dreaming spires global essay competition

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THE DREAMING SPIRES

Global Essay Competition

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Attractive Awards Available

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About the Competition

“The Dreaming Spires” Global Essay Competition invites high school students from all over the world to showcase their academic research and writing capabilities. Students are invited to write research essays in any of the 5 subject fields:

• Science & Technology
• Social Sciences & Psychology
• Humanities & History
• Economics & Business
• Medicine & Health

Shortlisted candidates will attend an online Final Presentation & Defense judged by academics from the University of Oxford and Cambridge. They will also be granted an opportunity to publish their papers and travel to Oxford for an Awards Ceremony and Dinner. The winner will be offered a free spot to attend one of the Oxbridge Academic Programs by WorldStrides in summer 2023.

CHALLENGE YOURSELF

Competition Timeline

30 November 2022: Registration starts

30 April 2023: Essay Submission deadline

Mid-May 2023: Short-listed candidates notified

End of May 2023: Final Presentation & Defense and Winner Announcement

July/August: Awards Ceremony and Dinner

Worldstrides

WorldStrides delivers educational programs that encourage participants of all ages to learn about themselves and the world. Our focus on immersive, hands-on experiences allows us to facilitate moments of engagement that delight and open up the world of learning. By offering a wide range of programs for participants throughout their lifetime learning journey, we prepare them for success in the future. This is what sets us apart as the leader in educational travel and experiences。Since our founding, more than nine million learners from all 50 U.S. states have participated in programs with us. Today, we partner with nearly 7,000 K-12 schools and 800 universities globally.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why choose us.

Strong academic authorities to guarantee quality. All judges come from the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge and are recognised experts in their academic fields.

A broad range of topics for research. Feel free to write about any topic that interests you under the five academic tracks.

Attractive prizes for winners. The first place winner will be awarded a free place at one of the Oxbridge Academic Programs in Summer 2023. All short-listed candidates will be invited to Oxford, UK for an Awards Ceremony and Dinner.

The chance to be published. All finalists will have an opportunity for their papers to be published in academic journals and even in notable bibliographic database.

Additional programmes are available to support your journey of becoming a researcher. No matter what stage you are at in writing a research paper, you will find a well-suited programme to facilitate your paper writing.

Is there an entry fee?

Yes, entry fee is $50 USD.

What can I expect?

• High-level competition
• Professional judges
• Academic recognition
• Academic inspiration
• Stronger writing skills
• Exchange of academic ideas
• Appreciation for the spirit of research

Who can enter?

High school students of all nationalities aged under 19.

If you are an experienced researcher, join us to have your academic insights and capabilities recognised. If you are a highly-motivated aspiring researcher, join us to sharpen your critical thinking and paper writing skills. If you a new to academic research, join us to develop your own research and communicate your findings through academic writing.

Who are the judges?

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8 Best Essay Writing Competitions for High School Students in 2024

Updated: May 17

I recall a time during high school when I was tasked with writing an essay for my English class on “The significance of old age and death” in Shakespeare’s King Lear. While this topic may have intrigued some, it didn’t particularly captivate me. I approached the assignment with less enthusiasm, going through the motions. However, my perspective shifted when I discovered high school essay competitions that allowed me to choose my topic within a specified theme. 

As a budding economics nerd, i decided to explore the “impact of hyperinflation on the working class” in one of the competitions. although i didn’t receive any awards, the experience left me with a sense of pride, and the skills i gained continue to benefit me in college. , writing essays can seem daunting, especially when the topic fails to ignite one’s passion. however, high school students are fortunate to have numerous opportunities to explore both creative and academic writing. these platforms offer students the freedom to delve into diverse topics, from economics and law to justice, philosophy, climate change, and beyond. , renowned institutions worldwide host essay competitions tailored for students, providing them with a platform to showcase their intellect and creativity. below is a carefully curated list of competitions that might catch the eye of admission officers at your dream college:, our recommended list of high school essay writing competitions in 2024., grc social impact essay competition 2024, cambridge re:think essay competition 2024 , john locke institute 2024 global essay competition, harvard international review academic writing contest, columbia political review high school essay.

