15th UN Research Colloquium: The United Nations in Crisis – Threats, Transformations and Futures of International Law

The 15th UN Research Colloquium, titled The United Nations in Crisis: Threats, Transformations and Futures of International Law, brings together early-career researchers and practitioners to interrogate the state of the United Nations and the international legal order it anchors. The colloquium asks whether the UN is experiencing institutional decline, structural transformation, or the consolidation of a more fragmented and contested global legal order. It invites contributions that examine the threats to UN authority alongside practices of resistance, reform and reimagination, drawing on legal, historical, political, sociological and interdisciplinary perspectives, including TWAIL and critical approaches. The event is held in person and will be accompanied by a keynote lecture and an additional supporting programme.

The colloquium is jointly organised by the Working Group of Young UN Researchers in the United Nations Association of Germany (DGVN e.V.) and the Centre for Human Rights Erlangen-Nuremberg. The Working Group of Young UN Researchers is a network within DGVN e.V. dedicated to fostering scholarship on the United Nations and international law among emerging academics. The Centre for Human Rights Erlangen-Nuremberg hosts the in-person gathering in Germany.

The central question of the colloquium is whether the United Nations is facing institutional decline, structural transformation, or the consolidation of a more fragmented and contested global legal order. Contributions are invited to explore the threats confronting UN authority as well as the practices of resistance, reform and reimagination that respond to them. The organisers welcome legal, historical, political, sociological and interdisciplinary perspectives, expressly including Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) and other critical approaches that examine the foundations, limits and futures of the UN-centred order.

• Concepts and foundations – What constitutes a UN or international law crisis, including its normative, institutional and material dimensions, historical precedents, challenges to Charter norms, and legitimacy questions arising from state actions taken outside UN authorisation.
• Fragmentation, competition and accountability – The relationship of the UN-centred legal order to competing sites of governance, the consequences when political organs are blocked or bypassed, the role of regional organisations and informal coalitions, and human rights bodies operating under geopolitical pressure.
• Inequality, structural violence and alternative visions – Critical and postcolonial perspectives on the UN's foundations and limits, whose interests it serves, TWAIL critiques of the Charter, and alternative visions from Global South, feminist, Indigenous and environmental justice movements.
• Crisis in practice – Current UN practice as a window onto the state of the international legal order, including specific conflicts, the role of transitional justice, and frameworks for climate, health and digital governance.

The call is open to early-career researchers and students of all disciplines, as well as to practitioners and civil society actors. The organisers particularly encourage submissions from women, members of the LGBTQI+ community, Black and other racialised scholars, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, persons with a migration background, and scholars and practitioners from the Global South. Interested listeners are welcome to attend without presenting a paper.

• Abstract length: 300 to 500 words.
• Abstract content: briefly set out the research question, the main argument or objectives, (if relevant) the theoretical or methodological approach, and a first outline of the planned argumentation or central theses.
• Biographical note: include a short biographical note stating affiliation, career stage and contact details.
• Full paper length: 5,000 words, due after acceptance.
• Language: submissions may be made in English or German.
• Mode of submission: abstracts are submitted via the official Google Form.

Participation in the conference is free of charge for all attendees. At this stage the organisers cannot guarantee full funding for travel or accommodation costs. Reimbursement of travel expenses is limited to those travelling within German borders. The organisers will nonetheless make every effort to secure financial support for participants who present a paper, with a particular focus on those without institutional funding. Those who wish to attend as listeners without presenting a paper can register through the separate registration form.

Applicants must submit their abstract of 300 to 500 words together with a short biographical note through the abstract registration Google Form by 16 August 2026. Selected applicants will be notified of acceptance by 30 September 2026 and must submit their full paper of 5,000 words by 15 October 2026. Those attending without presenting a paper should complete the separate registration form by 31 October 2026. Queries can be directed to info@uno-forschung.de.