Worlds Masters' Cup Break

The Worlds Masters' Cup Grand Final will be

England (273 points)
Fred Cowell
Andrew Tuffin
Ben Woolgar

vs

United Kingdom (262 points)
Jack Watson
Sam Block
James Hardy

The Grand Final takes place on January 2nd at 18:30 at the TU as the last debate event of the day, judged by the CAs Bronwyn Cowell and Philipp Stiel as well as Jacqui Yates, Mary Nugent and Michael Baer.

The tab can be found here.

Worlds Public Speaking Break

The eight finalists, chosen from more than 40 contestants by Kimera Chetty, Mathias Hamann and other panelists are, in alphabetical order:

• Alex McHale (Columbia)
• Casper McCauley (Dalhousie University)
• Daniel Enrlich (New York State University)
• Devon Black (University of Victoria)
• Edward Hauschild (Durham)
• Howard Cohen (McGill)
• Kobi Matsri (Tel Aviv University)
• Sulem Yong Ingrid (University of Dschang)

The Grand Final takes place at the social on January 2nd. Note that WUDC participants do not need to buy a Yucca ticket in order to join the fun. Please came along and watch.

We are asking the finalists to be there by 21:30. We are starting right after the Worlds Semi-Final Break announcement.

Jan 1st Preview

The final starting points and hours for excursions are the following:

• Szczecin and Dresden: Lobby Hotel Berlin, Berlin at 07:00
• Baltic Sea: Lobby Hotel Berlin, Berlin at 8:30
• Potsdam: Entrance Hall of the TU at 10:00
• "Wall Trip", "Introducing Berlin", "Prussia, Palaces, Politics" and "Capital of the 'Third Reich'": Entrance Hall of the TU at 10:30
• Brandenburg Stroll: Entrance Hall of the TU at 11:00

Council starts at noon at the TU main building room 2013.

There is brunch from 9:30 to noon at the TU.

In the evening (from 19:00) Chennai Worlds invites us to the Loewe Saal (map). There is free beer and food.

Debate Overview (up to Round 9)

The motions of the WUDC preliminary rounds were:

1. THW create public housing for the poor in wealthy areas
2. THBT Japan should acquire nuclear weapons
3. THW only imprison individuals who pose a direct and continuing threat to society
4. THBT international development institutions (such as the World Bank) should not finance natural resource extraction projects in corrupt states
5. THBT self-described progressive males of dominant ethnicities are morally obliged to refrain from taking positions of responsibility where there is a qualified alternative candidate from a historically disadvantaged group who would otherwise receive the post
6. THW legally permit soldiers to refuse to participate in military actions or missions on the basis of conscience
7. THBT European Union nations should forgive Greece's sovereign debt
8. THBT countries with booming populations should allocate every adult a single tradable permit to have a child
9. THW ban political parties and require all candidates for national public office to seek election as independents

There draws can be found here, debate videos here.

The preliminary intermediate results after Round 6 are here.

Dec 31st Preview

Same procedure as today: 8:15 a.m. - That is the point in time by which we would love to have scanned your badge at the TU. It went very well today and we ask you to make the same thing possible tomorrow (despite whatever is about to happen at Brunnen 70).

Transfers to the TU and breakfast: same timing as well.

The rest of the day:
Round 7, lunch (about 1 hour), round 8, coffee break, round 9, dinner.
That's all happening at the TU, just like today. Feel free to freshen up and change at your hotel before joining the Break and New Year's Party in and around the TU.

Round 5 Motion in Full Length

"THBT self-described progressive males of dominant ethnicities are morally obliged to refrain from taking positions of responsibility where there is a qualified alternative candidate from a historically disadvantaged group who would otherwise receive the post." #wudc #longmotionsrock

Dec 30th State of Affairs

First of all: thank you for making our morning schedule work! After some announcements the draw was supposed to be up by 9:30 and it ended up being shown from 9:36. Six minutes is an amazingly insignificant delay and we are very happy that things today went so much better and faster than yesterday.

We have uploaded the draw for round 4 to the known draw folder. Also, thanks to the Tab Room, we were able to publish a list of all teams and judges.

Generally things are going rather smoothly now. There are some issues participants brought to our attention and we are dealing with them right now. Our Conferenciers will address some of them and we do our best to keep you posted about what we are doing. And we welcome your feedback to improve things further.

Dec 30th Preview and Important Remarks

8:15 a.m. - That is the point in time by which we would love to have scanned your badge at the TU. If you are so kind to make that happen, we can start round 4 by 9:15. The Tab Room is working hard to make sure we have the fairest tournament possible and we have to grant them the time needed.

All the following events take place consecutively and as soon as the respective preparations have been accomplished. We will keep you posted throughout the day. The exact times depend particularly on the check-in issue mentioned above (we repeat: 8:15).

Transfers to the TU:
07:00: Interconti → 07:10 HBB → 07:30 TU
07:30: Interconti → 07:40 HBB → 08:00 TU

Breakfast: 7:15-9:00 (so you have plenty of time to enjoy breakfast after check-in)

The rest of the day:
Round 4, lunch (about 1 hour), round 5, coffee break, round 6, dinner.
That's all happening at the TU, just like today.
Then you have the opportunity to freshen up at your hotel (we offer transfers), after which we have the Berlin Underground Party waiting for you (Brunnen 70). There are also transfers between hotels and social. The entrance is free between 21:00 and 23:00 and costs 10 EUR after that. Between 22:30 and 00:30 we offer transfers back to the hotels.

Dec 30th Schedule

[please see following post]

Dec 29th Debate Overview

Today we had the first three preliminary rounds of our Worlds. The motions:

1. THW create public housing for the poor in wealthy areas
2. THBT Japan should acquire nuclear weapons
3. THW only imprison individuals who pose a direct and continuing threat to society

There draws can be found here (sooner or later).

Are You Ready To Embrace Dissent?

We showed our opening video today before Round 2.

Are you ready to embrace dissent?

Schedule for Dec 29th

from 06:30: Registration at your hotel (last: 07:40)
from 06:45: Transfers from your hotel to the TU (last: 08:00)
07:15-09:00: Breakfast (TU atrium)
09:00-11:30: Draw & Round 1 (Audimax)
11:30-13:00: Lunch Lichthof (atrium)
13:00-15:30: Draw & Round 2 (Audimax)
15:30-16:15: Coffee Break Lichthof (atrium)
16:15-18:30: Draw & Round 3 (Audimax)
18:30-20:00: Dinner Lichthof (atrium)
from 19:00: Transfers to Hotel Berlin, Berlin (and back to the TU from 20:00)
21:00: Gender Night Lichthof (atrium)
from 22:00: Transfers to your hotel (last: 00:00)

Language Status List and Interviews

The Language Review Committee has kindly submitted the final Language Status List. If you have applied for ESL or EFL status, have a look. Time and place for interviews will be announced very soon.

