IAHR 2025

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Regulations of the XXIII Quinquennial World Congress of the International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR) in Krakow, August 24–30, 2025 (“Regulations”)

§ 1 Term and duration

  1. These Regulations define the rights and obligations of the Participants of the XXIII Quinquennial World Congress of the International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR) (hereinafter referred to as the “Congress”), which will be held on 24th –30th August 2025 in Krakow at Auditorium Maximum, Krupnicza 33, 31-123 Krakow; the Didactic Centre of the Faculty of Law and Administration, Krupnicza 33A; and Collegium Paderevianum, Mickiewicza 9, 9a, 9b, 31-123 Kraków (hereinafter referred to as “Congress Premises”).
  2. The Congress is organized by the Jagiellonian University Faculty of Philosophy, Institute of Religious Studies, and Centre for Comparative Studies of Civilizations, together with the Polish Society for the Study of Religion, and the International Association for the History of Religions (hereinafter jointly referred to as the “Organizer”).
  3. Academic supervision over the Congress is exercised by the Academic Programme Committee appointed by the Organizer (hereinafter referred to as the “Academic Committee”).
  4. A participant of the Congress is any adult person with legal capacity who has declared their willingness to participate in the Congress by 15.05.2025 at the latest in the manner referred to in § 2 of the Regulations, accepted the rules of participation in the Congress referred to in the Regulations and paid the Congress fee (hereinafter referred to as the “Participant”).
  5. The Regulations are available to Participants on the Congress website www.iahr2025@org (hereinafter referred to as the “Congress Website”), in English, and can be downloaded.
  6. The Organizer reserves the right to amend the Regulations due to the change of generally applicable law and the need to adapt the Regulations to this change. The amendment to the Regulations will come into force within 7 days from the date of its publication on the Congress Website. Regarding Participants who accepted the Regulations before the change, the amendment will come into force within 7 days of informing them about the amendment to the Regulations by e-mail and them not expressing their objection to this change within the above-mentioned period.
  7. The Organizer reserves the right to change the Regulations also in the event of a change that does not adversely affect the rights of Participants or a change consisting in correcting obvious clerical and editorial errors. In such a case, the amendment to the Regulations may come into force within less than 7 days, but not sooner than 3 days from informing the Participants about the amendment to the Regulations by e-mail and them not objecting to this change before the above- mentioned deadline.
  8. The Organizer reserves the right to change the date and formula of the Congress in a situation where its conduct on the date and form referred to in Paragraph 1 above will be impossible or excessively difficult for reasons beyond the control of the Organizer. The change of the date and/or formula of the Congress will be immediately announced on the Congress Website.
  9. The Organizer reserves the right to introduce changes to the Congress program, including the right to change the time schedule and order of presentations. In case of changes, the Organizer will inform about them immediately on the Congress Website. A change in the Congress program does not constitute a change to the Regulations.

§ 2 Registration for the Congress

  1. Participation in the Congress is payable and requires prior registration (hereinafter referred to as “Registration”) via the registration form (hereinafter referred to as the “Form”), the link to which will be available on the Congress Website. The person wishing to participate in the Congress will be obliged to provide the following information in the Form: first name and surname, e-mail address, and affiliation.
  2. The detailed method of Registration, including registration deadline, fee amount (hereinafter referred to as the “Fee”), and payment method and deadline, will be provided on the Congress Website.
  3. In case of resignation from participation in the Congress, the Participant is obliged to immediately inform the Organizer by sending the information to the following e-mail address: iahr2025@uj.edu.pl. The Participant who cancels their participation in the Congress by 15th June 2025, will receive a full refund of the registration fee. Cancellations received after 15th June 2025 will not be refunded.  There will be no refund for non-shows. Bank fees are non-refundable. 
  4. Refunds of Fees will be made by the Organizer after the end of the Congress.
  5. The Organizer is not responsible for the incorrect or false data provided by the Participant during Registration.
  6. The Participant confirms that they have read the Regulations and accepted the provisions of the Regulations, which is equivalent to granting by the Participant the permits, licenses and authorizations referred to in the Regulations, and constitutes an obligation to pay the Fee. Registration is complete when the Participant fills in all the data requested in the Form and sends the Form together with the consents referred to in § 5 to 8 and receives confirmation of registration via e-mail.
  7. The registered Participant acquires the right to participate in the Congress upon payment of the Fee. The date of the payment of the Fee is the date of its crediting to the bank account indicated by the Organizer.
  8. Failure to pay the Fee by a registered Participant by 15.05.2025 is equivalent to submitting a statement of resignation (withdrawal) from participation in the Congress and the inability to participate in the Congress.
  9. Congress attendees (hereinafter referred to as “Attendees”), i.e. persons not presenting papers during the Congress, may attend the Congress without prior Registration and free of charge, with the reservation that they may not participate in any extracurricular Congress events (such as organized meals or banquets).

