EXISTENTIAL RISK LAW PRIZE

Submissions are due 5PM CDT, April 22nd 2025.

The Existential Risk Laboratory Law Prize is awarded to the best original paper authored by a UChicago Law student, suitable for publication, that discusses an issue in the field of ‘global catastrophic risk’ through a legal lens. Possible existential risks include but are not limited to: global nuclear war, severe climate change, the implications of advancing artificial intelligence, and uncontainable or engineered pandemics. The scope of the paper is up to the student; however, the paper should discuss how the issue at hand can affect the long term potential or survival of humanity.

The prize is intended to reward student-authored works that explore how these risks would present unique legal challenges or opportunities. Your paper may critique existing laws or rendered judicial decisions; special attention will be paid to papers that advance creative legal strategies for the prevention and mitigation of existential risks. All UChicago law students are encouraged to submit entries

The deadline for submissions is 5pm CDT on April 22nd, 2025.

Prizes:

First place submissions will receive $4000 and will have their paper published in The University of Chicago Law Review Online
Second place submissions will receive $2,500

Guidelines:

Please limit your paper to 3,000 to 6,000 words
Citations should be hyperlinks where possible, footnotes otherwise
Papers written for a law course may be submitted for prize consideration
You may co-author a paper but will need to coordinate with faculty to use the paper for course credit
Students must have a faculty sponsor in order to submit a paper

Feel free to contact zrudolph@uchicago.edu for any additional questions.