Schedule for Dec 28th

Morning

Breakfast starts at 9 a.m. at the Technische Universität (TU) atrium.
Pre-Council starts at 10 a.m. in TU room 2013.
Worlds Masters' starts at 9:30 a.m. in TU room 0107.
Worlds Public Speaking starts at 10 a.m. in TU room 0110.
The 2nd chance for the judging test is at 10 a.m. in TU room 2032.
There will be live-streaming of Public Speaking and Masters'.

Afternoon

12:00-14:00: Lunch (TU atrium)
14:00-16:00: WUDC Briefings (TU Audimax)
16:00-16:30: Coffee Break (TU atrium)
Time to go back to the hotel (transfers available)
18:00-19:30: Dinner (TU atrium)
19:30-20:30: Opening Ceremony (TU Audimax)
20:30: Get-together and Jazz music (TU atrium)

The Morning of the 28th

Breakfast starts at 9 a.m. at the Technische Universität (TU).

Pre-Council starts at 10 a.m. in TU room 2013.

Worlds Masters' starts at 9:30 a.m. in TU room 0107.

Worlds Public Speaking starts at 10 a.m. in TU room 0110.

The 2nd chance for the judging test is at 10 a.m. in TU room 2032.

There will be live-streaming of Public Speaking and Masters'.

It's on.

Berlin Worlds as a gesamtkunstwerk (ask DCA Victor Finkel what that means) takes thirteen days. We started today with the arrival day of the scholarship participants (photo) and we will end with the World Debate Forum to be held from the 4th to the 6th.

Alas not all 110 scholarship recipients will make it to Berlin. Some even travelled to another country in order to get their visa for Germany but were denied them in the last minute, which is tragic.

Tomorrow (26th) at ten we start the Scholarship Seminar at the TU. Somehow we incorporated a trip to a Christmas Market into the programme. The trainers are the good people from the Adjudication Core and a few Worlds independent adjudicators.

In the afternoon most volunteers will arrive as well and receive their last briefings before Dec 27th, the official WUDC arrival day.

Some non-Berlin volunteers and adjudicators who had arrived early met on Christmas Eve. This event turned into a rather entertaining work session (photo) with mulled wine and presents under the palm tree.

Christmas, featuring Victor, Doug et al.

WUDC Berlin 2013 Equity Team

Our Equity Team is now complete, up and running. It consists of Equity Officer Sarah Jaglitz (Germany) and Deputy Equity Officers Ahmed Al Suwaidi (UAE/UK) and Beth Sheil (USA).

Here is their message:

The WUDC Berlin 2013 will see 1,400 participants from 82 countries, which is just awesome! It is very important to us that everyone, regardless of background and experience, feels respected and is able to participate in and enjoy the championship without fear of discrimination. Please keep that in mind when interacting with others; what might seem like harmless fun to you might hurt someone else deeply.

We will not tolerate any behaviour that discriminates or demeans a person and will take every Equity complaint very serious. Our Equity Policy is stated in the Code of Conduct and applies to everyone participating in the tournament regardless of status.

The Code of Conduct can be found here and in the Tournament Guide you will receive at check-in. We expect all participants to read it.

Please feel free to approach any of us at any time; members of the Equity Team will be present throughout the the tournament and you can also contact us via the Help Desks or by email. 

Sarah is a Berlin native and member of the Berlin Debating Union. She is a third year student in Jewish Studies and History at the University of Potsdam.
Ahmed hails from the United Arab Emirates, he is in his third year of university debating and is in his final year of Neuroscience BSc at King's College London.
Beth is from New Jersey, USA and is a second year student in Chemical Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Register now for Worlds Public Speaking 2013

We proudly announce the opening of the registration for the Worlds Public Speaking Competition 2013 in Berlin. As always, all Worlds speakers and adjudicators are eligible to participate as speakers or judges. The Chief Adjudicators are Kimera Chetty (South Africa) and Mathias Hamann (Germany).

The competition has a preliminary round on December 28th 2012 and a Grand Final on January 2nd 2013.

The general topic of this year's Public Speaking is "Embracing Dissent", the motto of Berlin Worlds. Each contestant will be given an individual and slightly more specific topic to prepare in 15 minutes. Contributions are up to 7 minutes in length.

Public speaking is a great platform for orators of every creed. Participants are invited to engage in classical Public Speaking but also very welcome to choose from a wider range of creativity. The panel of judges will be rating performances in terms of content (meaningful contribution to the topic) and style (to which degree did the performance rock/sadden/rhyme/make us laugh). Feel free to do reflection, comedy, poetry... – and sign up now.

To sign up please fill in this form by December 27th, 10 p.m.

If you would like to judge Public Speaking, please email Kimera and Mathias and indicate briefly how you think the speakers should be assessed. We will announce our judging panel for the preliminary round once we have selected the panel.

The CAs are looking forward to open the Worlds Public Speaking Competition 2013 on December 28th, right after breakfast at the TU.

Meet McKinsey at Berlin Worlds

It is with immense pleasure that we announce a cooperation between the WUDC Berlin 2013 and the leading global strategy consulting firm, McKinsey & Company. McKinsey will sponsor Worlds and has agreed to meet you there and after.

McKinsey is a global partnership with almost 9,000 consultants deployed in over 100 locations in more than 55 countries. They help the world's leading organisations in the private, public, and social sectors address their most critical strategic, operational, organisational, and technological challenges (www.mckinsey.com/careers).

McKinsey would like to get to know you better and give you a chance to get to know McKinsey and consulting. Representatives will be present before and during the Finals on January 3rd. Furthermore, they are planning to organize a series of events locally as well as virtually specifically for people connected to the WUDC. The first one will be early next year, run by Diana Farrell, Director of the new McKinsey Center for Government. She will talk about the global trends facing governments today; how governments can adapt to meet these challenges by embracing 'government by design'; and why business should care about effective government.

To keep in touch with McKinsey, beginning now, you may send your CV to mckinsey@wudcberlin.com. Please submit your CV in English or German, in PDF format, named as per the following example: Family Name, First Name.pdf.

Keeping in touch, you can potentially gain fast-track access to McKinsey's application process for an internship or full-time position. We encourage you take advantage of this opportunity.

Note of confidentiality: Only the Convener and the WUDC Berlin 2013 McKinsey liaison have access to stated email account. We will forward all your CVs to McKinsey for consideration after Worlds, at which point we will delete the CVs from our servers (hosted by Google)

WUDC Berlin 2013 Payment Balances

This is the full list of payment balances.

Please make sure your institution brings the cash to settle its open balance (if there is one). It is paramount that you settle any open balance you may have on December 27th/28th, i.e. before round 1. If you and your institution fail to do so, your teams will not be able to compete until the balance is settled.

If you find your entry not to be up to date, please discuss this issues with us in Berlin.

