The history behind the GRUR Young Scientists conference

On 17 and 18 July 2015, on the initiative of the then postdoctoral researchers Dr Franz Hofmann (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, now holder of the Chair of Civil Law, Intellectual Property Law and Technology Law at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen) and Dr Benjamin Raue (Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, now holder of the Chair of Civil Law, Commercial Law, Intellectual Property Law and Digital Law at the University of Bonn) a colloquium on intellectual property law and competition law for early-career researchers was held at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich (conference report by Hofmann/Raue, GRUR 2015, 1088 ff.). What began in 2015 in a rather ‘down-to-earth’ manner (though the culinary highlight of the coffee break was, of course, a wonderful fruit platter) and without a conference proceedings volume has now become an established format for young academics with an interest in research in the ‘green sector’.

To this day, the aim of the conference is to bring together young researchers in the fields of industrial property rights, copyright, media and competition law, and related areas of law. The aim is to create a forum for networking, informal exchange and discussion of their projects. The first invitation to interested parties, dated 3 December 2014, stated: “The ‘green sector’ is characterised not only by a fruitful connection between academia and practice, but also by a correspondingly close network within academia.” The invitation was for an “informal meeting of postdoctoral researchers and interested PhD students whose research focuses on intellectual property law and competition law.” 

The first event, with a budget of €500, attracted around 30 interested participants. The two-day programme featured seven presentations. There was also a discussion session on parody in intellectual property law, with contributions from the then assistant professors Dr Anne Lauber-Rönsberg (Dresden University of Technology, now holder of the Chair of Civil Law, Intellectual Property Law – in particular copyright law – as well as Media and Data Protection Law), Dr Maximilian Becker (University of Siegen, now holder of the Chair of Civil Law, Intellectual Property Law and Media Law there) and Dr Louisa Specht (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, now holder of the Chair of Civil Law, Data Economy Law, Data Protection, Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Bonn and Federal Data Protection Commissioner).  

The conference’s informal structure has also remained unchanged since then. Every year, mid-level academic staff from Green-affiliated chairs, institutes and junior professorships come together to organise a new conference. They are often recruited from among the previous year’s speakers.

From the outset, the plan was to continue with this format. However, the series of events has since become considerably more professional. The conferences now run over two days with a correspondingly larger number of speakers; features include a call for papers, conference proceedings and a social programme to help participants get to know one another better.

Since 2017, GRUR has supported the conference as part of its efforts to promote early-career researchers, thereby fulfilling one of its key statutory purposes (see Sections 2(1); 3(1)(a), (c), (d), (g)). This support is also reflected in the change of the conference’s name to ‘GRUR Young Science’ (Call for Papers, 2016, p. 1). Through its commitment, GRUR aims to create a reliable framework to ensure the continuity of the conference and the associated network of early-career researchers, so that the vibrant founding spirit that still characterises this conference can continue to flourish.

It is with great pleasure that we note the event will be held for the eleventh time in 2026. To this day, the guiding principle remains that ‘collegial cooperation rather than competition, and personal exchange on the subject matter rather than anonymous written debates’ (Specht/Lauber-Rönsberg/Becker, Proceedings of the 1st Assistants’ Conference in the Green Sector, 2016, Foreword p. 5.) create a unique atmosphere of genuine discourse and have a lasting effect of positive collaboration across the entire green sector.

Since the first conference, all papers presented by the speakers have been published in a green conference proceedings volume as part of the ‘GRUR Junge Wissenschaft’ series by Nomos Verlag. The papers are therefore citable and remain part of the academic discourse. Since 2025, the conference proceedings have also been published as open access.

The “GRUR Young Science Conference” is a breeding ground for talent. It has produced many talented individuals who, over time, have developed into promising academics or practitioners with a strong academic interest. Quite a few of the names listed below have become established figures in their respective fields.

Bonn/Erlangen, 1 July 2026

Prof. Dr Benjamin Raue, Holder of the Chair of Civil Law, Business Law, Intellectual Property Law and Digital Law, University of Bonn
Prof. Dr Franz Hofmann, Holder of the Chair of Civil Law, Intellectual Property Law and Technology Law at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen