All students enrolled at a university or any other form of tertiary education at any point during the 2025 calendar year are eligible to participate. This includes students enrolled in a bachelor’s or master’s program during either the 2024–2025 or 2025–2026 academic year.

We welcome applications from students of all academic backgrounds. Many participants come from fields such as law, economics, PPLE, business, University College programs, psychology, commerce, or management — but students from any discipline are encouraged to take part.

As a student, you may participate in the IBMC no more than twice in total, and no more than twice in a row. You may only join one team at a time, either as a student participant or as a coach — not both.

Each team must consist of at least two students and may include up to four students actively participating in the competition.

For each round, your team will select two representatives to negotiate the case, and you may rotate your representatives between rounds.

To be eligible to compete, your team must have at least two students. Coaches are optional. The maximum team size is four students and two coaches — making six people in total.

That is completely understandable — your team can apply even if the names or exact composition are not yet finalized. You may update your team members up until the moment you officially accept your selection to participate in IBMC.

There is no need to inform us of every small change during the process. What matters is that your final team composition is confirmed upon acceptance and that your team meets the eligibility criteria, including a minimum of two student participants.

If your team changes one or more members after applying, it is your responsibility to check whether the new participant requires a visa for travel to the Netherlands and to allow enough time to arrange it.

Your team may bring up to two coaches. Coaches cannot compete or participate in any mediation round, but they are welcome to observe all rounds in which your team is actively participating.

You must also designate one team leader, who can be either a student or a coach. All official communication regarding your team will be directed to this contact person.

The team leader is responsible for submitting the registration, keeping all team members informed about competition details, confirming your team’s availability, and managing deadlines and logistics on your team’s behalf.

We aim to make IBMC as inclusive, dynamic, and high-quality as possible. Everyone is welcome to apply, and we strongly encourage students, coaches, and professionals from all backgrounds and levels of experience to register.

If the number of applications exceeds our capacity, we will make a careful and balanced selection based on the overall needs of the competition. Our goal is to include both new and experienced students, as well as professionals at different stages of their careers.

You can find more information about the application process and conditions here.

The IBMC is an in-person event, held in Amsterdam, where all student teams participate in five full rounds of negotiation.

Each round features a new commercial dispute, and teams are randomly assigned to negotiate against different opponents.

What makes the IBMC unique is that all teams remain active for the entire duration of the competition — there is no knockout phase — ensuring maximum learning, feedback, and engagement for every participant.

Every round is facilitated by a professional mediator and observed by two professional judges.

After each round, both judges independently assess the teams and indicate which of the two they believe performed better.

If both judges select the same team as the stronger performer, that team receives three points in the overall ranking and the other team receives none.

If the judges are split in their evaluation, both teams receive one point.

At the end of the five rounds, the points from each round are tallied, and the team or teams with the highest total score are declared the winners of the competition.

In case of a tie, all teams with the highest score are declared winners, even if this results in multiple winning teams.

Each case will include general information, which will be shared publicly, along with two sets of confidential information: one for the requesting party and one for the responding party.

If you are part of a student team, your team’s confidential information will be shared with you through your team leader.

The cases will be distributed well in advance to ensure that you and all other participants have sufficient time to prepare.

Cases are assigned randomly, but each team will have the opportunity to act as both the requesting party and the responding party at least twice.

To preserve neutrality, mediators receive only the general information for each case. Judges receive the full case materials, including the confidential information for both sides.

In each team, one student will act as the client — for example, a business owner, executive, or C-suite representative.

The other student will take on the role of counsel, either as an internal (in-house) or external (law firm) legal advisor. While it is recommended that the student acting as counsel has a legal background or is currently studying law, this is not a strict requirement.

Although the legal position of the party is important when preparing for the negotiation, you are encouraged to focus primarily on the business dimension of the conflict.

No, we do not provide accommodation or housing and do not offer any special rates or recommendations.

Amsterdam offers a wide range of hotels and hostels, and the competition venue — De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek’s office — is easily accessible by bus, tram, and metro.

Given the compact size of Amsterdam, you can generally expect a commute of no more than 20 minutes if you choose your accommodation strategically.

If any special rates or accommodation recommendations become available, we will include that information in the confirmation email sent to accepted teams and professionals.

In the IBMC league model, prizes are awarded based on the final rankings. The team (or teams) with the highest overall score at the end of the competition will receive the first prize. If multiple teams share the top score, they will all be awarded first place. No second or third prizes are awarded under this model.

In addition to the overall ranking, special awards will be given to recognize exceptional performance in specific areas of distinction, such as mediation style, negotiation strategy, teamwork, or creativity. These awards are open to all teams and individual participants, regardless of their final rank.

If you became familiar with the competition format before July, you may have seen references to semi-finals and a final round.

We have recently updated the format to a league model. In this new structure, all teams remain active throughout the competition and compete in the same number of rounds.

The goal is to keep everyone engaged from start to finish and to offer as many opportunities as possible to negotiate, receive feedback, and learn from a wide range of mediators, judges, and peers.

Yes. To secure your team’s commitment, we charge a refundable participation fee of €35 per team member (students and coaches).

You only need to pay this fee once your team has been selected. It will be fully refunded after the competition, provided your team participates as scheduled.

If you visited this page before 24 July, you may have seen information about an optional social program, priced separately from the main competition.

We have since finalised the structure of the event. In line with our commitment to inclusion and accessibility, all social and informal activities are now fully integrated into the main program and available to all participants at no additional cost.

There is no longer a separate or paid social program. Events that were previously marked with an asterisk (*) are now part of the regular schedule. You can view the updated program here.

No, if you're a professional, you don’t need to pay a participation fee. This is our way of recognizing and appreciating the time, effort, and resources you contribute to the competition.

First of all, you only need to pay the €35 per person (students and coach) after we have officially accepted your team and your team leader has confirmed your final team composition.

This fee is fully refundable after the competition, provided that:

(1) your team has competed in all scheduled rounds, and

(2) at least two student participants were present for every round in which your team actively participated (which is the minimum requirement to be eligible).

You don’t need to take any further action to claim the refund. If your team qualifies, we will inform you automatically within two weeks after the competition and arrange the refund.

In rare cases of force majeure—unforeseen and exceptional circumstances beyond your team’s control that prevent participation—we may offer a full or partial refund, depending on the timing and specifics of the situation.

If only one team member is affected, we trust in the team’s commitment to first explore the possibility of finding a suitable replacement or continuing with a smaller line-up. Refunds are considered a last resort.

That said, we fully recognize that some situations may make continuing unfeasible. These cases will be assessed with care and understanding.
If this applies to your team, please notify us as soon as possible. We will evaluate your situation in good faith and with care.

Force majeure refers to circumstances beyond your reasonable control that prevent your team from attending the competition.

These may include but are not limited to:

(1) sudden travel restrictions due to political or public health developments;

(2) natural disasters;

(3) a serious illness affecting (one of) your team members, in such a way that an official authority (e.g. a doctor) advises against travelling or participating; or

(4) an unexpected visa denial, provided the application was submitted on time and in accordance with official procedures, and the outcome was beyond the reasonable control and responsibility of the applicant(s).