Language - check your status and debate the criteria

1)
The WUDC Berlin 2013 Language Review Committee has looked at the data provided by each participant requesting ESL or EFL status. Please find the preliminary status decisions for all speakers here.

The status granted is either EFL or ESL or EPL or Interview. In case of the latter, we have some questions for you regarding the answers you have given (or have not given yet). The colour coding indicates whether you got the status you requested (green), are asked for an interview (orange) or we gave you a different status from what you requested (red).

Anyone who disagrees with their current status designation can appeal against the decision in Berlin. This can be done by handing in a note in writing indicating your name, institution and the ground on which you wish to appeal (and for which status). The precise procedure for handing in these notes will be made clear in Berlin. 

If your name does not appear on the list (although you have requested ESL or EFL status) or if you have any questions about your status, please email the Committee.

2)
Five years after the institution of new language criteria in Thailand, it is time to have a look at the rules and see what we think of them. Please feel free to leave your thoughts on the current criteria on the Council forum.

Register now for the Worlds Masters' Cup 2013

We proudly announce the opening of the registration for the Worlds Masters' Cup 2013 in Berlin. As always, all Worlds adjudicators are eligible to speak and everyone else very welcome to judge. The Chief Adjudicators are Bronwyn Cowell (Australia) and Philipp Stiel (Germany).

The competition has two preliminary rounds on December 28th 2012 and a Grand Final on January 2nd 2013.

Format

This year's Worlds Masters' Cup will be held in the Wartburg debating style, named after the castle where Martin Luther wrote his 95 Theses in 1517 and laid the cornerstone of the Protestant Reformation. The format was conceived by the debating societies of Jena and Erfurt. For the Masters' we will use a slightly simplified version, the most important features being:

• There are three speakers per team, two teams per debate. 
• All debates are about principles (affirm or negate), and no policies are allowed. 
• The coin decides which team opens the debate. 

Debaters at the Wartburg

You will get a briefing before the tournament but don't hesitate to have a look at the short version of the rules now.

As for the composition of teams, note that each team must consist of three (!) speakers and represent one country. However, if a speaker is not exactly from the country they represent, we are flexible in this regard. Just bring a flag. Also, there may be several teams representing the same country.

Registration 

Teams, please fill in the registration form by December 27th, 10 p.m.
If you want to judge, you are encouraged to do so and email Philipp with short details about your judging experience.

The CAs are looking forward to open the Worlds Masters' Cup 2013 on December 28th, right after breakfast at the TU.

Evaluation by Open Society Foundations

The Open Society Foundations are a great contributor to Berlin Worlds, as we announced earlier. On site they want to evaluate their project and we encourage you to talk to them and share your experience.

Please contact Maryanne Olson to set up a time to connect in Berlin, or if you prefer, please contact Subarna Mathes at to set up an appointment for a Skype call. Also please reach out to Subarna with any questions. Thank you in advance for your time and input!

(For more information, read their letter in full)

WUDC Berlin 2013 Judging Test

All adjudicators, institutional and independent, are required to take the WUDC Berlin 2013 Judging Test. The submission deadline is in ten days, on December 23rd 2012.

The results of this test will greatly affect the judges' ranking, with not submitting leading to the pretty much worst outcome. If you have questions, please email Sharms or Doug.

WUDC Berlin 2013 Code of Conduct

"Each host of each round of the Championship shall be required to draft, implement and enforce a Code of Conduct which will uphold the principle and the purpose of the Championship" (Constitution of the World Universities Debating Council, art. 32,1).

We present: the Code of Conduct for the WUDC Berlin 2013. If you are joining the tournament, please have a look to learn about the ground rules and to avoid unpleasant surprises.

We are about to complete the Equity team and are going to announce it soon.

Debate in front of millions, with DIE ZEIT!

A highbrow newspaper and supporter of German debating gives you your largest audience ever. With an estimated readership of above 2 million, DIE ZEIT is the most widely read German weekly newspaper. They want to do preliminary debates via Skype and feature them on their website. For this they are looking for two debaters of different origin to give a short statement about a topic chosen by the users.

You could be debating.

If you are participating in the WUDC Berlin 2013, have a stable Skype connection and time on Tuesday, December 11th or Wednesday, December 12th 2012, then email Berlin Worlds Press Secretary Annette Kirste by December 9th, and send her your name, age, gender, country of origin, debating experience and a picture of yourself.

We are looking forward to hearing from you!

WUDC Berlin 2013 Briefings

The Berlin Worlds Adjudication Core has put together a three-part WUDC briefing.

1. Debating
2. Adjudication (also recommended for speakers)
3. Format (for Novices)

All speakers and adjudicators are recommended to familiarize themselves with it in order to make the Worlds a qualitatively better place.

The documents can be read and downloaded here.

Berlin Worlds allocation update: 82 countries registered

The 110 recipients of the WUDC Berlin 2013 Scholarship are from 45 countries, which adds 31 countries to the championship. In total we are counting 82 countries today, which is certainly a Worlds record.



We have updated the detailed list of allocations accordingly.

Public Speaking: Kimera Chetty and Mathias Hamann to serve as CAs

Kimera Chetty (South Africa, pictured) and Mathias Hamann (Germany) have agreed to serve as Chief Adjudicators of the WUDC Berlin 2013 Public Speaking Competition. We are happy to have them on board!

Public Speaking is a competition held during Worlds, open to all speakers and adjudicators of the tournament. It has come in a variety of forms over the years and we will change it once more to give a rather trendy twist. It should be fun to compete in and to watch.

We will post details on rules and procedure in due time.

WUDC Berlin 2013 Tournament Guide

We present with excited anticipation: the Tournament Guide, which includes all the things you may want to know before your journey to Berlin.

WUDC Berlin 2013 Scholarship notifications

Dear WUDC Berlin 2013 Scholarship applicants,

Our scholarship team has emailed all successful applicants by now. That means: if you have not heard anything from us, we will—unfortunately—not be able to give you one of the 110 scholarships.

The team has intensely reviewed each of the 600 applications and composed a regionally divers and gender-balanced group of recipients.

Regardless of the outcome for you, we thank you for your application and wish you and your debate community all the best.

We have to know you in order to host you!

If you are joining Berlin Worlds, and if you are, say, a vegetarian ESL speaker who cares about their roommate choice, and if you have not yet told FastRego all that, something went wrong.

The deadline for the submission of participant data was October 21st, as we have posted repeatedly and say on our website. However, too many of you have not yet submitted anything.

Or, to say this even more seriously:
IF NO DATA ARE SUBMITTED BY YOU OR ON YOUR BEHALF, WE WILL NOT KNOW YOU UPON YOUR ARRIVAL IN BERLIN.

Informally, the data will be exported by Participant Affairs only on Tuesday. Please move quickly if you may be affected and talk to your institution representative NOW.

