[event] Competition Law Theses Awards

Co-organizer: Thibault Schrepel, Associate Professor at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (ALTI).

Description: The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is delighted to co-organize, together with ICLE, a special event dedicated to the Master Thesis Competition in Competition Law. This gathering will showcase the outstanding work of the winners and bring together distinguished members of the jury alongside leading academics in the field. It will be a unique opportunity to engage with cutting-edge research, exchange ideas, and celebrate the next generation of competition law scholars. We warmly invite all interested participants to join us on the VU campus for what promises to be an inspiring and thought-provoking afternoon.

Speakers:

• Alison Jones (King’s College London)
• Mariateresa Maggiolino (Bocconi University)
• Francisco Marcos (IE Law School)
• Frédéric Marty (Université Côte d’Azur)
• Henri Piffaut (European Commission, DG COMP)
• Thibault Schrepel (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
• Anna Tzanaki (University of Leeds)

Program:

1:00 – 1:15 PM — Welcome & Opening Remarks
Dr. Thibault Schrepel, Associate Professor of Law (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

1:15 – 2:00 PM — Award Ceremony
Presentation of the three competition law thesis awards:

• Grand Prize – Best Thesis
• Most Innovative Thesis
• Best Law & Economics Analysis

Each awardee will present their research (10 minutes each).

2:00 – 2:30 PM — Coffee Break

2:30 – 4:00 PM — Perspectives on Competition Law Research

This session focuses on the current state of research in competition law, drawing on the speakers’ own experiences through a series of 10-minute presentations followed by discussion.

Themes will include:

• How researchers find their voice and build a distinctive research agenda in competition law
• How to balance doctrinal, empirical, and theoretical approaches
• The role of quantitative methods in modern competition research
• Lessons from supervising master’s or PhD students
• How practice and case law can inform theory
• The papers that most shaped speakers’ understanding of competition law
• What economics can (and cannot) contribute to the field
• The importance of academic research for antitrust agencies
• The most influential non-competition law works in our field
• How mentorship shapes a research trajectory
• The role of failure and resilience in academic careers
• Why, and when, to publish interdisciplinary competition research

4:00 – 5:00 PM — Panel Discussion: The Future of Competition Law Scholarship

This session focuses on the future of competition law research. It will explore how technology and new institutions will shape the field in the years ahead. The panel will be boderated by Thibault Schrepel.

Themes will include:

• Should competition law scholars learn to code?
• The role of open data and transparency in tomorrow’s research
• How GenAI may transform competition law scholarship
• The evolution of academic publishing in the AI era
• What role will academic research play in shaping the future of competition law?
• The future of interdisciplinary collaboration between law, economics, and data science
• The role of human judgment in an increasingly automated research environment
• What skills and methods will define the next generation of competition law scholars

REGISTRATION OVER HERE