§ 3 General rules for participation in the Congress

  1. The Congress will be held in English and French. Detailed information and the exact program of the Congress will be available on the Congress Website.
  2. The course of the Congress will be recorded in the form of a photo report (hereinafter referred to as “Photoreport”). The Photoreport will be prepared for archival and documentation purposes. The Photoreport will be made available indefinitely on the Internet, in particular on the Congress Website and on the websites of each of the Organizers and will be available to an unlimited circle of recipients.
  3. The Organizer, by making Congress materials available to the Participants (hereinafter referred to as “Congress Materials”), pays special attention to the need for the Participants to respect intellectual property rights. Participants undertake to use the Congress Materials made available to them by the Organizer only for their own personal use. Modifying, copying, transmitting, publicly performing and any commercial use of these Congress Materials requires prior written consent of the Organizer or another authorized entity. Participants are fully responsible for any damage caused as a result of their conduct contrary to the above disclaimer.
  4. The participants accept and agree to the terms of the Congress and its program . The Organizer is entitled to exclude from participation in the Congress Participants who violate the provisions of the Regulations, in particular: disrupt the course of the Congress; take actions contrary to the law, morality or detrimental to the legitimate interests of third parties; take action to circumvent or indicate an attempt to circumvent Regulations or rules of holding the Congress; take actions that violate the legitimate interests of the Organizer or harm its image.
  5. The Congress Organizer is not responsible for other circumstances preventing or hindering participation in the Congress not caused by the actions or omissions of the Organizer.

§ 4 Rights and obligations of Participants

  1. After arriving at the Congress Premises, the Participant is obliged to confirm their personal participation in the Congress at the reception desk in the Auditorium Maximum of the Jagiellonian University.
  2. Participants are obliged to comply with the safety rules, health and safety regulations, and fire protection regulations in force in at the Congress Premises.
  3. The Organizer is not responsible for items left and lost during the Congress and for items left in clothing or backpacks / bags / suitcases left at the cloakroom, as well as in other public places on the Congress Premises and the Jagiellonian University.
  4. In case of disturbance of public order by the Participant, the Congress Staff is entitled to: call on the Participant to behave appropriately; request the Participant to leave the Congress area, call special services in a situation where the Participant’s behavior qualifies for such an intervention, in particular when it poses a threat to other Participants or Congress Staff or the Organizer’s property.
  5. The Organizer is not responsible for events resulting from the Participants’ non-compliance with the Regulations, the Participants’ failure to comply with the recommendations of the Organizer and instructions of the Congress Staff and services responsible for safety and order.
  6. In order to ensure security at the Congress Premises, the Organizer may use video monitoring covering the entire Congress Premises as well as their parts. The rules for the use of video monitoring by the Organizer are specified in Ordinance No. 34 of the Rector of the Jagiellonian University from 16.05.2019 regarding: Regulations for video monitoring at the Jagiellonian University, as amended, available in the Public Information Bulletin of the Jagiellonian University.
  7. In case of noticing a threat to the life and health of the Participants, the Participant is obliged to immediately inform the Congress Staff.

§ 5 Presentations

  1. The willingness to participate in the Congress is communicated by sending an abstract prepared in accordance with the organizer’s guidelines (hereinafter referred to as “Abstract”) via the COFFEE system by 15th December 2024. The link to the COFFEE system, as well as the Abstract editing guidelines, will be available on the Congress website.
  2. Each Abstract is reviewed by two members of Academic Programme Committee. As a result of the evaluation a proposal is accepted/rejected about which the author is informed on 5th January, 2025, at the latest. A Participant whose Abstract has been accepted for presentation by the Academic Programme Committee is hereinafter referred to as “Presenter”.

  3. When taking the decisions referred to in point 2 above, the Academic Programme Committee shall be guided by the need to ensure a high academic level and thematic diversity of the Congress.
  4. A Presenter selected in a different way than the one indicated in points 2 and 3 above, namely one who accepted the invitation of the Organizer to deliver a Keynote Presentation, will send to the Organizer an original abstract of the Presentation in the form of a digital text by the time individually agreed with the Organizer.
  5. The Participant’s undertaking of the actions referred to in points 1 – 4 above is an expression of granting the Organizer a non-exclusive, unlimited in time, territory, quantity and quality license to use the Abstract and Keynote Abstract, in the widest permitted rights, in particular in the fields of exploitation indicated in Article 50 of the Act on Copyright and Related Rights and in the scope and in the fields of exploitation similar to those, referred to in § 6 points 5-7 of the Regulations, with the right to grant sublicenses to third parties with a scope similar to the scope of the license, in the case of the Participant referred to in points 2-3 above – for the purpose of making a decision on qualifying the Participant as a Presenter , and in the case of Participants referred to in points 2-3 and 4 above – for preparation purposes, organization, conduct and settlement of the Congress, development of Congress Materials, including an electronic book of abstracts, which in pdf format will be available to Congress Participants on the Congress Website. The provisions of § 6 points 1-3 and 8 of the Regulations shall apply accordingly to the Abstract.
  6. Delivering a presentation as well as granting the Organizer permits, authorizations and licenses, referred to in § 5-7 of the Regulations, to use the Abstract in the scope and in all fields of exploitation indicated therein is free of charge and takes place for the statutory purposes of the Organizer.
  7. Granting the Organizer permits, authorizations referred to in § 5-7 of the Regulations is voluntary, but necessary to present the Presentation.

§ 6 Copyright

  1. The Participant bears full responsibility for the form and content of their Presentation.
  2. The Presenter undertakes to develop and present their Presentation and guarantees that the Presentation will not violate the rights and personal rights of third parties, contain views inciting hatred or discrimination of any person on the basis of race, culture, ethnicity, religion, worldview or gender.
  3. Should any part of the Presentation contain protected elements to which the Presenter does not have proper rights, the Presenter guarantees that they are entitled to use them to the extent necessary to deliver the Presentation and grant the Organizer a License with the right to grant sublicenses referred to in this paragraph, without the need for the Organizer to obtain additional consents and permits.
  4. The Presenter grants the Organizer a non-exclusive, unlimited in time and territory, quantity and quality license with the right to grant sublicenses with the same scope as the license, to use the Presentation – recorded in the form of a Recording in whole or in part, independently, as part of a collective work, in combination with works and elements freely chosen by the Organizer (including Presentations of other Presenters, with the graphic design of the Platform, image and sound, including within the Congress Materials), as well as its developments, adaptations and all materials, graphics, fragments, shots, documentation created both during the recording of the Recording, as well as after its recording – for informational, educational and training purposes of the Congress itself, including in particular, its use, making available on the Internet on the Congress Website on the terms indicated in Regulations.
  5. The license referred to in point 4 above (hereinafter referred to as the “License”) is granted to each Organizer upon its recording in the form of a Recording and includes the use of the Presentation in the following fields of exploitation:
    • recording and multiplying the Presentation – producing copies of the Presentation using all available techniques, including printing, reprography, magnetic recording and digital technology (e.g. DVD, magneto-optical media);
    • permanent or temporary reproduction of the Presentation in whole or in part by any means and in any form;
    • in the scope of dissemination of the Presentation – public performance, as well as public sharing of the Presentation in such a way that each Congress Participant can have access to it at a place and time chosen by them for 3 months after the end of the Congress, on the Internet on the Platform, posting and modification Presentation on websites;
    • creating and distributing derivative works of the Presentation, including further projects/materials based on the Presentation or their individual elements, including the development of different graphic, color or visual or spatial versions of the Presentation and the use of derivative works created in this way in the scope and in all fields of exploitation specified in this paragraph;
    • modifying the Presentation in whole or in part and making its elaborations in whole or in part, including, e.g., the right to correct, make alterations and changes to the whole Presentation or its individual elements;
  6. The license also includes the right to exercise by each Organizer and persons acting on their behalf derivative rights to the Presentation, in all fields of exploitation referred to in points 4-5 above, including in particular the right to make changes to the Presentation and to prepare its studies, use and dispose of derivative works and the right to allow third parties to exercise derivative copyrights to the Presentation with a scope similar to that of which it uses Organizer.
  7. The Presenter authorizes all Organizers and entities to which the Organizer grants further authorizations to exercise their copyrights to the Presentation, in particular the right to the integrity of the content and form of the Presentation and its fair use, to make the Presentation available to the public for the first time, to supervise the manner of using the Presentation and to decide on the manner of designating the author of the Presentation and undertakes not to exercise these rights in relation to the Organizer and the persons authorized by him, with the proviso that the Organizer, at the request of the Presenter and if possible, is obliged to respect the Presenter’s wish as to mark him as a person presenting the Presentation.
  8. In the case of a claim by third parties in relation to the Organizer and/or entities acting on its behalf and/or entities authorized to use the Presentation and/or Abstract (hereinafter referred to as “Authorized Entities”) related to the Presentation and/or Abstract or their individual elements, the Presenter:
    • will release the Organizer and/or entities entitled from the claims in question, to the extent that it was obliged to acquire from third parties rights to legally protected elements of the Presentation and/or Abstract, including proprietary copyrights and related rights to them and their individual entities, and to obtain from them the permits and authorizations referred to in this paragraph, and
    • will be fully liable for any damages incurred by the Organizer and/or the Authorized Entities as a result of bringing claims against them referred to in point a) above, including in particular, but not exclusively, for damages related to the claim for compensation for unlawful use of the Presentation and/or Abstract or unlawful use of their individual elements.

§ 7 Image

  1. The Organizer will record the Presenters’ Presentations in the Photoreport, for archival and documentation purposes.
  2. By declaring in the Form their willingness to participate in the Congress, the Participants agree to the use of their image for the purposes indicated in point 1 above, without the right to remuneration in the above respect.
  3. A Participant who is a Presenter, by accepting the invitation of the Organizer to give the Presentation, consents to the use of their image unlimited in time, territory, quantity and quality, for the purposes indicated in point 1 above, without the right to remuneration in this respect, in particular by:
    • recording the image of the Presenter in the Photoreport and/or in the Recording and using this recording, processing, reproduction and multiple dissemination of the image of the Presenter created in the above-mentioned manner without the need to approve them each time, to the extent and in a manner analogous to that referred to in § 6 points 5-7 of the Regulations, including in particular on the Congress Website, Platform, on the Websites of each Organizer, and on other websites, on the profiles of each Organizer in social media and on Internet services.
  4. The Participant is aware that the Photoreport from the Congress will be made available on the Internet and will be available, in particular, on the Congress Website, on the websites of each Organizer indefinitely, for an unlimited circle of recipients, while the Recording will be available on the Platform only for Participants within 3 months after the end of the Congress.
  5. In connection with the use of the image, the Participant Presenter will not exercise the right to control and each time approve the use of the image, including the right to approve in relation to the final form of the Photoreport and / or the Recording in which it was used and the right to indicate each time as a person visible in the Photoreport and / or in the Recording, and in particular to indicate his name and surname.
  6. The Congress may be recorded photographed in the form of a Photoreport only by the Organizer.
  7. The Organizer has the right to authorize other entities to use the image on the terms indicated in this permit.

§ 8 Personal Data Processing

  1. According to Article 13 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27.04.2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation, hereinafter referred to as “GDPR”), the Jagiellonian University informs that:
  2. The administrator of the Participant’s personal data is:  Jagiellonian University, Gołębia 24, 31-007 Kraków, represented by the Rector of the Jagiellonian University. The Jagiellonian University has appointed a Data Protection Officer, Czapskich 4/27, 31-110 Kraków. Contact with the Officer is possible by e-mail: iod@uj.edu.pl or by calling +48 12 663 12 25 – from Monday to Friday, from 8:00 to 15:00.
  3. The Participant’s personal data will be processed in order to:
    • implementation of the agreement, the subject of which is participation in the XXIII Quinquennial World Congress of the International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR), as well as for the purpose of registering participation in the Congress, i.e., according to Article 6 paragraph 1 it. b of the GDPR, on the basis of an agreement concluded through a receipt of the Regulations. Congress organized on 24-30 August 2025 by the Jagiellonian University Faculty of Philosophy, Institute of Religious Studies, the Centre for Comparative Studies of Civilizations, the Polish Society for the Study of Religion, and the International Association for the History of Religions;
    • conducting a Photoreport from the Congress for documentation, information, educational, didactic purposes, advertising and promotion of the Organizer, and the Congress itself, archiving – in relation to the personal data of the Participants in the form of an image – on the basis Article 6 point 1 lit. f of the GDPR.
    • ensuring the security of the Congress in accordance with the Regulations on video monitoring in force at the Jagiellonian University, available at https://bip.uj.edu.pl/ and the information obligation regarding image processing in video monitoring, available at https://iod.uj.edu. pl/video-monitoring pursuant to Art. 6 section 1 letter e GDPR – in relation to data from video monitoring.
  4. Providing the Participant with the personal data referred to in point 3 lit. a above is necessary to conclude a contract, participate in the Congress. Providing personal data in the scope of image referred to in point 3 lit b above is voluntary.
  5. Personal data of the Participant may be made available to entities authorized to receive them on the basis of generally applicable laws.
  6. Participants’ personal data will not be transferred to third countries (outside the European Economic Area) or to international organizations.
  7. Personal data of Participants will be stored for the period of organization of the Congress and until the final settlement and closing of the Congress, as well as until the claims that may arise from the implementation of the contract referred to in point 3 lit a, and to the extent indicated in point 3 lit b) above – until an objection is raised. Monitoring data will be processed for up to three months. until the Participant withdraws consent to data processing.
  8. The Participant’s personal data provided in the Registration Form will not be made available to third parties.
  9. The personal data of the Participant in the form of an image may be recorded in photos from the Congress used to create a Photoreport and processed on the Congress Website in a way that allows access by third parties, for information, documenting, educational, didactic purposes, advertising and promotion of the Organizer, and the Congress itself, as well as archiving, including for the purposes of coverage of the Congress – in accordance with the Regulations.
  10. The Participant has the right to: obtain information about the processing of personal data and rights under the GDPR, access to their data and rectify them, as well as the right to delete personal data from the administrator’s files (unless further processing is necessary for the performance of a legal obligation in order to establish, assert or defend claims), and the right to limit processing, transfer data, object to processing – in the cases and under the conditions specified in the GDPR.
  11. The Participant’s personal data will not be subject to automated decision-making or profiling.
  12. The participant has the right to lodge a complaint with the President of the Office for Personal Data Protection if it considers that the processing of your personal data violates the provisions of the GDPR.