Masters' Cup: Philipp Stiel and Bronwyn Cowell to serve as CAs

Philipp Stiel (Germany) and Bronwyn Cowell (Australia) have agreed to serve as Chief Adjudicators of the WUDC Berlin 2013 Masters' Cup. We are happy to have them on board!



Masters' is a debate competition held during Worlds featuring national teams composed of Worlds adjudicators. This time round teams will consist of three speakers each as the format of the competition is based on Wartburg, which we mentioned earlier.

We will post details on rules and procedure in due time. In the meantime you may start thinking about forming a team for your country.

WUDC Berlin 2013 Scholarship notifications

We are glad to be able to announce that the first positive WUDC Berlin 2013 Scholarship notifications went out today. The process in which we email everyone who has applied will take about ten days.

If you have applied, please wait for your notification. You will definitely hear from us. Once we have sent out all notifications to all applicants, we will post a note about it.

Essential reminders

Three very important points.

1. Open balances: Lots of institutions will have to pay a small open balance in cash upon arrival in Berlin. It is paramount that you settle any open balance you may have on December 27th/28th, i.e. before round 1. If you or your institution fail to do so, your teams will not be able to compete until the balance is settled. We will post and send you the up-to-date balance overview at the end of next week. Note that the one from FastRego is out-dated.

2. Visa: Please get informed about visa regulations asap! If you need a visa, also have a look at the information about "Schengen". It may turn out to be easier for you to get a Schengen visa from a non-German embassy. Then: If you need any paperwork from us, contact us quickly! We understand how important it is for you to receive the right documents but if you contact us last minute, we cannot guarantee for anything.

3. Independent adjudicators: You should have received an email about your online boarding process. If you have not, please contact Head of Registrations Teresa Widlok.

Berlin Worlds independent adjudicators

These are the sixty people chosen and confirmed by the A Core to serve as independent adjudicators at Berlin Worlds.

Alex Worsnip, Amit Golder, Anat Shapira, Andrew Ford, Andrew Tuffin, Anne Valkering, Ben Woolgar, Brett Frazer, Bronwyn Cowell, Buzz Klinger, Colin Etnire, Daniel Warents, Danique Van Koppenhagen, David Stephens, Dino De Leon, Ely Zosa, Eoin Kilkenny, Ewan MacDonald-Russell, Filip Dobranić, Fred Cowell, Gavin Illsley, Harish Natarajan, Jack Watson, James Dixon, John Sadek, Jordan Anderson, Joseph Ware, Kate Falkenstein, Kimera Chetty, Kiran Iyer, Kirsty MacDonald-Russell, Leela Koenig, Loke Wing Fatt, Mary Nugent, Michael Baer, Michael Shapira, Monique Hardinge, Nate Blevins (TBC), Nick Derrington, Nina Ubaldi, Nishita Vasan, Omer Nevo, Philip Belesky, Philip Williams, Pranay Bhatia, Richard Lau, Romeo Maione, Rosie Unwin, Ruth Faller, Sam Block, Sam Natale, Sean Stefanik, Sella Nevo, Shengwu Li, Simone Van Elk, Thoriso M-Afrika, Tom Jackson, Tomas Beerthuis, Will Jones, Zheng Bo.

Additions from December 4th: Dominic Guinane, Jacqueline Yates, Jonathan Leader Maynard, Milan Vignjevic, Nupur Upadhyay, Paul Gross (TBC), Tarit Mukherjee.

Reminder for registration deadline on Sunday

Reminder: Please note that phase 4 of our institutional registration procedure ends on Sunday, or in 53 hours.

We cannot guarantee that participant data submitted after deadline will be taken into account. Those include roommate preferences, language status, dietary requirements and excursion options.

For details see previous post.

WUDC Berlin 2013 Scholarship update

To all WUDC Berlin 2013 Scholarship applicants:

We are receiving your messages asking for updates and we would love to move forward rather today than tomorrow. We are sorry the waiting period turns out to be way longer than expected.

The first reason for the delay is a positive one: some 600 persons have submitted formally correct applications, which are many more than anticipated. We are happy that our efforts find this kind of appreciation, although it took us a long time to evaluate each of them with the appropriate attentiveness. Secondly, the allocation of funds is a complex business. Despite, and because of, the generous grant from the Open Society Foundations we are obliged to move prudently for the sake of this important programme. We are determined to find the best possible solution for this and all ensuing technicalities.

And no, we cannot set a date yet. We understand your situation and proceed as fast as possible. As we said earlier: If you have applied, you will definitely get a response. When this process is completed, we will post a note about it.

The WUDC host community: VDCH Land

The Berlin Debating Union may be the host society of the WUDC Berlin 2013 but as the organizing team has grown since its beginning in 2010, it has also spread far beyond Berlin. Today most Berlin Worlds organizers are, in fact, from other cities. This world championship has become a project occupying people all over Germany, and beyond.

This is working so well because the debating societies of the German-speaking area form a unified, well-organized debate circuit, often referred to as "VDCH Land". The VDCH is the umbrella association for more than 70 clubs in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. VDCH Land has a common, German-language tournament series (called ZEIT DEBATTEN, after the main sponsor) and debate league (Freie Debattierliga). Also, there are a common “national”/language-area championship and regional championships, run by the VDCH and organized by its member societies. These institutions, comprising about 15 tournaments each year, keep VDCH Land together and make it a strong community.

World Debate Forum Berlin 2013

The World Debate Forum (WDF) is taking place in Berlin for the third time right after a Worlds, bringing together different groups of debate enthusiasts. Debaters, professors, development workers and others give TED-like talks and discuss them with the audience.

January 4th is departure day at Worlds, plenty of time to transfer to the WDF hotel and meet the other participants. The event itself is held on January 5th and 6th. Logan of Malaysia is once more the organizer of the Forum, we from Berlin Worlds are hosting it.

All the details can be found on the WDF website.
The registration has opened!

Things happening at the moment

As Berlin Worlds are approaching, the number of things going on is increasing. For your overview:

Registration: More than 1,000 people in 51 countries are entering crucial participant details into our registration system. The deadline for this is October 21st. More people from further countries will follow suit once we have final lists of independent adjudicators and scholarship recipients.

Scholarship: Although the selection process for our scholarship programme has been completed, we need some more time to fine-tune the allocation of funds. We don't want to tell anyone they have been accepted without being able to provide any financial details. This is a fairly complicated and time-consuming process and we have to ask for some more patience.

Independent adjudicators: Just a few names are still to be confirmed. Once we have a final list, we will post it.

Masters' Cup: Berlin Worlds Convener Patrick Ehmann has won the German Masters' Cup last weekend. As for our Worlds Masters' Cup, we are about to appoint/confirm two CAs. Feel free to to start forming a national team representing your country.

Public Speaking: We are seeking two CAs here as well and have confirmed one so far. We will announce them together as soon as we have them both on board.

Language: Tasneem Elias completes the leadership of the Language Review Committee. Michael Saliba and Anne Valkering are the other two heads of this body, as we announced earlier.

