The Sri Lanka Roundtable provides a platform for exchange between academics and research-oriented professionals with an interest in Sri Lanka. The Roundtable was first held in 2010 and most recently in June 2023 at Utrecht University. Roundtables are informal events, organised by academics working in Europe (and beyond) and hosted by universities.

The 2026 Sri Lanka Roundtable will take place between 5 and 7 May 2026 in Ghent, Belgium. It is supported by the Conflict Research Group at Ghent University (premises and administration), the European Research Council (grant 101170073; operational costs) and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (financial support for travel costs of selected Sri Lankan participants).

This year, more than 70 participants will discuss their work on Sri Lanka in a variety of formats – from presentations in plenary sessions to small workshops and creative media. The Roundtable will take place on university premises in the historical heart of Ghent at the following locations:
– Book Tower: Rozier 9, Ghent
– Vandenhoven Paviljoen: Rozier 1, Ghent
– UFO Technicum: Sint Pieter Nieuwstraat 41, Ghent

For every Roundtable, an informal organising committee is formed, which takes responsibility for programming and logistics. The organising committee for this event comprises: Bhadrajee Hewage (Oxford University), Deborah Johnson (University of Exeter), Roshni Kapur (Ghent University and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung), Bart Klem (Ghent University), and Jayanthi Lingham (Sheffield University).

For participants to the Roundtable, there is an online repository (click here) for your papers, presentation slides and any other material. Please upload your files to the folder of the session that you are part of.

For all other inquiries, please email Roshni.Kapur@UGent.be.