About the Congress

The 5th Congress of European Studies ‘Europe in Times of Transformation’ will take place on 16–18 September 2026 at the Faculty of Political Science and Journalism of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. The event is co-organized by the Centre of European Research and Education and the Polish Association of European Studies, which brings together over 500 researchers across 11 regional branches. This is one of the most important academic events gathering leading domestic and foreign researchers working on European affairs. European studies have been part of academic research and teaching in Poland for at least three decades. Their frame of reference has been the dynamic development of European integration processes, Poland’s membership in the European Union, as well as dynamic political and socio-economic transformations.

Between 2014 and 2023, congress events were held at four regional European studies centres cooperating with the PAES.

Congresses of European Studies 2014–2023

Kraków – 4th Congress of European Studies What Kind of Europe? Tensions of European Integration in an Age of Crises, Kraków, 20–22 September 2023. Organiser: Faculty of International and Political Studies, Jagiellonian University.

Wrocław – 3rd Congress of European Studies Europe of Many Speeds, 14–16 September 2020. Organiser: Department of European Studies, University of Wrocław.

Szczecin – 2nd Congress of European Studies The State in the European Union, 26–28 September 2017. Organiser: Institute of Political Science and European Studies, University of Szczecin.

Warsaw – 1st Congress of European Studies Poland in the Process of European Integration, 18–20 September 2014. Organiser: Institute of European Studies, Faculty of Journalism and Political Science, University of Warsaw.

The 2026 Congress

The Congress will serve as a platform for the exchange of opinions and views and for presenting research findings on contemporary problems of the old continent, focusing in particular on phenomena and processes affecting European security in its various dimensions. Specific aims include: examining current scholarly categories and methods useful for conducting research, including the development of a new theoretical and methodological research agenda; exploring theoretical and methodological solutions that reflect the new dynamics of the research area dedicated to European studies; analysing the historical, political, economic and cultural conditions of the situation in which Europe and the EU find themselves (including the migration crisis and the rise of extreme socio-political movements); assessing the results of EU policy in ensuring security for its citizens and member states; identifying threats to the development of Europe, and the EU in particular, originating in its external environment; and highlighting the importance of EU cooperation with its neighbourhood in order to ensure conditions for development.

This event will also be a further step towards interdisciplinary academic reflection on Poland’s place in the European integration process, and a platform for presenting research findings on the assessment of the results of Poland’s membership in European regional organisations, particularly the EU, and the impact of that membership on the country’s development.

The organisers invite researchers from various academic disciplines to participate in the 5th Congress of European Studies: political scientists, economists, lawyers, sociologists, historians, philosophers, scholars of European culture and international relations. Their common research interest should be the processes and phenomena associated with contemporary Europe, both at the international, national, regional, and local levels.

Speakers will be assigned to plenary panels and several dozen thematic panels grouped within a number of thematic sections, including: methodology of European research, reforms and decision-making processes, security policy, EU enlargement and eastern policy, differentiated integration, democratic participation and innovations, migration processes and migration management, European technological development, and climate policy and sustainable development.

The main goals of the Congress include: integrating the broadly defined academic community and practitioners engaged with European affairs, leading to interdisciplinary scholarly reflection on the processes of European integration and Poland’s place within them; debating current issues related to the European Union, its member states and its broader neighbourhood; highlighting the diverse theoretical and methodological approaches associated with European studies; drawing attention to the most significant problems and challenges facing the integration of the European continent, as well as articulating the developmental prospects of that process.

The organisers hope that the Congress will bring together a wide circle of European studies scholars from Polish and foreign academic centres, including representatives of European academic organisations, creating opportunities to build relationships that will result in joint research projects and cooperation between Polish scholarly associations and their counterparts in European countries.

The 5th Congress of European Studies will feature a rich programme of accompanying events important for the development and popularisation of European research, including: a European education forum, a roundtable of European studies journals, meetings of Jean Monnet project networks, panels presenting the most important academic publications of the last three years released on the European market. During the Congress, the PAES awards for the best monograph and doctoral dissertation published in 2024–2025 will be presented.