Columbia Undergrad Law Review High School Essay Contest 

The Aristotle Contest 2024 

The Harvard Crimson Global Essay Competition 2025

Deadline: December 15th, 2024

Eligibility: all high school students worldwide, prize: top five authors win an exclusive internship with one of grc's university branches at harvard, wharton, columbia, and other renowned schools, supporting a consulting team with a client project from february to may 2025. additionally, top 6-10 winners will receive academic guidance and support from an ivy league mentor through at least three coaching sessions and have their work published by the grc think tank on grc’s insights platform., grc is a global student-run consulting firm consisting of over 1,000+ members who advise the world’s largest ngos, governments, charities, and startups. as an international 501(c)(3) non-profit, grc operates branches at 20 top universities worldwide, including harvard, upenn, imperial college, and columbia. , every year, grc hosts an essay competition for high school students from across the globe to propose solutions for good. this year’s prompt challenges participants to craft an argumentative piece addressing a pressing global issue and proposing a compelling solution. topics include technology for good, global health, sustainable development & climate change, innovations in the public sector, modern solutions to human rights issues, and the role of education in promoting gender equality & social mobility., deadline: may 10th, 2024, eligibility: high school students aged 14 to 18 years from around the world. , prizes: cash awards (up to $150), ccir academy scholarship, an invitation for a featured interview on the ccir podcast and website, and an invitation to the award ceremony and dinner at the university of cambridge (free of charge)., the cambridge centre for international research (ccir) was established by a group of cambridge graduates with a clear understanding and vision of the transformative power of knowledge for society. ​their mission is to connect leading researchers and scholars from top academic institutions with the broader public, increasing social access to these transformative resources., organized by ccir, the re:think essay competition encourages critical thinking and exploration of a wide range of thought-provoking and controversial topics. the competition promotes intellectual exploration and challenges established norms and beliefs while offering opportunities for envisioning alternative futures. societal issues for discussion include nine topics: religion and politics, political science and law, linguistics, environment, sociology and philosophy, business and investment, public health and sustainability, genetics, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and neuroengineering. , the competition is guided and judged by an advisory committee comprising academics and experts from elite universities worldwide, including harvard, cambridge, oxford, and mit. , deadline: may 31st, 2024, eligibility: high school students from any country., prize: scholarship worth up to $20k and invitation to dinner and prize-giving ceremony in london, uk., the john locke institute is an independent educational organization that works to embolden the best and brightest students to become more academically ambitious and intellectually adventurous., the john locke global essay prize, hosted by the institute, is a prestigious competition that fosters the characteristics that transform good students into exceptional writers. this competition promotes independent thinking, depth of knowledge, clear reasoning, critical analysis, and persuasive writing style, nurturing growth and honing argumentative skills. the essay spans seven subject categories: philosophy, politics, economics, history, psychology, theology and law. , the judging panel comprises senior academics from renowned universities, including oxford and princeton. , deadline: may 31, 2024, eligibility: grade 9-12 students residing in the us or internationally, prize: certificate and recognition on the website, the harvard international review bridges the worlds of academia and policy through outstanding writing and editorial selection. the review has featured exclusive interviews and editorials by 43 presidents and prime ministers, 4 secretaries-general, 4 nobel economics prize laureates, and 7 nobel peace prize laureates., the harvard international review academic writing contest, initiated in 2020, aims to promote and highlight exceptional high school writing on topics about international affairs, grounded in analytically-backed perspectives. , the competition is organized by season, and for the upcoming spring 2024 edition, participants can choose between two distinct themes: “inequalities in a vuca world” and “global challenges and collective actions”., entries should explore the specified themes from a global standpoint rather than focusing solely on us politics. potential topics include agriculture, business, cybersecurity, defense, education, employment & immigration, energy & environment, finance & economy, public health, science & technology, space, trade, and transportation, deadline: june 1st, 2024, founded in 2001, the columbia political review (cpr) is columbia university’s premier undergraduate publication for multi partisan political discourse. its mission is to provide an open forum for political thought on issues of local to global significance. , the mission of cpr is to cultivate the next generation of politically engaged writers. in doing so, they host an annual high school essay contest, inaugurated in 2017. through this initiative, cpr seeks to amplify the voices of talented high school students amid global challenges such as pandemic, conflicts, and uncertainty, offering a platform for innovative and creative solutions to the world’s most pressing issues., the essay prompt for this year’s contest encourages students to delve into the political landscape of one of the 64 countries expected to hold a national election. participants are tasked with researching and writing about the most critical issue at stake in the chosen country’s election., columbia undergrad law review high school essay contest  , deadline: june 21st, 2024, eligibility: high school students, below grade 12 level, internationally ., prize: the winning essay will be published on the culr website, and winners will be invited to a speaker event hosted by culr., the columbia undergraduate law review (culr) was founded to provide the columbia university community and the public with a platform for discussing law-related ideas and publishing undergraduate legal scholarship. many undergraduates and non-law students find legal issues unapproachable or complex. the culr’s mission is to create a space where students can engage in debate and discourse about the law, supported by scholarly research. , the culr is launching the 2024 high school essay content, focusing on the principle of “freedom of speech '' enshrined in the first amendment of the us constitution and its application on social media platforms. the prompt challenges participants to consider the balance between protecting against harmful ideas, combating misinformation, and upholding the principle of free speech. specifically, participants are asked to discuss whether removing harmful ideas is a viable strategy to combat misinformation and societal harm, such as covid-19 medical misinformation or hate speech while considering the value of free speech. additionally, participants must reference at least one court case or legal document in their essays., deadline: june 24th, 2024, eligibility: canadian high school students at or below the grade 12 level., prizes: cash awards up to $500., the university of toronto department of philosophy, in collaboration with the ontario philosophy teachers’ association, presents the annual aristotle contest. this contest aims to recognize and evaluate the best philosophical work by current canadian high school students. it offers students interested in philosophy a chance to have their work reviewed and acknowledged by the largest post-secondary department of philosophy in north america., participants are invited to submit their finest philosophical work on one of three main topics: the potential of artificial intelligence to produce art of aesthetic value, the significance of human free will, and the morality of pet ownership., the harvard crimson global essay competition  2025, deadline: january 2025 (pre-registration has commenced), eligibility: high school students, below grade 12 level, internationally., prize: exclusive internships with the harvard crimson, published work on the official hcgec website, crimson credit with crimson education to help reach individual goals and generous cash prizes., the harvard crimson, the nation's oldest continuously published daily college newspaper, was founded in 1873 and incorporated in 1967. the crimson has a rich tradition of journalistic integrity and counts among its ranks of editorship some of america's greatest journalists. more than 40 crimson alumni have won the pulitzer prize; many of their portraits line the walls of the crimson., the harvard crimson global essay competition (hcgec) serves as a platform for ambitious high school students aged 13 to 18 worldwide, cultivating their passion for writing and encouraging the expression of ideas through creative, argumentative, and journalistic forms.  , the competition comprises two key rounds: regional qualifiers across five regions, followed by the global finals. to advance to the global round, participants must secure a position in the top 15 of their respective regional qualifiers. , while the 2024 competition has concluded, pre-registration for the 2025 edition is now open..