Equity: We are about to appoint Equity Officers. Before the tournament they will play a key role in drafting the WUDC Berlin 2013 Code of Conduct (CoC). The CoC implements certain standards and procedures (besides those of the Germany law) that are "binding upon all participants" (WUDC Constitution Art. 32,5).

Updated list of allocations

This is the updated list of allocations. 30 teams will be added by the WUDC Berlin 2013 Scholarship. 19 slots are currently being processed. Most of these 19 have been offered to institutions on the waiting list yesterday.

If the emails you receive from Registrations say something else, you are kindly requested to believe them.

Last registration phase is opening

We have begun to confirm institutions to the last registration phase on FastRego yesterday. Please check with your institution representative to make sure your details get in there by October 21st 2012. All data provided after the deadline cannot be taken into account and we will not be able to accommodate your wishes and needs.

Dietary Requirements
Note that your decision is final. The option chosen by you here will be the only one available to you at Worlds.

Roommates
If you want a say in whom you will be sharing a room with, let us know your top three preferences and we will do our best.

Excursions
Choose from our excursion page. You will be able to book an excursion on site in Berlin as well, but your choice will be very much limited.

Language Status
Have a look at the previous post about language. It is very important that you indicate your language status so our Language Review Committee can take it into account.

Arrival
If you let us know when and where you arrive in Berlin, we will be able to plan welcome and transfer better.

Updates on general registration and scholarship

These are partially crucial security updates on the WUDC Berlin 2013 Scholarship and the general Berlin Worlds registration.

Registration

The full-payment deadline was last week. Participant Affairs has been busy sorting things out ever since. In the upcoming two weeks we will do three things: 

First, we will confirm all institutions that have made their payment on time in FastRego, our online registration system. This kicks off the last registration phase. We kindly ask you to fill in the participants' details into FastRego by October 21st 2012. If you don't do that we will not know and cannot take into account your dietary requirements, your roommate preference, the excursion you would like to book, your language status and many more important things.

Second, we will change your balances in FastRego to reflect the actual amount of money that has arrived on our bank account. Unfortunately a large number of you have not included transaction fees in their payment and will have to pay that open balance upon arrival here in Berlin in cash. Note that all speakers of institutions that have not paid their respective open balance by the end of December 28th, will not be able to compete on December 29th. Your institution representative will receive an automatic message from FastRego once we have updated that.

Third, we may be able to grant slots to the institutions on the waiting list. But we will only know after we have sorted out the payments. Please stay tuned if your institution is on the waiting list. Participant Affairs appreciates your patience and thanks you!

Scholarship

The application period for the WUDC Berlin 2013 Scholarship ended last night and programme coordinator John Eltringham reports the receipt of hundreds of emails, apparently containing more than 700 applications. We are happy that our efforts find this kind of appreciation.

Please be patient with us as the programme officers are working their way through the mountain of mail. They are concerned with evaluating each application with the appropriate attentiveness, which will take them a while. If you have applied, you will definitely get a response. When this process is completed, we will post a note about it. We kindly ask you to wait with questions regarding your application until then.

Entering the last registration phase, we are getting excited to welcome you all so very soon to beautiful Berlin!

Last call for the WUDC Berlin 2013 Scholarship

[application closed]

Registration update MMXIII

Before we suspend institutions that may not have paid up properly, we give our best to sort things out.

We have difficulties with the payment of some institutions and have received payments that we cannot safely assign to any institutions.

If you are from one of these institutions, please help us make sure your representative has received our email. Yes, there is the risk you lose your slots if we don't get a reply.

- Cape Peninsula University of Technology - Griffith University - Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Multimedia University Melaka - Maastricht University - Roosevelt Academy - University of Canterbury - Nanyang Technological University - Aberystwyth University - Islamic University of Technology - University of Western Australia - RRIS - University of the Witwatersrand - UCC Law - UCC Phil - Debate Club of University of Mostar - Open Communication / University of Belgrade - Singapore Management University (SMU) - De La Salle University - Ghulam Ishaq Khan Intitute of Engineering Sciences and Technology (GIKI)

Secondly, please email Head of Participant Affairs Dessislava Kirova if you can tell us where the following payments came from.
- 600€ by Mr/Ms Patel from India on June 19th 2012 - 400€ by Mr/Ms Tian from China on August 28th 2012 - 400€ by Mr Hersh and Ms Klein from the USA on June 12th 2012

Making informed choices: Excursions and Language

Here are two things you should know about in order to make wise choices on FastRego when entering your participant data.

As excursions concern everyone, let's start with them: On our brand new excursion page we present to you the choices you have. Consult with your friends, make your choice, and enter the number of your choice into FastRego. If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch with Filip Bubenheimer.

---

The other thing is about language categories, which concerns only speakers but is arguably of greater importance than excursions.

As usual, WUDC speakers compete after nine preliminary rounds in three different categories of out-rounds. The definitions for these categories are based on exposure to English, which has been chosen as an indication of the barrier you have experienced learning English. You can be classified as an EFL, ESL or EPL speaker.

• EFL stands for English as a Foreign Language and represents the lowest level of exposure to English. 
• ESL stands for English as a Second Language and provides an in-between category to all speakers who have had some exposure to English. 
• Speakers will be classified as EPL, English as a Proficient Language, if they have spent a considerable amount of time in English language environments or if they are native speakers of English.

The full definitions are in Article 22 and 31 of the WUDC Constitution.

As for the procedure, you can indicate that you would like to get ESL or EFL status on FastRego. You need to do so to make sure they can be processed in time. Please answer the questions to the fullest extent possible. The Language Review Committee, which you have read about in Article 22, will use your answers to establish your language status. If the Committee deems the information you provided insufficient or has further questions, they will try to contact you before the tournament to request more information. If this is not possible, they will request you do an interview on site in Berlin. We will communicate our status decision to you and allow you to appeal, also on site in Berlin.

So, who, you may wonder, are these wonderful people who help us administering this process? Two out of three Heads of the Committee have already been appointed. They are Anne Valkering (Netherlands) and Michael Saliba (Germany).

Further Language Review Officers will join them to form a body as representative as possible of the whole of debaterworld.

If you have any language-related questions, email the Committee.

Almost there: the last registration phase

As the window for full payments closes in seven hours, here is what happens next: The institution representatives will receive conformations of payment by email. Note that your payment may turn out to be incomplete once it has arrived and we have sorted everything out (due to banking fees). In such a case we will get back to you asap.

The confirmation emails also open the last registration phase: the provision of participants' details, for which you have until October 21st 2012. We will post important details for this (language-status definitions, excursion options, etc.) here very soon.

If you have any questions, please direct them to Participant Affairs.

Save the date: Worlds Public Speaking and Worlds Masters'

We are currently in the process of recruiting Chief Adjudicators for the Public Speaking competition as well as the Masters' Cup at Berlin Worlds. As soon as we are done with that, we will give you some more details. However, we would like everybody to be aware of these two interesting side-events as soon as possible.

