One of the biggest IVs on the UK debating circuit is back:  The Manchester Debating Union invites you to Manchester on the 22nd and 23rd of February 2014.  There will be four rounds of seven minute speeches, an open break to quarters, an ESL break to semis and a novice break to finals.  Registration is now open. CA team:  Michael Barton - Top breaking team and 2nd on speaker tab at Manchester EUDC 2013, Winner and Top Speaker at UCD IV 2013 and Multiple IV finalist Emilia Carlqvist, ESL Champion of Manchester Euros 2013, Winner of the Jacobs Open 2013 Imogen Parkes - Worlds & Euros Quarter Finalist, ...

As we already reportet, Thessaloniki bids for WUDC 2013. With the lauch of their Website some more information are now available. Tournament Team Cap: 420 teams, Cap of 3 teams per institution Registration Fee: Maximum €400, to be reduced according to sponsorship Adjudication: Chief Adjudicator:Manos Moschopoulos Deputy Chief Adjudicators: Chris Bisset, Tasneem Elias  Policy Highlights 3 DCAs to be chosen after an application process in 2014 We are committed to ensuring that the adjudication core represents the diversity of regions, language statuses and genders that attend WUDC. We also recognise that appointing the best candidate may require a second person from a particular region €50000 in our worst-case scenario budget ...

When on Saturday a teaser video poped up in Facebook, promising that a "debate related event will take place in 2016" accompany by Syrtaki music, rumours araised that Greece will bid for World Universities Debating Championship 2016. The Debating Society of Greece and the Open Communication Debating Network then proudly presented the University of Macedonia bid for WUDC 2016 at the Cambridge IV. The Championship are to be held 27 December 2015 - 4 January 2016 in Thessaloniki, Greece. The host city of Thessaloniki has been a metropolis of international standing since the Roman times, being an important trade ...

Unless you were exiled to some sort of cave of Debateland, if you’re an European novice debater you probably heard about the Vienna Freshers’ that happened last week. True to the motto “Take off to your debating life” 32 teams from 9 countries were introduced to the debate tournament atmosphere, departing from Vienna, to… well, anywhere you want, or so I’ve heard. I’m looking forward to finding out how far the debating life can take someone. Friday afternoon we gathered at the WU campus, mentally thanking the one who came up with the great idea of getting free energy drinks for ...

In 2014 the World University Debating Championship will take place in Chennai. This week, the adjudication team, consisting in Harish Natajaran, Michael Baer, Ely Zosa, Michael Shapira, Fiona Prowse and Steven Whittington, published a Preliminary Briefing for the participants. You can find the original text here: As many individuals and institutions begin preparing for WUDC over the coming months, the Chennai Worlds Adjudication Team thought it would be helpful to provide some guidance on policies that we will be adopting. The vast majority of this year’s briefings (including much of what follows) will match last year’s briefings in Berlin. We want to ...

On October 11 and 12 the Roosevelt Debating Society hosted the second edition of the Roosevelt Open. The tournament was held in lovely Middelburg, all the way in the south-west corner of the Netherlands. Among the VDCH-speaker were Stefan Torges, Madlen Stottmeyer, Leonard Muenstermann, Moritz Justen, Kai Dittmann, Jan-Dirk Capelle and Christopher Kroesmann. The tournament was won by Anne Valkering and Rogier Baart. Unfortuantly no VDCH-teams were in the break rounds, but the individual results of the teams and speaker can be found in the individual Speaker Tab and Team Tab. Motions R1: This House would no longer arrest or prosecute ...

Last weekend, the first EBS Open organized by Bhavesh Agarval took place in Wiesbaden. There were only 16 teams due to the fact that a lot of teams canceled only a few days before the tournament. However, all participants were happy with the small EBS Open! Chief Adjudicators were Marietta Gädeke and Michael Shapira. Motions: R1: THW make EU voting compulsory. R2: You are a 19 year old boy who just finished his Abitur. As this boy, THW join the Bundeswehr (an infoslide was provided). R3: THW ban private Universities. R4: THW grant all Ethnic Germans a full Right of Return (an infoslide was provided as ...