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International Organization for Chemical Sciences in Development

⇑ Global Essay Competition

2024 Essay Competition

Call for essays.

In November 2023, IOCD launched the second year of its annual essay competition on the role of the chemical sciences in sustainability, in collaboration with the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). See here . The competition is open globally to entrants under 35 years of age on the closing date of 31 March 2024 . The theme for the 2024 competition is:

How can the chemical sciences contribute to ‘decarbonizing’ the production of energy and to eliminating the generation or release of greenhouse gasses from large-scale manufacturing and agricultural processes?

Essays will be grouped into seven regions for the selection of winners, based on the entrant’s country of normal residence. Each regional winner will receive a prize of US$500 and their entries will be published in RSC Sustainability . The shortlisted essays selected as Finalists will be collected in an annual compendium, Young Voices in the Chemical Sciences for Sustainability, published as a PDF online and available on IOCD’s website . Individual shortlisted entries will also be featured from time to time on IOCD’s website. See here for the 2023 regional winners and finalists. The seven regional groupings are:

• East Asia & Pacific
• Europe & Central Asia
• Latin America & Caribbean
• Middle East & North Africa
• North America
• Sub-Saharan Africa

Broad flexibility will be applied in assessing the approach taken by entrants to framing the theme. Essays will be judged on how well they highlight the importance of scientific approaches grounded in the chemical sciences for solving sustainability challenges. Entrants are encouraged to take a wide, global perspective, including reflecting on the intersection of science, society and policy aspects, rather than to describe a particular scientific advance in great technical detail. Entrants should create their own title for their essay, related to the theme set. Essays must not exceed 1500 words of main text.

