God does not exist. This house would destroy the information. [caption id="attachment_23996" align="alignleft" width="320"] Yael Bell and Dan Lahav(c) BBU DS[/caption] In Opening Government, Belgrade with Helena Ivanov and Stefan Siridžansky competed against Lund with Michael Saliba and Peer Klüßendorf in Opening Opposition and a Mixed team with Georgiana Mihut and ...

From the 9th to the 10th of August, the Westminster IV will take place in London and gives debaters another opportunity to prepare for the European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC) in Zagreb. Only participants from the same university are allowed to compete at Westminster IV. The tournament features five rounds, an open final as well as an ESL final, if at least 12 ESL teams register. Chief Adjudicators (CAs) are Matt Handley, EUDC finalist and a two time semi-finalist of the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC), and Amanda Moorghen, designated Deputy Chief Adjudicator of the EUDC 2015 in Vienna. Becki Howarth, ...

From the 2nd to the 3rd of August, the Imperial IV will be hosted by the Imperial College Union Debating Society in London. The tournament features five preliminary rounds with seven minute speeches, a break to semi-finals and a final. The two out of three Chief Adjudicators (CAs) already announced are Ruairidh Macintosh and Daniel Bramble. Registration costs £45 and does not include accommodation. For all those who need accommodation, the organisers can provide contact details of hostels in the vicinity. Everybody who goes to the Imperial IV as well as the Westminster IV one week later will receive a 20 ...

From the 22nd to the 30th of November, the 12th International Debate Academy Slovenia (IDAS) will be held in Kranjska Gora and in Ljubljana. In the year before, over a hundred students from four different continents attended the Debate Academy, according to the organisers. The first part of IDAS consists of a training program taking place in Kranjska Gora. The second part from the 28th on will be a tournament in Ljubljana, Slovenia's capital. [caption id="attachment_23644" align="alignright" width="280"] Ljubljana[/caption] Videos of past debates and training sessions can be found in the Academy's vimeo channel. During the first days, debaters will listen to lectures ...

From the 17th to the 19th of October, the University of Turku Debating Club hosts the Turku Open for the second time in Finland. The tournament features 5 preliminary rounds of BPS debating with a break to semi-finals and a final. Speeches will be 7 minutes in length, the team cap is 32 teams. The Chief Adjudicators (CAs) are Harish Natarajan, CA of the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC) 2014 in Chennai, Peer Klüßendorf, European Champion in the category English as a second Language (ESL) and ESL finalist at WUDC 2014, and Helena Ivanov, ESL Finalist as well as Best EFL ...

From the 9th to the  12th of August, the Riječka Debatna Unija will organise the RiOpen 2014 in Rijeka, Croatia. The tournament offers debaters heading for the European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC) in Zagreb another possibility to prepare and train. There will be five Chief Adjudicators (CAs) for the tournament: Viktor Prlja, best speaker at the European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC) 2013 in Manchester in the category English as a Second Language (ESL) and CA for the Cork EUDC 2016 bid; Tijana Mijalković, ESL quarter finalist at the World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC) 2013 in Berlin and Deputy Chief Adjudicator (DCA) ...

The organisers of the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC), taking place in Kuala Lumpur from 27 December to 4 January, have opened the first application round for Independent Adjudicators. According to the hosts, there will be two application rounds, the first until late June and the second in September, in order to allocate fundings and judging spots as effectively as possible. On the 12th of May, the organisers published general information on the independent adjudicator application process on facebook. On the 24th, they posted another message including the application link and more detailled information about the first phase. Below, the two ...

The Adjudication team of the European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC) 2015 in Vienna, Austria, is now complete as the hosts have released the names of the three deputy chief adjudicators. Gavin Illsley, Emilia Carlqvist and Amanda Moorghen will join the Chief Adjudicators (CAs) Christine Simpson and Michael Shapira. Together, the five will set the motions for the tournament, set up the judging panels and select independent adjudicator for Euros. Gavin Illsley has won Euros in 2006 and has judged two finals of the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC). Emilia Carlqvist has won Euros 2013 in Manchester in the category English ...

From August 29th to August 31st, the third Athens Open will be hosted by the Deree College Debating Club. The tournament takes place merely one week after the European Universities Debating Championship in Zagreb and welcomes all debaters who want to extend their holiday stay in the South East of Europe. The Athens Open will be held in British Parliamentary Style and features 5 preliminary rounds with 7 minute speeches, Semi-Finals and a Final. Chief Adjudicators (CAs) will be Christine Simpson, CA of Zagreb EUDC 2014, and Michael Shapira, CA of Vienna EUDC 2015. Registration is open. Registration Fee is 60 Euros ...

From the 21st until the 25th of July, the Erasmus Debate Society (EDS) invites debaters from all over the World to join DAPDI 2014, the annual debate training camp held in Rotterdam. The training week is meant to give beginners as well as advanced debaters training for the European Debating Championship 2014 in Zagreb an opportunity to improve their skills. Like in the previous years, trainers from the Oxford Debating Union will offer trainings to participants according to their specific skill levels from beginners to advanced debaters. After a three day training period, there will be a two day tournament, ...

