The break is now bigger than ever! 48 instead of 32 teams do break after nine preliminary rounds at this World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC or Worlds). That is twelve percent of all teams breaking instead of only eight percent. “Thus, the system we have now is fairer than any of the other proposed systems for the WUDC break,” Marcus Ewald, president of the EUDC Council, is sure. “Huh?” you may go, “how, mathematically speaking, can 48 teams break to octo-finals? How do they fit into eight rooms?” Well, with the new system, the first 16 teams break save to octo-finals. ...

It is impossible to find out when the first participants of WUDC 2013 arrived in Berlin – too many have already been around and have spent some days in Europe, Germany or Berlin. But just from a glimpse into the WUDC accommodation, Hotel BerlinBerlin, it is clearly visible: today was arrival day! Dozens of participants dropped into the Hotel each hour and stopped at the registration desk in order to check in to their “Worlds” 2013. And in less than 24 hours, Patrick Ehmann, Convener of WUDC Berlin 2013, will open the 33rd World Universities Debating Championship officially. Thus, the biggest ...

[caption id="attachment_13898" align="alignright" width="275"] Anna from Paderborn, boarding the train.[/caption] Today, more than one hundred WUDC volunteers left their cozy Christmas homes in order to get the big WUDC Berlin 2013 project running. During the day, more and more volunteers arrived and added massive manpower to the crew that already ran the WUDC scholarship program since the 25th of December. In order to prepare WUDC novices from countries that would not have participated in WUDC 2013 otherwise, a core volunteer team already started its work on Christmas day. Most of the other volunteers then left their home or university towns today ...

[caption id="attachment_13818" align="alignright" width="400"] A picture WUDC participants will not encounter upon their arrival in German: Currently, the weather is untypically warm (+10°C). [/caption]In Berlin, for many WUDC organizers, there won’t be an ordinary Christmas celebration this year. Instead of spending Christmas with their families, the core of the WUDC Org Com is already on place in Berlin in order to work on the last preparations. But before the first participants of the WUDC scholarship program will arrive tomorrow, the WUDC Org Com will have its own very private Christmas celebration. Rumors tell us that the celebration will take place ...

[caption id="attachment_13785" align="alignright" width="300"] Diese Woche in der ZEIT: Eine ganzseitige Anzeige der WUDC. (Foto: Henrik Mädler)[/caption] The countdown is running: There are only seven days left until the opening ceremony of the World Universities Debating Championship in Berlin begins. While more than 800 speakers, 300 judges and 200 volunteers from all parts of the world will find their way to Berlin, Achte Minute will accompany this countdown with preliminary reports around the WUDC Berlin 2013. We start with a text from Matthias Winkelmann which got published this week in a full page add in the mayor German newspaper „DIE ZEIT“. ...

We all know it out of our own tournament experience: waiting to get the desired slots, the first information about the schedule, and the innate hope that the OrgComm does not forget about all the requests you had. Whatever happened at a small tournament, will also apply to the World Debating Championships. The sub-department ‘participant affairs’ will ensure that all participants feel well informed and taken care of so that they can travel to Berlin with no worries beforehand. Christian Landrock talked to Teresa Widlok, one of the divisional heads in charge of registration issues. Teresa has been debating for the ...

Please read the German version of this piece to learn more on how to get supporters of your debating societies invited to the grand final of the World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC or Worlds) in Berlin. The Berlin Debating Union was chosen to hold the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC or Worlds) in Botsuana 2011 and was confirmed again in Manila 2012. Estimated 1400 debaters from about 70 countries will fight for the title of the World Champion from 27th of December 2012 to 4th of January 2013. The World Universities Debating Championship is taking place yearly around New Year’s ...

One of the nice side effects of international tournaments is certainly getting to know other cities with their distinctive peculiarities. Thus, nearly every convener of an international tournament arranges excursions to the prominent sights a city has to offer. But what if this international tournament, with more than 1400 participants, takes place in a city called Berlin, which is full of historic, social, cultural and political sights? Filip Bubenheimer, student of law, winner of the north-German debating championships (2008, 2010) and member of the Berlin Debating Union (BDU) is responsible for organizing an enjoyable time for all the participants. Christian ...