The following downloads are available:

• 2024 Essay Competition Rules and Guidance Note here .
• 2024 Entry Form here .

Call for Volunteer Evaluators

IOCD invites volunteers from around the world to assist in the evaluation of the entries for the 2024 competition. Volunteers should have a postgraduate degree/experience in a field related to the role of the chemical sciences in sustainable development (whether in education, research or industry) and be willing to undertake scoring according to set criteria and commenting qualitatively on up to 20 essays during the period March-May 2024. Every volunteer will receive a Certificate acknowledging their contribution to the competition.

IOCD is seeking more evaluators. An application form to register as a volunteer can be downloaded here .

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10 Break-Out Sessions

• Time: 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm

India is undergoing its economic, technological and demographic transition simultaneously. An old country is becoming youthful and adventurous with the passage of time. Young Indians like OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal are quietly taking charge of Indian ethos by becoming icons of audacious aspirations and tangible proofs of its potential, spawning startups that are becoming most valuable and famous than many legacy companies. How can young revolutionaries find ways to carry the older generation of investors, regulators, workers and consumers with them and what can other economies and founders learn from India’s momentous transition?

For over 50 years teams of student have volunteered to organise the St. Gallen Symposium. They have written countless invitations, met thousands of partners, and welcomed some of the most important personalities of their time on stage. Together with former members of the ISC we will reflect on the St. Gallen Symposium experience of cross-generational dialogue and collaboration, the lessons they have learned for their lives and on how the symposium has evolved. This session is organised together with ISC Alumni.

As the need for innovation is growing, the routinisation of well-structured creative processes within organizations is key for concurrent value creation. Prof. Susan Goldsworthy of IMD, this year's St. Gallen Symposium artist Javiera Estrada and Light Artist Gerry Hofstetter will discuss the role of collaboration in the creative process. Together, and in conversation with the audience, they’ll explore the way collaboration can drive creativity in various organisational contexts, and, on the other hand, the role of introversion and lone contemplation in creating something new.

Many employee volunteering and giving programs are presented as an employee perk, similar to casual Fridays or a team-building event. But treating workplace giving and volunteering this way fails to fully capitalise on the great potential of such programs: to foster employee personal growth, and address key societal challenges. The panel will particularly explore the potential of skills-based volunteering, its benefits, and the unique challenges that arise when moving from merely transactional volunteering to something far more transformative.

The investment landscape over the next twenty years will be radically different from previous generations. While there appears to be greater access to capital, there also appears to be much more volatility and debt with no clear dominant financing mechanism. Entrepreneurs, VC, Private Equity, and banks will have to find new ways to work together to create growth and stimulate innovation. How can investors and entrepreneurs better collaborate and find mutually beneficial agreements that balance risk and return?

The fashion industry accounts for 10% of humanity’s annual carbon emissions – more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. For long, the fashion and luxury watchmaking industry drove, together with the fashion media industry, unsustainable dynamics in the sector: generating more and more demand through an artificial cycle of new collections and seasonal trends. Businesses’ marketing, media as well as influencers thereby create a constant longing and demand for their products. How can designers, fashion houses and publishers exit this vicious cycle and, collaboratively, drive the transition towards more sustainable and ethical fashion and luxury watchmaking?

Media diversity, freedom of the press and freedom of expression in Europe are currently under threat. Journalists and independent media companies are increasingly joining forces across borders to respond to such challenges as well as to be able to continue to offer independent quality journalism in the future. This session will identify learnings from new media partnerships such as the Leading European Newspaper Alliance (LENA) and the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) to identify how media can most effectively work together.

Technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship are key drivers of the modern economy and social mobility. Given their importance, we should strive to improve accessibility to tech, education and entrepreneurship across all backgrounds. Creating open and inclusive communities, especially with tech is important to accomplishing this goal, but it is easier said that done. Simultaneously, a third iteration of the internet – Web3 – has the potential to radically transform the internet of things and reduce barriers to access. How can these forces be effectively harnessed and directed for the benefit of all people and move the world forward?

Over the past decades, the tech sector, especially the internet of things, has become a central component of modern economies. Trying to catch up with the exponential pace of technological development, the US, China, and Europe are crafting rules of the game on digital markets. What are the emerging characteristic differences between regulatory regimes of digital markets, in the US, Europe and beyond, and how do they balance innovation and regulation? In light of strategic competition over tech dominance between the US and China, what are the opportunities and challenges for Europe in particular?