The registration for Moscow Open 2013 is now open!  The Org Com says that the will provide food, crash and alcohol (“pretty decent socials sponsored by our business consulting friends") . Additionally they will help with the visa: “So just put on a big fur coat, google Navalny and practice your vodka drinking. Russia can't wait to have you!” Details: 5 rounds, break to semifinals There is no registration fee for international teams & judges. Please note that n-1 rule applies to Moscow teams. Deadline for registration is November 11. CA - Sally Rooney (EUDC 2013 Top Speaker, EUDC 2013 Finalist, EUDC 2012 Semi-finalist, winner of the International Mace and ...

The World Universities Debating Championship 2014 will take place in Chennai, India. The tournament starts on december 26th and lasts until january 3rd. It will be hosted by Rajalakshmi Institutions, a the group of educational institutes founded in 1997. This group of institutes provide higher education and school level educations to students in and around India. It is one of the top and largest educational institutions in India. Each year the event is hosted by a different university, selected by the World Universities Debating Council at the World Championship taking place. This follows a bidding process conducted at the World Championships ...

Between September 8 and 11 2013 BGU carried out the Red Sea Open for the fourth time. Convened by Mor Zoran and Noa Golan hyper-funded by the Ben Gurion University the rounds took place on the Eilat Campus of BGU. 32 teams, an outstanding Chief Adjudication team and an all round board combined an intimate debate atmosphere with a party holiday mood.  And the debate community has a new contender that wants to host EUDC 2016. Eilat, a rather Unconventional Debate Scenery From around a dozen tournaments yearly generated on the Israeli circuit the Red Sea Open is the only one truly ...

This years SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies) IV will be held from october 19th to october 20th. The organiser promise a "veritable "fun fest" of five competitive rounds, of 7 minute speeches, breaking to quarters and esl quarters, with excellent feedback guaranteed and two fantastic socials. We are expecting more than 100 teams." Adjudication team: CA: Amanda Moorghen (Euros Final judge, WUDC Quarter Finalist) DCA Elise Trewick (Euros Semi-Finalist) DCA: Andrea Bos (Euros Quarter Finalist) The event takes place at SOAS Vernon Square and Russell Square Campus, with the final held in the Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre. Registration is now open. Please follow the ...

The OrgComm of Zagreb EUDC 2014 has announced that they opened the DCA application process to the feedback stage. They would like to invite all members of the international debating community to provide feedback on the applicants based on their personal experience of working with them either as debaters, judges, CAs or DCAs. They are interested in feedback regarding judging ability and motion setting. In addition, they welcome any feedback on how well applicants work in teams and their other personal attributes. In alphabetical order, the applicants are: Alon van Dam (Israel, RRIS) Andreas Lazar (Germany, University of Stuttgart) Ashish Kumar (IONA, Cambridge University) Ben ...

On August 23 EUDC Council assembled in Manchester. Amongst other things the decisions on who will host Euros in 2014 and 2015 were made, with bids by Durham and Zagreb for EUDC 2014 and a bid by Vienna for EUDC 2015. Zagreb took the win over Durham and will host Euros next year. Vienna’s bid was confirmed, which makes them the hosts for Euros the year after next. Teresa Widlok was present in Council in her capacity as International Officer of the Association of German Speaking University Debating Societies and German delegate to Council. The following article describes her impressions ...

On October 11 and 12 the Roosevelt Debating Society will host the second edition of the Roosevelt Open. The tournament will be held in lovely Middelburg, all the way in the south-west corner of the Netherlands. Last year's Open was a great success, and this year the Org Comm promise a well-organized and fun tournament. Through collaboration with the Nationale Jeugdraad (NJR), they strive to make this tournament environmentally friendly. Concise info: British Parliamentary 7-minute speeches 5 rounds & break to semis Max €25 per speaker Domestic team cap of 5 Total team cap of 40 N-1 Adjudication Rule Registration Chief Adjudicators: Daan Welling: EUDC 2012 ESL Champion, WUDC 2013 ...

Nika Jelaska, Convenor of Zagreb EUDC 2014 has announced that the Deputy Chief Adjudicator process has just started. The application form can be downloaded from the webpage. Selection Criteria: Zagreb EUDC plans to appoint five Deputy Chief Adjudicators. The Org Comm says, that they have a strong preference for a geographically diverse adjudication team, with DCA’s that come from all over the continent. The team will ideally have members from developed and developing circuits, as well as a mix of those with extensive adjudication experience and those with less experience on adjudication teams. They are looking for candidates that have experience, perspectives and ...