A refreshing shower in late summer: The Open Society Foundation (OSF) is supporting the World Universitites Debating Championship (WUDC) Berlin 2013. The OSF is actually a group of foundations of the US-American billionaire George Soros which fosters the idea of an open society - hence the name. They support initiatives of the civil society to spread the idea. Patrick Ehmann, convener of WUDC Berlin 2013, appreciates the OSF as a partner since both the foundation and the WUDC aim at make debating relevant to a broader public, as Patrick explains. "We've had the idea at Worlds in Botswana where there ...

About 1,400 people will assemble in Berlin in December to compete at the World Universities Debating Championship 2013 (a.k.a. WUDC or Worlds). Kai Dittman from Berlin Debating Union is in charge of the finance department. Viviane Clarin talked to him about what the guests will need and how he is raising the funds. Please read the German version of the interview to learn more about the details. The Berlin Debating Union bid for hosting the World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC or Worlds) was confirmed in Botswana 2011 and reconfirmed in Manila 2012. The hosts expect about 1.400 Debattierer from around 70 ...

From the 4th to the 7th of June, the Worlds Debating Council will cast a vote. The council is the place where representatives of every debating nation decide on important common issues. This time, council will decide about the most important issue in the debating world: Who will host the World University Debating Championships (WUDC) from December 27th 2013 to Jan 4th 2014 and be the successor of Berlin Worlds 2013? Two universities are bidding for that honour: The Rajalakshmi Engineering College (REC) of Chennai (India) and the Chulalangkorn University of Bangkok (Thailand). But this time, something is different. For the ...

Spring has just begun, but you better take care about this year's end already: Registration for World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC or Worlds) starts this Saturday, March 31, at 3pm Berlin time (GMT +2). Dessislava Kirova, participant affairs officer in Patrick Ehmann's org comm, announced that there will be a team cap of 400 with spots for 300 judges. Reg fees for WUDC Berlin 2013 from 27 December 2012 to 4 January 2013 are 400 Euros per capita. Registration comprises five phases: Phase 0: Please read the elligibility rules. Phase 1: Be quick and register on the WUDC Berlin 2013 blog, principle: first ...

Do you have a helping hand? Contact Marietta Gädeke via m.gaedeke@wudcberlin.com and learn more about how to help make Berlin Worlds 2013 a tournament to remember. Read the German version of this to learn more about the details. ...

Manuel Adams took part in the World Debate Forum (WDF), this time staged in Manila. It was in Botswana where the WDF was hosted for the first time, an initiative of Logan Balavijendran. 50 participants, 15 papers, 2 days - these are the numbers of the forum, please read the German version of Manuel's report to learn more about the facts: debating in Burma, teachers' education in Iraq and the distribution of debating on the Balkans and many more circuits. ...

sorry, there is no English translation available. Please read the German version. ...

Trauma overcome! Worlds' runner-up Dessislava Kirova gives Achte Minute'e appreciated readers an insight on how she and her team mate Juliane Mendelsohn have overcome their trauma of being defeated in quarters - and how the proceed straight on to the finals of the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC or Worlds) in Manila, Philippines. (The story is in German, please check back later for an English translation.) ...

Female power straight on through to the final - Dessislava Kirova and Juliane Mendelsohn of Berlin Debating Union (BDU) are runner-ups to Omer and Sella Nevo from Israel who won the ESL final of the World University Debating Championships (WUDC or Worlds). Congrats from Achte Minute to all! The ladies gave Achte Minute an interview - please switch to the German page to read the full story or check back later for an English translation.

Since we guess that our appreciated readers follow us on Twitter your head will most probably be replete with impressions from De La Salle Worlds. But what are the facts and figures about the Wolrd Universities Debating Championships (WUDC)? Or maybe you have been there yourself and want to sort things out now? Your Achte Minute team provides you with all you might want to know – and even beyond. By the way, you still might wanna follow the Hashtag #WUDC on Twitter – you’ll find funny stories and how everybody copes with the aftermath of post-Worlds exhaustion. ...

Today's sixth day of the Worlds Universities Debating Championship saw lots of joy and lots of heartbreak - it was the first day of final rounds! After yesterday's break announcement started with the open octofinals, followed by English as a Second Language (ESL) quarterfinals, open quarterfinals and concurrent EFL and ESL semifinals. ...

