Call for Papers

Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Project Duration: September 1, 2025 – February 28, 2026 (adjustable based on project type)

Proposal Submission Deadline: April 15, 2025

Funding Available

Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi (SUAD), invites proposals for a project to celebrate and empower women across cultures and disciplines. This initiative aims to honor women’s legacies—past and present—while advancing their rights through interdisciplinary efforts. We seek to highlight women’s contributions in the UAE, the Arab world, and globally, inspiring future generations of women leaders through two distinct project categories.

Project Categories

This call features two categories, each dedicated to promoting women’s rights:

1. Advancing Women’s Rights Through Research

• Focus: Scholarly investigation, data analysis, or theoretical exploration related to women’s rights, empowerment, or gender equity.

• Purpose: Generate knowledge or recommendations that contribute to the understanding or promotion of women’s rights.

2. Empowering Women Through Culture and Community

• Focus: Creative, artistic, or community-based projects celebrating women’s roles in cultural preservation, arts, or social innovation while promoting their rights.

• Purpose: Empower women by amplifying their voices, fostering community engagement, and raising awareness of their rights.

Project Scope

We seek proposals that:

• Celebrate women’s achievements or untold stories and promote their rights, tailored to the chosen category.
• Deliver tangible outputs—such as research papers, exhibitions, digital archives, workshops, or performances—within a six-month timeframe (adjustable based on project needs).
• Engage SUAD students, faculty, and the Abu Dhabi community, reflecting the UAE’s cultural diversity and global perspective.

Examples of Potential Projects

1. Advancing Women’s Rights Through Research:
• A study on gender equity in UAE workplaces, analyzing policies and proposing reforms to enhance women’s rights.
• Research using AI and data analysis to identify disparities in maternal healthcare access and outcomes, with predictive models to improve interventions.
• Research on women’s contributions to environmental sustainability in the Middle East, highlighting their role in climate action.
2. Empowering Women Through Culture and Community:
• A digital archive of Emirati women’s roles in Al Sadu weaving, paired with workshops to teach young women this craft and their cultural rights.
• An augmented reality art exhibit showcasing women’s innovations, with discussions on their rights in STEM fields.
• A theater production on women’s leadership in UAE society, performed at SUAD’s Germaine Tillion Gardens, followed by a panel on women’s rights.

Funding and Support

• Funding: In a reasonable limit, the submitted projects may specify a budget request, supported by a presentation of needs and expenses.

• Resources: Access to SUAD facilities, including the library, digital labs, and exhibition spaces on Reem Island.

• Mentorship: Guidance from SUAD faculty in Humanities, Sciences, Law, and Economics.

Eligibility

• Open to individuals or teams affiliated with SUAD (faculty, researchers, students) or external collaborators partnering with an SUAD member.

• Applicants must demonstrate expertise relevant to their chosen category and a commitment to celebrating and empowering women, with sensitivity to UAE cultural contexts.

Submission Guidelines

Proposals must be written in English, or French, or Arabic (max. 1,500 words) and include:

1. Category Selection: Specify whether the proposal is for Advancing Women’s Rights Through Research or Empowering Women Through Culture and Community.
2. Project Title and Summary: A concise overview (200 words).
3. Objectives: How the project celebrates women’s legacies and promotes their rights, aligned with the chosen category.
4. Methodology and Timeline: Key activities and milestones (default: September 1–February, 2026; adjustments allowed with justification).
5. Outputs: Specific deliverables (e.g., research paper, exhibit, workshop) and their audience, including empowerment outcomes (e.g., women trained or engaged).
6. Budget: Detailed cost breakdown.
7. Team: Names, roles, and qualifications (include CVs, max. 2 pages each).

Submit as a single PDF to: women_celebration2025@sorbonne.ae by April 15, 2025.

Key Dates

• Submission Deadline: April 15, 2025
• Funding Decisions: May 15, 2025
• Project Start: September 1, 2025 (or adjusted start date, if proposed)
• Midterm Report: November 30, 2025 (or midpoint, if adjusted)
• Project Completion: February 28, 2026 (or adjusted end date)

Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be reviewed by a jury of SUAD professors based on chaired by Dr. Lama Tarsissi, and based on:

• Originality and Relevance: Alignment with celebrating and promoting women’s rights, with UAE resonance.
• Interdisciplinary Strength: Integration of diverse perspectives.
• Feasibility: Achievability within the timeline and budget.
• Impact: Potential to influence academic and community audiences, especially in empowering women.
• Category-Specific Criteria:
• Advancing Women’s Rights Through Research: Methodological rigor, contribution to knowledge on women’s rights, and potential for publication or policy impact.
• Empowering Women Through Culture and Community: Creativity, cultural significance, and effectiveness in raising awareness or fostering dialogue on women’s rights.

Final Showcase

Funded projects will present outcomes at a campus-wide event in March 2026 (or adjusted date), featuring exhibitions, talks, or performances at SUAD, with digital dissemination for broader reach.

