19th ASCOLA Conference 2024 (Würzburg)
The 19th Conference of the Academic Society for Competition Law (ASCOLA) was held in Würzburg, Germany, from 4-6 July 2024. Our local hosts at the University of Würzburg Professor Florian Bien and Dr. Björn-Christian Becker. The Call for Papers with several innovations had been published in September 2024, submissions were due by the end of January 2024. The conference website can be found here: https://www.jura.uni-wuerzburg.de/lehrstuehle/bien/ascola (including the Programme).
The conference had numerous highlights – many panel with presentations of scholarly work and good discussions. One stream was dedicated to PhD-thesis in progress that were discussed with some intensity. Another stream showcased work in progress – small ideas that had not yet been fully developed. The chosen papers had been peer-reviewed by 65 reviewers in a double blind process. The Best Junior Paper Award 2024 was won by Liang Li (China University of Political Science and Law, Beijing) for her paper “A Reconception of Power in Competition Law with Its Application in the Digital Realm”. The Conference had an enforcers panel with several top people from competition agencies, namely including Andreas Mundt (Bundeskartellamt, Germany), Benoît Coeuré (Autorité de la concurrence, France), Doris Tshepe (Competition Commission, South Africa), Ryan J. Danks (Department of Justice, USA) and Juliana Oliveira Domingues (ex-CADE, Brazil). In a Regional Chapter Heads Panel several of our regional ASCOLA leaders discussed the state of play regarding digital gatekeepers in their jurisdictions. In a final plenary session some ASCOLA members draw conclusions from what they had seen and heard over the many diverse panels. At the Conference, ASCOLA adopted Guiding Principles on Diversity, Inclusion and Social Safety at ASCOLA Events. A very special highlight was the first ever ASCOLA Concert, held in the Toskanasaal of the Würzburg Residenz with the two hosts, Florian Bien and Björn Becker, taking the lead as the excellent musicians they are. They were joined by other ASCOLA members who gave classy and rocking performances in the beautiful atmosphere. Another social event led members into an old wine cellar with a tasting of Frankonian wines. All participants were enthused by the organisational skills of the hosts and the great ideas discussed during the conference. The next ASCOLA conference will be held in Chicago, USA; upon invitation by Professor Spencer Weber Waller at Loyola University on 26-28 June 2025. Photos of ASCOLA Würzburg can be seen in the photos gallery. There is a blog report here.
18th ASCOLA Conference 2023 (Athens)
The 18th Conference of the Academic Society for Competition Law (ASCOLA) was held in Athens, Greece, from 29 June to 1 July 2023. Our local hosts were the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens with Professors Alexandra Mikroulea and Manos Mastromanolis, in cooperation with the Hellenic Competition Commission under te leadership of Professor Ioannis Lianos. The Call for Papers had been published in September 2023, submissions were due by 27 January 2023. The conference website can be found here: https://ascola2023uoa.epant.gr/. The highlight of the conference were of course the numerous panels with presentations of scholarly work – the papers had been chosen in a peer review process. The Best Junior Paper Award 2023 was won by Elias Deutscher (University of East Anglia) & Stavros Makris (University of Glasgow) for their paper “Merger Control and Sustainability”. The keynote speech was given by Professor Herbert Hovenkamp (University of Pennsylvania) who is said to be the most cited antitrust professor in the world. He spoke on “Markets and Gatekeepers”. In the “Economist Debate”, Olivier Guersent (Director General for Competition, EU), Tomasso Valletti (Imperial College London, former Chief Economist of EU DG Competition) and Chrysovalantou Milliou (Hellenic Competition Commission) discussed economic challenges for competition. In a TED Talk Session, hosted by Rupprecht Podszun (University of Düsseldorf) younger scholars presented their research in gripping 90-seconds-talks. The inspiring final session looked into the production of knowledge and the engagement of academics with enforcers and policy-makers. Social events included the 20th birthday party of ASCOLA in the Benaki Museum (with a speech given by former President Paul Nihoul), a trip to the scenic Sounion and to the Acropolis Museum. ASCOLA also held elections. After seven years in office Michal Gal (University of Haifa) stepped down as President. The Assembly thanked her with standing ovations for her excellent work over the years. Her successor is Rupprecht Podszun (University of Düsseldorf). Peter Picht (Zurich, for finances), Thomas Cheng (Hong Kong), Magali Eben (Glasgow), Giorgio Monti (Tilburg) and Wendy Ng (Melbourne) will serve as Vice Presidents. New members were also elected to the larger board of ASCOLA. The next ASCOLA conference will be held in Würzburg, Germany, upon invitation by Professor Florian Bien and Dr Björn-Christian Becker on 4-6 July 2024. Photos an be seen in the photos gallery. 