New year's daywas quiet at World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC or Worls) in Manila:Most debater had the chance to take a tour around the Philippinian capital, relaxed and hang out at the hotel. That was not true today for the national delegates. They had to sit in the WUDC Council where they decide about a new Council president, the confirmation of the current bid for next Worlds and the bid for the Worlds after that. And there we have a new president: Steve Johnson, until recently "registrar", followed Jens Fischer in the office. With him on the Council board are Eoin ...

As usual at Worlds, the last day of the year is also the last day of preliminary rounds. Another three rounds capped off those rounds and finally determined who will advance to the final rounds ("break") and who won't. To discourage bad and destructive behaviour in these rounds, no adjudication is given after the rounds end. That means that the latest available information regarding standings is from last night after round 6 - Can Okar and Florian Umscheid have compiled unofficial tabs based on publicly available data: Can's GoogleDoc and Florian's Facebook posts thus provided a glimpse of who might ...

In the following we provide you the breaks and tab positions at WUDC 2012 after the nine preliminary rounds. This data was compiled with the help of Colm Flynn and confirmed by WUDC tabmaster Bob Nimmo. Some institutions' names may not be accurately typed up, please excuse any errors. EFL break (team points not yet available): Universitas Indonesia C Ewha Debating Society A Belgrade C Defense Technology A Zagreb A UCD Venezuela A Tianjin FSU A STAN A ESL break (team points not yet available): Tel Aviv A Utrecht A Leiden A Ljubljana A Belgrade A Johannes Gutenberg A BDU A University of the Philippines Manila A International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) A Chinese University Hong Kong A Galatasaray A Malaya A KDU A Lahore ...

It was another busy day at De La Salle Worlds in Manila, and debaters got a glimpse of what they all hope to hold in their hands on January 3 - trophies! ...

For debaters at De La Salle Worlds in Manila today was launch day, with three preliminary rounds taking place at De La Salle University (DLSU). During preliminary rounds, no distinction is made between different language levels (Open/ESL/EFL), so especially round 1 saw a wild mix of debaters from all over the world, clashing over the motion "This house would make fathers take paternity leave", a nice and not-too-hard start into the day. ...

Today, De La Salle Worlds in Manila kicked off for good! Day 1, however, was an easy one for debaters. Many of them were asked to take part in ESL and EFL interviews to confirm their status in the respective category: English as a Second Language and English as a Foreign Language. Adjudicators were challenged more thoroughly. They had to go through a test to determine their skill as a judge. It consisted of a live debate performed in front of the adjudicators, which they had to critique. The motion for that test debate read: "This house would ban all reporting ...

The Berlin Debating Union announced the Berlin World's DCAs. Victor Finkel, Isabelle Fischer (former Loewe) and James Kilcup are Berlin World's DCAs, Jens Fischer is Tabmaster. Congrats! Doug Cochran and Sharmila Parmanand are the Berlin World's CAs. We are very happy to see the newly wed Jens and Isa Fischer as DCA and Tabmaster and use the opportunity to congratulate them to their wedding!

All candidates have applied for the office of deputy chief adjudicator for the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC or Worlds) to be held in Berlin. Now the chief adjudicators Doug Cochran and Sharmila Parmanand require the help of the international debating circuit: Give your feedback on the candidates, among them Isabelle Loewe (Bonn) and Ben Woolgar (Oxford)! The full list is available on the blog of WUDC Berlin 2013. Doug and Sharmila point out that they will not accept anonymous feedback and promise that all e-mails will be treated strictly confidentially. They also ask all of you to put special focus ...

Just 15 months until the global debating community is going to assemble in Berlin from December 27, 2012 until January 4, 2013 to compete for the title of the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC or Worlds). Right now, chief adjudicators Sharmila Parmanand and Doug Cochran are looking for deputy chief adjudicators (DCA) to enhance their team. Please use the application form made available for you by Achte Minute. What's the task? Doug gave Achte Minute the answer: DCAs should "serve alongside us in training judges, setting motions, and generally managing the adjudication of the tournament." Sharmila and he are "looking ...

"Embracing dissent" is the claim of the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC, or Worlds). Please check back later for the English version of this article or read the German version of this piece meanwhile to learn about how Filip Bubenheimer and Matthias Winkelmann came up with this slogan, what they have to say about it and how they are qualified for brand management.