Public Speaking is open to all participants of our Worlds, speakers and adjudicators. It has come in a variety of forms over the years and we will change it once more to give a rather trendy twist. It should be fun to compete in or to watch.

The Masters' Cup is a debate competition for the adjudicators of Worlds. They shall, as the WUDC Constitution prescribes it, compete in "teams representing their country of origin". The format in Berlin will be a simplified version of Wartburg, a German specialty requiring countries to draft three speakers for their national teams and determining the opening side by lot at the beginning of each debate.

Incidentally, this is where things are getting interesting: Wartburg is not the format but the location of the German Masters' competition. The Wartburg is a UNESCO World Heritage castle, overlooking the town of Eisenach in the state of Thuringia. In that town and with a final on that castle, the German association of debate alumni DDG holds its annual Masters' Cup. Our photo shows Berlin Worlds Tab Master Jens Fischer speaking there.

For the time being, Communications Director Manuel Adams is the one to be addressed with any issues regarding the two side-events.

Note: Slot allocation included in Worlds scholarship

Dear Debaters,

We have received a number of inquires regarding the WUDC Berlin 2013 Scholarship. To clarify: The programme was especially designed for debaters and adjudicators who have not registered for the WUDC Berlin 2013 or were unable to make their down payment. All scholarship recipients will automatically be granted a spot as adjudicator or speaker at the tournament.

Best,
WUDC Berlin 2013 Scholarship Team.

Berlin Worlds registration update X

Registration fee reminder: Institutions have until September 4th 2012 to pay the remaining balance. Failure to settle the full payment will result in teams, institutions and/or judges losing their slots. Institutions on the waiting list will be notified by September 6th as to whether they have been allocated slots. These institutions will have until September 13th to provide their full payment. Any fees paid during this period will not be refunded.

As for the payment procedure, the same rules as for the down payment apply: You are responsible for covering the costs of the transfer. Make sure to tell your bank that you will be paying any fees associated with the transfer or the conversion of currencies. After you have completed the transaction please make a screenshot or scan the payment confirmation and upload it onto the FastRego System by September 4th.

 We will, once again, be very strict in enforcing the deadline!

If you have any questions, please email Participant Affairs.

Application open for WUDC Berlin 2013 Scholarship

We are proud to announce the WUDC Berlin 2013 Scholarship, a comprehensive, need-based programme for speakers as well as adjudicators supported by a grant from the Open Society Foundations, aiming at the enhancement of inclusiveness at the WUDC Berlin 2013 and the promotion of debating in less developed debating communities.

As stated in our Bid Report submitted to the WUDC Council, we reserved team and adjudicator slots for traditionally underrepresented groups. 30 teams and 50 adjudicators will be granted free access to Berlin Worlds. Applicants will be selected on the basis of financial need, their ability to bring diversity to the WUDC Berlin 2013, their potential for personal growth and their desire to use their experience to help effect positive change in their local communities.

To learn more about the Scholarship and the application process, please read the programme description.

The deadline for applications is the end of September 14th 2012 (Berlin time).

What would you like to see/do?

Berlin Worlds will be about going out. To get the best WUDC experience, you should consider our tournament one that takes place in city, not at a university.

So, what would you like to see and do? Participant Affairs is about to make plans for outings on January 1st but would like to consult with you before doing so. If you have something in particular in mind (like German art of the 19th century) or if you just want to let us know that the ideal excursion would be by bike (despite the potential snow) or if you require advice in planning your own thing (so you can sleep a little longer after break night), please get in touch.

You can comment below, or on Facebook or Google+, or email Filip Bubenheimer. We are looking forward to your input.

[Update: the list of excursions is now available on our website]

Berlin Worlds registration update IX

Participant Affairs has updated the Berlin Worlds waiting list according to the original list of allocations from April 12th and the entries made by institution representatives on our online registration platform. It reflects the current situation, which is after institutions have either made a non-refundable down payment of 50% of the registration fee or handed down their slots to institutions on the waiting list that then did make the down payment. That means that further significant movement on the waiting list is unlikely.

The updated list can be viewed here.

The first team on the waiting list was on waiting position 160 of the original list of allocations from April 12th.

Berlin Worlds registration update VIII

Participant Affairs is letting you know that invoice requests are surprisingly difficult to deal with and take a little longer thank expected as we need to make them out in accordance with Germany's legendary tax code. Our legal team is on the case.

By the way: an updated waiting list is coming up shortly...

Berlin Worlds newspaper is seeking writing staff

This is an opportunity for everyone joining Berlin Worlds to do something interesting in their spare time. If you are, for instance, an observer who would like to write down some of their observations on real paper, our printed daily, a major Worlds tournament newspaper, will give you the chance to do so.

Interested? Get in touch with Press Secretary Annette Kirste soon.

Berlin Worlds Observer Policy

The representatives of the registered institutions have been informed by email about the technicalities of the registration process for observers. The deadline for registrations is August 4th, the deadline for full payment September 4th. If your representative has not received the message or if you are interested but not part of a registered institution, please get in touch with Participant Affairs.

Observers are able to fully take part in Berlin Worlds but will not be speaking or judging in the tournament. That means they get accommodation for the duration of the tournament (December 27th to January 4th), though probably not at the Hotel Berlin, Berlin due to limited capacity; they also get three meals a day; they may participate in all socials and, of course, observe all preliminary and break rounds. To cover all costs the observer fee is 850 EUR per person.

Eligible are all persons who are at least 18 years old and able to enjoy an exciting 9-day tournament among more than a thousand students from all over the world. You do not have to be a student or a supervisor at any registered institution, not even a debater.

[Update, Sep 24th: Registration may still be possible. Please email Head of Registrations Teresa Widlok if you are interested.]

[Update, Oct 27: The registration for observers is now closed]

Berlin Worlds registration update VII

Your institution representative has received the following email from Participant Affairs:

Dear institution reps, 

We are currently in the process of sorting out payments and calculating the amount of teams and adjudicators that will be allocated to institutions on the waiting list.

For institutions that have paid:

We will be confirming payment in the FastRego System by Friday. If you have paid but do not receive an automatic email from FastRego by Friday midnight Berlin time, please contact us immediately. If you do not receive an email by then, we have not received your proof of payment. Institutions that have not been granted a rare exception and from whom we have not received proof of payment will be cut and their team and adjudicator spots allocated to institutions on the waiting list.

For institutions on the waiting list:

We will begin granting free team and adjudicator spots to institutions on Saturday according to the published order of registration. We can only grant team and adjudicator spots to institutions that have created an account with FastRego. If there are any institutions seeking team spots who have not registered with FastRego, these institutions should do so immediately. To do this please click on “Sign up”, enter your personal data and manually add your institution to the institution register (there is a link at the bottom of the institution list!).