SUBSTANCE OF THE COMMON UNDERSTANDING

(extract from the agreement on the joint controller of personal data)

In accordance with Article 26 GDPR, we inform you that the joint controllers, with the identity specified below, have made the following arrangements:

  1. The co-administrators of personal data of Congress Participants are: Jagiellonian University, Gołębia 24, 31-007 Kraków, represented by the Rector of the Jagiellonian University.
  2. The Joint Controllers jointly process the data of the Congress Participants in connection with the implementation of the tasks assigned to them in the organization and conduct of the Congress in accordance with the principles of personal data processing set out in Article 5 of the GDPR.
  3. Providing this information constitutes providing access to the main content of joint arrangements of the Joint Controllers, whose identity has been indicated in the first point above, in the scope of co-administration of the processing of personal data of Congress Participants and based on the legal grounds indicated in the information obligation addressed to Congress Participants.
  4. In accordance with the joint arrangements of the Joint Controllers, we would like to inform you that each of the Joint Controllers shall be responsible for:
    • using a common information clause on the principles of personal data processing by the Joint Controllers, including the main content of their arrangements for fulfilling their obligations regarding the protection of personal data;
    • processing of personal data in accordance with the principles set out in Article 5 of the GDPR;
    • proper protection of personal data from the moment of receipt of documentation with personal data;
    • implementation of the rights of natural persons referred to in Articles 15-22 of the GDPR, taking into account possible restrictions resulting from legal provisions;
    • keeping documentation describing the method of processing personal data, including a register of data processing activities (requirement of Article 30 of the GDPR);
    • protection of personal data in accordance with Article 32 of the GDPR, in particular against access by unauthorized persons;
    • reporting – in agreement with the other Joint Controllers – to the supervisory authority an infringement referred to in Article 33 of the GDPR, occurring within its own structures;
    • notification of a data breach to a person if it may give rise to a high risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons.
  5. During the joint administration of personal data, at every stage of their processing, each of the Joint Controllers ensures that the data subjects exercise their rights under the GDPR.
  6. In the event that the data subject addresses his request for the exercise of the right directly to one of the Joint Controllers, each of these Joint Controllers is responsible for immediately forwarding the request of the data subject to the relevant Joint Controller.
  7. The Joint Controllers have created a Contact Point for data subjects – the contact point can be contacted by writing to the following e-mail address: iahr2025@uj.edu.pl

Please be advised that regardless of the arrangements set out in points 3-4 above, data subjects may exercise their rights under the GDPR against each of the Joint Controllers, which means that the request to exercise the rights addressed to each of the Joint Controllers is a request submitted in accordance with the GDPR.

§ 9 Final provisions

  1. These Regulations are made available to Congress Participants on the Congress Website and enter into force on the day of their publication on the above-mentioned website.
  2. The Organizer reserves the right to cancel the Congress. The Organizer will immediately inform about the cancellation of the Congress on the Congress Website. The Organizer shall not be obliged to provide any compensation or compensation in this respect to the Participants and the Speakers, nor to reimburse the costs incurred in order to participate in the Event, except for the return of the Fee.
  3. In matters not covered by the Regulations, generally applicable Polish law shall apply. The law applicable to the Regulations is Polish law.