17th ASCOLA Conference 2022 (Porto)
The Academic Society for Competition Law held its 17th Annual Conference in Porto, Portugal, from 30 June 2022 to 2 July 2022. The organisation was led by Sofia Pais, professor at Católica University in Porto, and her team and the Board of ASCOLA. 100 papers, picked on a peer review basis from a much larger number of submissions, were presented in 29 panels! U.S. Judge Diane Wood gave a keynote speech, introduced by Margarida Matos Rosa, the head of the Portuguese competition agency. Extra-panels dealt with mentoring and with the question “how not to present a paper”. Francesco Ducci won the Best Junior Paper Award. More than 130 participants from around the world took part in the perfectly organised event and enjoyed the intense discussions and personal meetings after years of video conferencing. Again, ASCOLA proved to be THE place to showcase your work on competition law & policy! Conference Website: ASCOLA 2022: 17th annual conference | FD-PORTO-WEBSITE (ucp.pt) ASCOLA2022 Programme Ascola Call for Papers 2022 
16th ASCOLA Conference 2021 (online)
The 16th annual event of Ascola, #ASCOLA2021, was not held in Porto (Portugal) as had originally planned. Instead, the event was hosted virtually via Zoom from 1-3 July 2021. Please find the Conference Website with all relevant information here. The organisation of the digital event lied with the ASCOLA Executive Board Michal Gal, Rupprecht Podszun and Peter Picht (plus their respective teams). The Porto team has provided valuable support, in particular in connection with selecting papers. Due to the record number of submissions we undertook a double blind peer review process of papers. Keynote speaker of the conference was Carl Shapiro. Side events included an Economic Expert Panel on innovation with Monika Schnitzer, Richard Gilbert and Tommaso Valletti as well as a panel on “Career Challenges” and panels on how a paper is born and how to win grants. In main and annex session more than 120 papers were presented. 
15th ASCOLA Conference (online)
Annual ASCOLA (Virtual) Conference The 15th ASCOLA Conference took place as a virtual event from June 25– 27 June 2020 with around 100 talks over three days, scheduled so as to accomodate different time zones. A keynote address was given by the EU Commission’s Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager. Several special events, like book presentations, an economist panel and a panel for young scholars with tips for a successful career by distinguished professors made this Virtual Conference a memorable experience. It was organised on a virtual basis due to the 2020 pandemic when travelling was not an option. The organising team was constituted from the universities of Düsseldorf, Haifa and Zurich. For more information, videos and papers from the conference click here. A report on the ASCOLA conference was published here.
14th ASCOLA Conference (Aix-en-Provence)
Aix-en-Provence Faculty of Law The 14th ASCOLA conference took place at Aix-en-Provence on June 27– 29 June 2019. Professor David Bosco and his team had invited the ASCOLA community to Southern France where we experienced one of the hottest conferences ever. Temperatures on the outside were somewhat matched by the intense discussions inside. The general topic was “Challenges to Assumptions at the Basis of Competition Law”. Apart from this general theme, breakout sessions were held on wider competition law issues. The conference also featured an economist session, a session on teaching and a visit to a vineyard.
You may a find a report here.