Call for Abstracts: Interdisciplinary Public Procurement PhD Forum 2025
On 4 April 2025, the Utrecht University Centre for Public Procurement (UUCePP) is hosting its bi-annual Interdisciplinary Public Procurement PhD Forum. The forum is a joint initiative of UUCePP with the IOS Platform ‘The Transactional State.’ PhD researchers in the field of public procurement and subjects related to the theme described below are invited to submit abstracts (until 17 January 2025, see below) to participate in the forum.
In April 2024, Emmanuel Macron stated: ‘Europe is mortal (…) We lack the capacity to effectively address the risks we face’ (in his speech on Europe at the Sorbonne University on 26 April 2024). Societal challenges such as climate change, public health, security, migration, and inequality are becoming increasingly prominent not only within the EU but across the globe. The quest for comprehensive solutions continues to evolve. Public procurement is perceived by many as a vital instrument in addressing these challenges. This is unsurprising, given its vast economic weight – constituting around 14-19% of the EU’s GDP and up to 70% in developing countries. Public procurement offers great potential to address a wide range of challenges, but it also poses risks since it can undermine core constitutional principles such as democracy, the rule of law, and fundamental rights.
Academic research on public procurement spans various areas aimed at developing solutions to societal challenges while addressing the risks of undermining fundamental rights and ensuring that the rule of law is upheld in liberal democracies. This research encompasses diverse fields, including healthcare, defense, social conditions, public spending efficiency, human rights, national security, crisis management, digitalization, innovation, sustainability, and the circular economy. These challenges require holistic solutions, but the stark division between academic disciplines often presents a considerable gap. Interdisciplinary approaches are crucial for ensuring that public procurement functions efficiently, effectively, and justly in society.
The Interdisciplinary Public Procurement Forum 2025
On 4 April 2025, the third bi-annual Interdisciplinary Public Procurement PhD Forum will be organized at Utrecht University with the topic ‘Present and future challenges in public procurement.’ The forum is meant to be an open and inclusive space for young scholars who are eagerly working in public procurement to present and discuss their research. We invite PhD candidates from various academic disciplines – e.g., law, economics, public administration, and business administration – with a research focus on public procurement to participate and submit their abstracts. We encourage the submission of abstracts that explore the opportunities public procurement presents to address contemporary social challenges. Additionally, we invite the submission of abstracts containing innovative ideas about how to shape tomorrow’s public procurement law and practices. After acceptance, participating PhDs can present their work to peers and experts from their own and other academic disciplines and benefit from an interdisciplinary setting and individual feedback while enjoying opportunities to expand their network.
We welcome you to submit your abstract on topics within the area of public procurement or closely related areas stemming from research in law, economics, business administration, public administration, and/or purchasing sciences. You are welcome to submit monodisciplinary and interdisciplinary research abstracts and papers.
Relevant deadlines
The PhD forum will take place on 4 April 2025 in Utrecht. Participation is free of charge, but Utrecht University does not cover travel costs. The following deadlines apply to secure participation:
- Deadline for abstracts (max. 250 words, excluding title): 17th of January
- Notification of abstract acceptance: 30th of January
- Deadline for full papers (between 3500-5000 words): 3rd of March
- Event: April 4, 2025, Utrecht (on-site)
Submission of abstracts
Submit your abstract via the form below:
Organizing Committee
The Public Procurement PhD Forum is organized under the auspices of UUCePP’s management team, which consists of Prof. Elisabetta Manunza (co-head), Prof. Fredo Schotanus (co-head), prof. dr. Willem Janssen and dr. Vitezslav Titl. The organizing committee consists of PhD candidates Pelle Berkhout and Niels Wittenberg. The Forum is supported by the university-wide research theme Institutions for Open Societies (IOS) and feeds into this research program. It is externally supported by the International Purchasing and Supply Education and Research Association (IPSERA). Should you have any questions, feel free to contact the organization committee by sending an email to publicprocurementforum@uu.nl.
About UUCePP, IOS, and IPSERA
The Utrecht University Centre for Public Procurement (UUCePP) is an interdisciplinary research center in the field of public procurement from both legal and economic perspectives. The Centre is a joint effort of the Utrecht University School of Law and the School of Economics of the Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance. It aims to improve the utilization, regulation, promotion, social, and sustainable use of public procurement. The UUCePP team carries out scientific and applied interdisciplinary research and provides innovative education for students as well as for a variety of market parties and (semi-) public institutions.
Institutions for Open Societies (IOS) is one of the four strategic themes of Utrecht University. A new platform within this strategic theme aims to study The Transactional State as an Institution for Good. In open democracies, the State ultimately marks the ever-shifting line between the ‘public’ and the ‘private,’ due to its evolving transactional habits, such as selling and buying property, contracting market parties, engaging in more structural public-private cooperation, or simply choosing to perform public tasks itself or letting the market do its work. This leads to the fundamental question of how we can best position the State as an institution that positively - instead of negatively - influences the ‘good’ in society through these transactions. Within the platform, the State’s transactions with society are researched in an academic interdisciplinary manner in conjunction with real-world practical viewpoints. The Platform brings together research, educational, and societal activities that focus on why, when, and how the State acts in light of a multidimensional concept of ‘just,’ thereby integrating social and sustainable perspectives and how to future-proof its role to achieve a resilient and open society that upholds the rule of law.
IPSERA is a global network of academics and practitioners dedicated to advancing research, education, and practice in purchasing and supply management. As a Regional IPSERA Centre of Competence (RICC), UUCePP actively participates in and contributes to this international community, promoting collaboration and cross-border knowledge exchange. Through its involvement with IPSERA, UUCePP remains at the forefront of cutting-edge research while enhancing its interdisciplinary approach to procurement by engaging with global experts and contributing to the latest developments in the field. On the days before the UUCePP PhD forum, IPSERA hosts its annual conference in Rotterdam.