From June 21st to June 22nd the Durham Debating Society will host the Durham Open 2014. The tournament in the North of England features 5 rounds with 7 minute speeches, semi-finals and a finals. As a special feature, all motions debated will be open motions. The policy on motions will soon be announced. Chief adjudicators (CAs) will be Rosie Unwin, finals judge at the European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC) and CA of, amongst others, the Oxford Women's tournament, and Steven Rajavinothan, breaking speaker at the World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC) and the EUDC and finals judge of many tournaments, Sam Block, ...

From May 30th to June 1st, the SSE Riga Debate Society and the non-governmental organisation QUO tu domā? will host the third Debate Academy. The Debate Academy aims at debaters from different countries who want to learn more about debating and improve their skills. It consists of seven workshops given in four rooms simultaneously to account for different levels of debating proficiency of the participants. Afterwards, a tournament with four rounds and a final will be organsised so that the debaters can apply what they have learned. The trainers for the workshops will be Michael Shapira, Chief Adjudicator (CA) of the ...

The University College Cork (UCC) in Irland has announced their bid to host the European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC) 2016. The College already hosted the EUDC 2005 as well as the World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC) in 1996 and 2009. The Euros are planned to be jointly organised by the two Debating Societies at the University College Cork, the Law Society and the Philosophical Society. According to the bid, Ciara Grant from UCC Phil will be the Convenor, Eoin Hickey from UCC Law the Deputy Convenor. The bid will be presented during the EUDC 2014 in Zagreb where the European Council ...

Christine Simpson und Michael Shapira, Chief Adjudicators (CA) of the European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC) 2015 in Vienna, have published a list of candidates for the post of Deputy Chief Adjudicator (DCA) for the Vienna EUDC. After a phase where feedback can be given, three of them will be selected as DCAs of the Vienna EUDC. The CAs therefore call upon all debaters who know one or more of the following applicants, to submit detailed feedback about their qualifications. Christine und Michael write about the feedback: "What we would like to hear from you is anything that you think is related ...

On May 31st the Tilbury House Novice will take place in Cologne, Germany. After the Magdeburg Novice Tournament it is the second English Fresher's tournament in Germany this season. It aims to encourage all those who want to make their first experiences with English Debating without having to fly to a foreign country and compete with experienced native speakers. Accordingly, speakers should not have debated for more than 1 year and should not have broken at an international tournament. The tournament will be held in BP and features 4 preliminary rounds and a final. Chief Adjudicator (CA) is Leo Münstermann, Semi-Finalist ...

From May 2nd to May 3rd the first international tournament in the history of Danish Debating will take place in Copenhagen. The Copenhagen Open 2014 will be hosted by the CBS Debating Society, Convenors are Erik Thompson (Convenor) and Jeen Chun (Deputy Convenor). It features 5 preliminary rounds with 7 minute speeches, Semi-Finals and a Final. “The tournament is designed to help foster the small debate circuit in Scandinavia”, the convenor explains on facebook. Therefore at least one of the speakers in every team has to be in their first year of university debating. The Chief Adjudicators (CAs) of the Copenhagen Open ...

From July 11th to July 13th the BBU Open will take place in Cluj-Napoca in Transylvania, Romania. To give a first taste of the city and the tournament, the Babes-Bolyai University (BBU) Debate Society published this video on their website: The tournament features 5 preliminary rounds, semi-finals and a final. The Chief Adjudication team comprises of Anser Aftab (WUDC grand finalist 2011 and EUDC champion 2013), Fred Cowell (best speaker at EUDC 2010 and twice WUDC grand final judge), Karin Merckens (ESL grand finalist at WUDC 2013), Michael Shapira (future CA of the EUDC 2015), Milan Vignjevic (future CA of the ...

The Debattierklub Wien (DKWien), host of the European Universities Debating Championships 2015, has looked back on their experiences with the Vienna IV 2014. Chief Organizer Stefan Zweiker published an article titled "Lessons Learnt: A Résumé on Vienna IV 2014" reflecting the experiences with the tournament and what the DKWien learned for Vienna EUDC 2015. Achte Minute publishes Stefan's text. The full article including all of the photos is available on the website of the European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC) 2015. "Lessons Learnt: A Résumé on Vienna IV 2014 From 7th to 9th March 2014, DKWien hosted the largest IV that ever took place ...

From Augst 15th to August 17th 2014, the Splitska Debatna Unija will host the Split Open 2014 in Split, Croatia. The city, founded in 300 A.D., is the second biggest city in Croatia and is situated directly on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. The hosts promise beach parties and historical venues for everyone not only interested in debating. 3,5 hours by car from Zagreb, the Split Open is also designed as a preparatory tournament in the run up to Zagreb EUDC 2014. With the Ljubljana IV taking place at the same time, debaters now have a choice of tournaments ...