Institutions not registered with FastRego by Saturday will forfeit their place on the list of allocations.

Institutions allocated spots in this phase of registration are expected to make the down payment and upload their screenshot of the proof of payment by June 2nd 2012. Bank data can be found in a previous post. Special requests or concerns should be addressed in a timely manner to info@wudcberlin.com.

Best,

John and Dessislava

Berlin Worlds registration update VI

Do not forget to pay! 
The deadline for down payments is next Tuesday, May 22nd. Make sure your institution representative has uploaded the required screenshot by then onto FastRego. Otherwise you lose your ticket to Berlin.

Expect further slots! 
Judging by the number of institutions that have signed up on FastRego, it looks like we will be able to allocate further team slots to quite a few institutions on Wednesday, May 23rd. So, please, stay tuned, make sure someone check the mailbox of your contact address and be ready to make a second down payment within a week.

Observe the observer policy! 
Our observer policy will be published after the down-payments phase. Those of you who are required to have an observer accompanying you will be granted at least one observer slot. Most likely we will be able to accommodate all prospective observers.

Travel note: Berlin airports

Some of you may be thinking about taking an airplane to Berlin. And so, some of you may be wondering how many airports we have, how many of them are in operation, and which ones those are. Valid questions.

We were supposed to get the new "Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt" (BER) by 2011, then June 2012, and now, according to latest statements, March 2013. That means BER will not be a WUDC airport after all.

Tegel (TXL) and Schönefeld (SXF), the two international airports currently in operation, will therefore stay open a little longer than planned before they get replaced by BER on SXF grounds eventually. They are both marked on our Berlin debate map.

One Berlin newspaper considers Tegel, the airport of the old West Berlin, a dump, which may not make it another year, but it's actually a nice one, comfortably close to the centre of the city. Schönefeld, the airport of the old East, is located in Brandenburg, directly at the southern border of Berlin. The merger of the two airports has been described as a last piece in the puzzle that is the German reunification.

[Update from October 2012: the BER opening is now scheduled for October 2013. The planning as a whole is on track to become a legendary scandal.]

Berlin Worlds registration update V

Dear WUDC institution representatives,

We are in the process of granting teams in the FastRego System. The system should automatically generate an email indicating the number of teams and adjudicators for which you must make a down payment.  The down payment deadline is May 22nd .

If you have not created your account yet, please do so as soon as possible. We will only be accepting scans and or screenshots uploaded through the FastRego System as proof of payment. Institutions that have been allocated slots and do not upload a proof of payment of 50% of their total balance by May 22nd will lose these slots.

Down payments are, unfortunately, non-refundable. Please ensure that you will be able to make future payments in order not to lose your down payment.

If you are on the waiting list and have not yet been allocated a team, please do not pay anything until you receive notice of allocation from us. Do, however, set up an account in the FastRego System, as all notices of allocation will be made through it.

Our payment system works as follows:

1. Check your FastRego account. We have granted teams and judges according to the published criteria. In your account you will see the total balance due for all judges and speakers/teams (400 EUR per participant).

2. Please transfer 50% of the total balance to the following account. You may also transfer the total amount.

WUDC World Univ. Debating Championship Bln 2013 UG

IBAN: DE91 1004 0000 0598 8399 00

BIC: COBADEFFXXX

Account No.: 598839900

Bank Code: 10040000
Bank: Commerzbank

Bank's address: Berlin-Geschaeftskundencenter // Friedrichstr. 62 // 10117 Berlin // Germany
Recipient's address: Bornemannstr. 6 // 13357 Berlin // Germany

Important: You are responsible for covering the costs of the transfer. Make sure to tell your bank that you will be paying any fees associated with the transfer or the conversion of currencies.

3. After you have completed the transaction please make a screenshot or scan the payment confirmation and upload it onto the FastRego System. Input your account number and the date of transaction so that we can find the transfer in our records.

Important: Make sure to process the payment on time! The down payment deadline is May 22nd. If we have not received the screenshot by May 22nd, you will lose your slots.

We will be very strict in enforcing the deadlines!

Kind Regards,
Dessislava & John
(Participant Affairs)

Berlin Worlds registration update IV

Important: Please make sure your institution representative is aware of this!

Dear All,

we have started processing the data in the FastRego System. Institution representatives should please check their FastRego account as the number of teams and judges granted will be shown there. You can also find the total amount of euros you have to pay there. The down payment of 50% of that total amount is due by May 22nd. You will receive the bank account details in the next days. You can only complete phase 2 of the registration and make the down payment if you are in FastRego! Not signing up will eventually result in your institution losing its slots! 

Kind regards,
Dessislava&John
(info@wudcberlin.com)

Berlin IV 2012 registration opened

The regular number of tournaments hosted by the Berlin Debating Union each year is three. We have a large beginners-oriented tournament as part of the German-language Free Debate League, a fine Invitational, and this:


The Berlin IV 2012 will take place from June 29th to July 1st. Those of you whom we had the pleasure to host in previous years may recall a deep adjudication pool and hot socials. Once again we plan to invest every cent we can raise in the quality of the tournament.

This year, our Berlin Worlds DCA Isa Fischer will be part of the Adjudication Core together with Harish Natarajan, the man who brings you the WUDC 2014 in India.

The registration has opened. It is not filling up at Worlds pace but still fairly quickly. Please find the registration form and further information on the BDU blog.

(>>photos from 2011)

Call for Berlin Worlds independent adjudicators

The application period for independent adjudicators has begun. Our Chief and Deputy Chief Adjudicators are seeking together with our Convener 60 excellent judges from across the world. Anyone regardless of age, student status or number of previously attended Worlds is eligible to apply and to tell their friends about this.

The deadline for applications is June 25th 2012. If you have any questions regarding the process, please do get in touch directly with our Chief Adjudicators Sharmila and Douglas.

Berlin Worlds registration update III

Phase 2 of the institutional registration process has begun. As contact person named in the registration, you should have received an email with detailed information regarding payment and adjudicator registration. Please note that you are required to open your FastRego account by May 2nd.

If you think you should have received that email but did not, please check your spam folder. If we have not reached your institution, please email our Participant Affairs Officers Dessislava and John.

As for independent adjudicators, the questionnaire you will be asked to fill in is being finalized. We should be able to start the application period within the next couple of days. It will last until June 25th.

Berlin Worlds registration update II

This is a message from our Participant Affairs Officers:

Dear All,

thanks for your patience so far! We are still working on some important details regarding the next registration phase. Please stay tuned! We will get to you with details regarding the beginning of the payment process at the beginning of next week.

Best from Berlin,
John&Dessislava

Berlin Worlds list of allocations

We have now allocated 380 team slots to 380 institutions. During the next days we are going to post further information concerning payment and adjudicators.

Traditionally, institutions move up very quickly on Worlds waiting lists. Particularly after the first payment deadline on May 22nd we expect to see a lot of movement.