The Association of Environmental Law Lecturers in Middle East and North
African Universities (ASSELLMU)
7th Scientific Conference
Theme:
Environmental Law in the Digital Age

February 9-10, 2026
Venue: Sorbonne University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
CALL FOR PAPERS

1. Background

The 7th Scientific Conference of the Association of Environmental Law Lecturers in Middle East and North African Universities (ASSELLMU) will be held on February 9-10, 2026, at Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, with a view to exploring the role of technology and digitalization in the teaching, research, practice and implementation of environmental law and policy in the MENA region.
This conference will build upon the achievements of ASSELLMU’s first six conferences, respectively held in Doha (Qatar) in 2018, Settat (Morocco) in 2019; Doha (Qatar) in 2021, Amman (Jordan) in 2023; Sohar (Oman) in 2024; and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) in 2025. These conferences have been sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); SADER Legal Publishing; and with technical collaboration and partnership of the Rule of Law Programme Middle East and North Africa, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung; and the UNESCO Chair on Environmental Law and Sustainable Development at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU).
The 2026 Conference aims to bring together educators, university instructors, trainers, and practitioners with expertise in environmental law and policy, as well as computer and data science, to exchange knowledge and share experiences. The goal is to foster learning and collaboration in strengthening environmental law education and practice in the region, with a particular focus on the role of innovative technologies and digital tools, including artificial intelligence, in advancing sustainable development across the MENA region.
The effective implementation of environmental law has crosscutting implications for a wide range of sectors, including health, water, energy, food, culture and tourism, clean technology, trade, financial green services or investment industry and sports amongst others. Given these interconnections and interdependencies, international law has increasingly emphasized the need for nexus and integrated approaches to the design and implementation of environmental law in a manner that promotes holistic and systems thinking. Goal 17 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 17) specifically underscores the need for enhanced partnerships – globally, regionally, nationally, and locally – as a required step for attaining all the SDGs.
With less than five years to the 2030 deadline for achieving the SDGs, it is imperative to examine challenges to leveraging innovative technologies, including artificial intelligence, for the teaching, research, and practice of environmental law in the MENA region. Understanding gaps, and exploring critical approaches for addressing these gaps, can help educators, businesses, policymakers, and other stakeholders to build a clearer path for systemic integration and reform of environmental education.

2. Themes

Panel discussions and workshops will explore current achievements and challenges in aligning the digital transition with sustainability goals, adopting an interdisciplinary perspective, and integrating both theoretical and practical insights. The program incorporates national, regional, comparative, and international legal aspects across five topics:

• Teaching and Practicing Environmental Law in the MENA Region in the face of the Digital Transition: how and whether digital tools, technologies, and online platforms are reshaping the way environmental law is being taught, learned, crafted and implemented. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to: the integration of digital resources in legal education; the role of technology in environmental law, policy-making and enforcement; challenges in adapting traditional legal frameworks to digital realities; the digital divide’s implications on access to environmental justice; current capacity development gaps and the needs of environmental organizations and governmental agencies in the region, as well as strategies to bridge these gaps effectively.
• The Potential of Digital Technologies to Enhance the Integration of Environmental Considerations into Business Practices: whether and how digital technologies contribute to businesses’ environmental stewardship across a broad range of sectors, including agriculture, industry and finance. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to: how businesses leverage digital tools—such as big data, AI, blockchain, and IoT—to assess, monitor, and minimize their environmental footprint; the role of digital technologies in environmental reporting, decision-making, and supply chain management; the extent to which digital technologies enhance compliance with regulations, promote transparency and accountability, and drive sustainability in corporate practices.
• Legal Pathways to Harness the Power of Digital Technology for Sustainability: whether and how the law contributes to steering digital technology’s development in ways that promote sustainability. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to: environmental policies’ contribution to technological advancements; the role of digital technology in promoting environmental conservation and sustainable use; environmental policies’ ability to shape technological development in ways that realign human activities within planetary boundaries; regulatory promotion of low-tech solutions and traditional knowledge; risks that the digitalization of environmental policy-making exacerbates socio-economic inequalities; the environmental consequences of critical minerals mining and processing.
• The Regulation of Emerging Technological Risks: definition and regulation of technological risks related to the growing digitalization of environmental policies. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to: methodologies to assess and streamline tradeoffs between potential gains and risks of relying on digital technologies to achieve sustainability objectives ; values, tools and frameworks to define and respond to risks from digital technologies used for environmental purposes, drawing on insights from comparative law, local legal traditions, and religious or ethical principles; efforts to regulate risks associated with sustainability-driven digitalization through regional agreements, cooperation frameworks, and policy harmonization.
• The Legal Status and Regime of Environmental Data: conflicting narratives over the legal status and regime of environmental data. Areas of interest include but are not limited to the rules governing access to, utilization and disclosure of environmental data; competing claims to publicity and confidentiality of environmental data; promises and challenges of archiving the increasing flows of environmental data; interoperability of environmental data management schemes used by private and public institutions across the MENA region.
3. Papers

We invite abstracts of papers exploring the conference themes that offer significant academic contributions to environmental, digital, and technology law scholarship in the MENA region. Submissions may adopt a continental perspective or focus on sub-regional or country-specific case studies. Given the emerging nature of the topics covered, we also welcome contributions that, while not specifically focused on local contexts, offer valuable lessons for the development of environmental law in the MENA region. This includes contributions that provide theoretical insights on the twin (digital and environmental) transition or draw on experiences from other jurisdictions in ways that are relevant to the MENA region. While a rigorous methodology is expected, submissions may adopt diverse methodological approaches, including interdisciplinary investigations and empirical research.