The 4th UCU Open will be held in Utrecht, Netherlands on the 29th and 30th of November 2013. The registration for the BPS tournament will open on the 1st of September, the fee is 30€ per participant, judges are free (N-1 rule applies). There will be 5 preliminary rounds with a break to semi finals. Sam Block will serve as CA (DCAs: TBA) For more information visit the Facebook group or the homepage Franziska Städter/ak

Last weekend a dream that many debaters dream came true for Peer Klüßendorf and Emilia Carlqvist: They became European Debating Champions in English as a second language. Peer started debating in highschool when he attended "Jugend debattiert" and advanced to its national and international final in 2007. One year ago, he resumed debating when he moved to Lund. Emilia just moved to Lund in 2011 and tried debating at a local tournament. Despite liking it, she was too busy and did not debate again until 2012 when she decided to run for the board of Lund Debate Society. Achte Minute ...

The Tilbury House Debating Society has announced that the Tilbury House IV 2013 will be staged on December 13th to December 15th. There will be 5 preliminary rounds plus the semi-finals and the grand final. CA will be Henk van Zuilen (Finalist of EUDC 2013). The registration will prospectively close Friday at 6 pm, the final will be done on Sunday at approximately 4 pm. To get more information visit the societies homepage where it shall be postet asap. You may also join the Facebook event to find out more. Quick Facts: Tilbury House IV 2013 December 13 to 15 Cologne, Germany BPS, English CAs: Henk van Zuilen, ...

On thursday and friday the outrounds and the final of the European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC) took place in Manchester. Via Twitter and Facebook the results were announced already on Friday evening. Here is an overview of the motions and finalists. English as a Foreign Language: ESL Quarter-Finals: THBT men should consistently 'call out' and correct chauvinistic claims made by friends and coworkers ESL Semi-Finals: THBT environmentalists should start a campaign of sabotage and property damage aimed at major polluting companies ESL Final: THB the state should not fund works of art/ performance that average citizens would not recognize as having artistic merit OG: Berlin ...

The Debating society of the European Business School (EBS), EBS Communicate,will host their fist tournament this year. The EBS Open 2013 will be held in Wiesbaden October 11th - 13th. The Team-Cap is 36 teams, with an insitution-cap of three teams per institution. N-1 will apply, though EBS Communicate encourages aditional judges. The Reg-Fee is 15 Euro and covers meals, socials and a workshop. Crash will be provided if required. The tournament has four preliminary rounds with break to semis. Michael Shapira and Marietta Gädeke will be serving as CAs. Teams can register here, adjudicators find the registration form here. Please check ...

The hosts of EUDC 2015, the Debattierklub Wien, has announced the Vienna IV 2014. To celebrate DKWien's 10th anniversary the DK is hosting the largest Vienna IV so far from March 7th-9th 2014. Team Cap is 100 Teams, the debating Venues are on the brand-new campus where Vienna's EUDC 2015 are going to take place. There will be 3-star accommodation, socials and plenty of activities, the DK promises an "outstanding debating and sightseeing experience". You can watch their Tailer online and join the Facebook-Event for further updates. Registration starts early November 2013, n-1 rule will apply. The DK Wien has asked Christine Simpson, Nicole Loiter and Stefan Zweiker to serve as ...

The Break of the EUDC Manchester 2013 has just been announced. It has been quite a wait. https://twitter.com/TheHist/status/370309338704785408 Open Break 1. TCD Hist A 2. Cambridge A 3. Sheffield A 4. Bristol A 5. GUU A 6. Cambridge B 7. TCD Phil A 8. Edinburgh A 9. UCC Phil A 10. Oxford A 11. St Andrews A 12. Nottingham A 13. Warwick A 14. Durham B 15. KCL A 16. Birmingham A ESL-Break 1. Tel Aviv 2. BDU A (Niels Schröter and Hauke Blume) 3. Belgrade A 4. Groningen B 5. Roosevelt A 6. Lund A 7. IDC A 8. Vienna A (Stefan Zweiker and Christoph Jäger) 9. Munich A (Marco Witzmann and Wladi Jachtchenko) 10. BBU A 11. RRIS A 12. Belgrade B 13. Stuttgart A (Nils Haneklaus and Andreas Lazar) 14. ...