If you have any questions, please email our Participant Affairs Officers John and Dessislava.

Berlin Worlds registration update

Phase 1 of the registration process ended about three hours ago. We are now turning the registration data into a reliable final registration result. This will take us a few days. As contact person named in the registration, you will be notified by email about the number of slots your institution has been allocated. Of course, full results will also be posted on this blog.

Since all institutions registered within the first three days get a first team slot before second and third team slots are allocated, the number of institutions of which we need a correct list is much bigger than usual. However, we expect to be able to resolve the remaining issues very soon and hope you can start planning your journey in the upcoming week.

We thank you for the valuable feedback on the list of registrations you have given us so far. What would we do without you?

Berlin Worlds list of registrations (clean)

We are publishing this clean list of registrations of the first three days to ask you for feedback on it. Please contact Participant Affairs Officer Dessislava if you find any flaws, particularly institution doubles or accidentally deleted registrations.

Please note: this list does not represent an allocation of slots.The final result will be up shortly after registration has closed on April 7th and all feedback has been processed.

Berlin Worlds list of registrations

We are publishing this raw list of registrations (up to about 11 p.m.) so that institutions can see when their data was received and make sure their information is correct.

As contact person named in the registration, you should have received an email from our Participant Affairs Officers John and Dessislava with a modified version of this list. If you think you should have received that email but did not, please check your spam folder. If we seem to have received an incorrect email address, please contact Dessislava.

Please note: this list does not represent an allocation of slots. Due to doubles and rules regarding country representation, for instance, it is not guaranteed that the first x teams registered will be on the final list. The final result will be up shortly after registration closes on April 7th.

Berlin Worlds registration

The registration form was accessible embedded in this post during phase 1 of the registration process from March 31st to April 7th 2012. For details on the registration process, please visit our website.

Berlin Worlds registration opens in 60 minutes

Phase 1 of the registration process for the WUDC Berlin 2013 starts at 3 p.m. Berlin time (GMT+2), which is in exactly 60 minutes. It ends seven days later.

Please fill in the form (see preview in previous post) and submit. If successful, Google will let you know that your response has been recorded.

Just like this post, the upcoming post including the registration form is scheduled by this weblog provider.

For the time being, here is a video from De La Salle Worlds 2012 to get you into WUDC mood:

Berlin Worlds registration form preview

This is a screenshot of the registration form to be posted on March 31st 2012 at 3 p.m. Berlin time (GMT+2) on this blog. The form ist hosted by Google. If you know that you have trouble accessing Google forms, please contact us.

What does "n" mean?
Each institution may register between one and three teams. Each institution must bring and is guaranteed at least n-1 adjudicators. Teams may also choose to register as many adjudicators as teams (n). By registering three teams and n adjudicators you are registering three adjudicators; by registering two teams and n adjudicators you are registering two adjudicators, etc. While we cannot guarantee more than n-1 spots for institutional adjudicators, we think it is probable that institutions who wish to bring more than n-1 adjudicators will be able to do so. If you wish to register more than n adjudicators, please contact us.

When will the results be up?
We will issue a preliminary confirmation of the reception of registration data on the evening of March 31st. Results of the allocation of teams will be made public after 3 p.m. on April 3rd and updated continuously until the close of registration at 3 p.m. on April 7th. Final results of the allocation of teams and institutional adjudicators will be made public after the close of registration.

Contact

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email Participant Affairs Officer Dessislava Kirova.

Berlin Worlds registration opens in 601,200 seconds

Phase 1 of the registration process for the WUDC Berlin 2013 starts on March 31st 2012 at 3 p.m. Berlin time (GMT+2), which is in exactly seven days minus one hour due to the beginning of daylight saving time tomorrow, on this blog.

Please familiarize yourself with the WUDC eligibility requirements (see previous post) before you register. You may find detailed information about the mode of slot allocation on our website.

During the next days we are going to post a preview of the registration form on this blog.

The registration for independent adjudicators opens after phase 2 of the institutional registration process. A call for applications will be up in due time.

For the time being...

WUDC Eligibility

We have received a lot of questions concerning eligibility of institutions and speakers. Therefore we prepared this comprehensive overview and had it checked by the Chair of the WUDC Committee.

You can participate in the World Universities Debating Championships no more than four times as a speaker. To speak at Worlds you must be enrolled as a student and must be attending classes or pursuing research in the university you represent – or have been such on the last day of term preceding the competition. If you are attending multiple educational institutions, you must represent the one at which you pursue at least half your courses. You must be affiliated with the same institution as your teammate and present documented evidence of your student status. Also, you are not allowed to register and participate if you owe money to any previous host without their agreement.

The institution at which you are enrolled must be a post-secondary education institution (usually a university) recognized and accredited by your nation’s educational authority. Your eligibility to compete must be recognized by that institution’s debating society.

Regarding institutions and societies, there are some traditional exceptions, particularly in Ireland and the UK where some institutions traditionally have been represented by more than one debating society – or the other way around. Aside from these exceptions – collectively referred to as the “grandfathered institutions” – only one debating society may represent each institution.

Should questions of eligibility arise, the Constitution of the World Universities Debating Council directs the tournament organizers to consult the representative national debating body of the appropriate country. If you feel that your particular case is not clarified by these rules, please approach Chair of the WUDC Committee Steve Johnson (steve.johnson.alaska(at)gmail.com) before you register. Down and full payment are non-refundable.

Information regarding Berlin Worlds registration

Here are a few minor changes and additions to the Berlin Worlds registration information. They have been incorporated on our website.

Independent judges: The registration for independent judges opens after phase 2 of the institutional registration process and not – as originally planned – in phase 1. As always, anyone may apply to become an independent judge. Our Adjudication Core will identify the most qualified applicants and ensure inclusiveness but we will also have a look at the funding applicants require. So, please, try to secure funding before you apply. A call for applications will be up in due time.

n-1 becomes >n-2: In phase 1 you may register as many adjudicators as you wish but at least n-1. That means you are not required but allowed to register judges if you register only one team. From the second team on you need to register at least one judge for each team. We guarantee you get the number of judge slots required under n-1 and we will allocate further slots up to our cap of 240 institutional judges.

 Soon on this blog: all the rules concerning eligibility of speakers and institutions.

Formal Invitation to Berlin Worlds

(Download letter in PDF)


Dear debaters and adjudicators of the world,

The Berlin Debating Union cordially invites you to be part of the
33rd World Universities Debating Championship, held from
December 27th 2012 to January 4th 2013 in Berlin, Germany.

The registration process opens on March 31st 2012; 400 teams á
two speakers as well as 300 adjudicators will be admitted.

Each speaker and adjudicator will be requested to pay a registration
fee of 400.00 EUR and to cover their costs of travel.

To find out more about locations, schedule, registration, payment
etc., visit www.wudcberlin.com.

We are looking forward to welcome you in Berlin.