4. Submission of abstracts and publication timetable

Abstracts of 500-700 words should include the following elements:

• Author’s Name
• Institutional Affiliation
• Contact Details
• Concise overview of the subject matter, including the key critical questions the paper will address
• Outline of the research methodology employed in the paper

Abstracts should be submitted, together with a copy of the author’s curriculum vitae, as e-mail attachments to the Chair of ASSELLMU, Dr. Damilola S. Olawuyi, SAN (dolawuyi@hbku.edu.qa).
The closing date for submission of abstracts is 15 July 2025. Questions on this call for abstractsshould be directed to dolawuyi@hbku.edu.qa.
The selection panel will review submitted abstracts and notify only the selected authors on or before 15 September 2025. Upon acceptance, authors will be invited to submit full drafts of their papers before 15 December 2025. Revised versions will be presented for discussion at the ASSELLMU 7th Scientific Conference, scheduled for 9-10 February 2026. Finalized and accepted papers will be published in a journal special issue or an edited book.

5. Submission Guidelines

Submissions must be original and must not have been previously published or submitted elsewhere.
Authors are responsible for ensuring that their work does not infringe upon any intellectual property rights.

6. Funding

There is limited fund available to cover travel and accommodation costs. Please indicate in your submission whether you would require funding to attend the conference, specifying your placeof departure.

The first-ever International Conference on Digital Archiving in the Arab World (DA|AW), held in Abu Dhabi in 2019, organized to spark off a series of conferences on the subject. At DAAW|2024, we aspire to address it through the more focused standpoint of the digital management and preservation of data and documents, without foregoing a broader reflection, concerning both historical and future documents and data in danger whether physical or natively digital.

The principal objective of DAAW|2024 is to bring together scholars and practitioners for discussions about archiving challenges in the Arab world, hence no discipline or approach is proposed. The questions are broad, and all possible responses are appreciated. Yet, for the purpose of orient submissions, a number of preferred themes are below:

1. 1. Preserving The Past| Heritage at risk
2. Methods, technologies, standards and tools
3. Preservation and access| the role of institutions
4. Big Data
5. Archiving the present| Natively digital objects
6. Blockchain
7. Personal Digital Archives (PDA) into context
8. Archives and Arts Digitization
9. Archiving & sustainability

Please Refer to below links, if you would like to read Full CALL FOR PAPER DAAW2024

English Version
Arabic Version باللغة العربيه

Remember to provide accurate and complete information in each section. If you have any further queries, feel free to ask:colloquehumnum24@gmail.com

Fill Application Form

The Records Management and Archival Science Unit in the History Department at Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi (SUAD) in collaboration with the National Library and Archives (NLA) of UAE is excited to announce its hosting of the sixteenth Archival Education and Research Institute (AERI) from October 07 to 11, 2024, at the SUAD campus and NLA sites in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Announcement

Due date for proposals submission extended to 12 May
We are thrilled to announce that the deadline for submitting proposals to the 16th edition of the Archival Education Research Institute (AERI) has been extended to 12 May 2024! This extension provides an opportunity for those who need a little more time to polish their proposals and contribute to this prestigious event.

Subsidized registration fee
To ensure a comprehensive and hassle-free experience, we are offering a subsidized registration fee that includes a range of amenities to make your stay and participation as comfortable and engaging as possible. The registration fee includes 6 nights’ accommodation, transport to and from the institute’s venues, breakfast, lunch, and afternoon teas as well as one gala dinner.
The subsidized registration fees are as follows:
Students: USD 600
Faculty Members and Working Professionals: USD 700

Virtual participation
To accommodate broader participation, AERI 2024 will offer a select number of virtual presentations for those unable to join in person. Considering the extensive effort and costs required for a fully hybrid event, these virtual opportunities will be limited. All plenary sessions at AERI 2024, however, will be recorded and made accessible afterward.

Need Assistance?
We understand that preparing and submitting a proposal can come with its challenges. If you have any questions or encounter any difficulties during the submission process, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at aeri2024sorbonne@outlook.com. Our dedicated team is here to assist you every step of the way. Do not miss this extended chance to be a part of AERI 2024. We look forward to receiving your innovative and insightful proposals and welcoming you to an event that promises to be intellectually enriching and professionally rewarding.

Visit AERI 2024 Homepage