[caption id="attachment_17792" align="alignleft" width="256"] The University Place - the main debating venue[/caption] Since sunday 214 teams from Europe , 19 of which are from VDCH- Clubs, are competing in the European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC). The Manchester Debating Unions is hosting the biggest event in the european debating circuit this year at the University of Manchester. Here are some insights into the tournament, the debates and how the German teams did. The locations The teams live in cosy small apartments with single and double bed rooms around the campus. The distance to the debate rooms is very short - it takes teams 5-10minutes. ...

The CA team at EUDC Manchester has introduced changes to the way POIs are treated; in particular, they have introduced a compulsory POI requirement, and have asked judges to more stringently enforce the allowance for 15 seconds of speaking time during a POI. Michael Shapira wrote a constructive criticism about those new rules. Now Shengwu Li, writing on behalf of the CA team, explains the thought process behind these rulings. He says that they were happy and thankful for the lively debate on this important issue, but he feels, that there need to be some clarifications as to theire reasons ...

The recent briefing and later clarification released by the adjudication core of the upcoming EUDC Manchester 2013 has included some changes in the way we are to treat Points of Information (POI). These changes consist of two major elements. The first is, that being allowed to offer a POI has changed to become 15 seconds of "protected time", in which the POI giver may do as he or she pleases. The second change is an introduction of a "Mandatory POI" under which a speaker must take a POI during their speech. Failing to do so, the speaker is then required ...

Debattierklub Wien announced its bid for EUDC 2015. They uploaded a Bid-Video and a Website. Here you will find all information that were just published in the first newsletter: Org-Com The five people you can see on the picture (Andreas Prischl, Jakob Reiter, Elisabeth Vikydal, Stefan Zweiker and Anika Nussgraber at the scene of the Summer 2015 Teaser) are part of the DKWien crowd that will invest their time into making Vienna EUDC 2015 the Euros you do not want to miss. Our Orga is built around Stefan who takes up the role of convener and Jakob who is in charge of funding and relations to external stakeholders. Yet, there are so many more ...

There is not much to report from the Patras Open International Debate Championship, that took place in Greece from July 26th to July 29th. But we can give you some impressions: The motion of the Grand Final that took place in the Theater by the Sea in Patras was "TH as Socrates wouldn't have drunk the hemlock". The winning teams came from Turkey: Congratulations to Melda Eren and Ali Avci as well as the best speaker of the Open, Kallina Basli. The CA team consisted of Manos Moschopoulos, Harish Natarajan and Milan Vignjevic. The Motions: R1: THW ban Golden Dawn. R2: THBT the state should not give ...

The Oxford Inter-Varsity 2013 will be held from November 8th and 9th. There is the possibility to visit the legendary Oxford Union Debate on Thursday evening. Also there will be campus tour for international debaters on Friday morning followed by some Debating workshops and the registration that ends at 3pm. Details Five preliminary rounds of 7 minute speeches, breaking to Quarter Finals, ESL Semi Finals and novice Grand Final All Grand Finals hosted in the (in)famous Oxford Union Chamber 140 team cap, n-1 applying to IONA teams Introductory debating workshops Novice Grand Final and Best Novice Speaker prize CA TEAM Stephanie Bell - WUDC 2012 Grand-Finalist and ...

[caption id="attachment_17141" align="alignright" width="324"] Beyond black and white: Danique van Koppenhagen (l) and Fred Cowell (r) are looking for Co-DCAs[/caption] The DCAs of the Durham EUDC 2014 bid contacted Achte Minute about the application process for Druham EUDC DCAs. Below are all the informations you need if you want to consider an application. "We will not be appointing DCAs on a specifically regional basis but will instead be appointing those individuals who meet the qualifications and are best placed to fulfil the duties and expectations of a DCA. The qualifications and duties of a DCA are set out below, we will be ...

This year's Cambridge Inter-Varsity will be held on November 15th-16th 2013. The organizers state: „The Cambridge IV is one of the largest and most prestigious debating events on the calendar. Hosted and run by the Cambridge Union Society, the IV attracts some of the best teams from universities all over the world. Over three hundred students will be attending and we hope you'll be one of them.“ The Cambridge Union dates from 1815, and has a long history of hosting Presidents, Prime Ministers, Statesmen, Celebrities and Sports Stars. The Unions weekly debates serve to engage and to challenge presumptions and prejudices. ...