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the world of work forever. The fast and widespread adoption of remote work and an ever-increasing concern of employees with purpose and meaning on their job have intensified the war for talents. Reaching out to and concurrently engaging employees is key for businesses across sectors and regions. What learnings can be drawn from the pandemic as regards our approach to work? Has the world of work changed for the better? And what role does leadership culture and a new approach to hiring play going forward?

• A Demographic Revolution: Young India Takes Charge (with All India Management Association) 9:00 am - 10:00 am
• Collaborative Advantage Across Generations: Reflecting on the SGS Experience (ISC Alumni) 9:00 am - 10:00 am
• Collective Genius? Cultivating Creativity in the Arts and Beyond 9:00 am - 10:00 am
• Connecting Business with Purpose: The Potential of Skills-Based Volunteering 9:00 am - 10:00 am
• Financing the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs 10:00 am - 11:00 am
• Hacking the Fashion & Luxury Watchmaking Industry towards more Sustainability (with Condé Nast College) 10:00 am - 11:00 am
• M100 Sanssouci Colloquium@St. Gallen: Media’s New Power: More Impact Through Collaborative Journalism 10:00 am - 11:00 am
• Democratizing Access to the next Generation of Technology and Innovation: Communities and Radical Transformation 10:00 am - 11:00 am
• Varieties of Tech Capitalism: Europe's Approach to Innovation and Regulation in a Global Context 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
• Changed for Good? Engaging with the New World of Work 11:00 am - 12:00 pm

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Global Essay Competition

Compete in our Global Essay Competition and qualify for participation as a Leader of Tomorrow in the world’s premier opportunity for cross-generational debates: The St. Gallen Symposium.

Meet 300 of society’s brightest young minds. Present and debate your ideas with 600 senior leaders. Be inspired by some of the world’s most impressive speakers. Gain a unique and new perspective on this year’s topic. Become a member of a unique global community. Participate in the symposium with us. Win prize money of CHF 20,000 split amongst the three winners.

Topic Question

Striving for more or thriving with less – what pressing scarcity do you see, and how do you suggest to tackle it.

Scarcity generally refers to a situation where human needs exceed available resources . This year’s Global Essay Competition invites young leaders worldwide to focus on a specific contemporary or future challenge related to scarcity and propose an innovative way to address it.

Be creative in thinking about proposed solutions: do we need to strive for more and find ways to boost the availability of the resource in question? Or does it focus on ways to thrive with less and thus rethink our needs and demand?

Be free in choosing which scarce resource you focus on: examples include – but are NOT limited to – human labour, capital, natural resources, or intangibles like time, creativity, or care. Be bold and precise in describing a contemporary or future challenge of scarcity and the specific kind of resources you focus on, and offer a concrete and actionable idea of how we should confront it.

Registration window for the GEC for the 53rd St. Gallen Symposium is closed.

If problems occur during registration, please clear your cached images and files in your browsing history or consider using the browser Google Chrome. If you still cannot apply, use the following  link. For any unanswered questions please contact us via e-mail at  [email protected]

Prerequisites

Qualify with an excellent essay.

We expect a professional, creative and thought-provoking essay. Be bold, unconventional, and distinctive on the competition question.

For your contribution to be valid, the following criteria must be met

Check your eligibility and prepare documents, to be eligible, you must fulfill all of the following criteria:.

• Enrolled in a graduate or postgraduate programme (master level or higher) in any field of study at a regular university
• Born in 1994 or later

Make sure you can provide the following documents:

• Copy of passport or other identification (in English for non-Roman languages)
• Confirmation of matriculation/enrolment from your university which proves your enrollment in a graduate/postgraduate level programme as of 1 February 2024 (download sample document  here )
• Your contribution file with no indication of your name in the file name, the file metadata or the file itself

Meet us and ask your questions!

Meet our student representatives to learn how you can qualify for a participation in the 53 rd St. Gallen Symposium. We will have physical presentations at your university again as well as regular webinars to answer your questions!

Accompanying a Leader of Tomorrow

General questions, who can compete for a participation as a leader of tomorrow at the st. gallen symposium.

Students enrolled at a regular university, who are matriculated in a graduate or postgraduate programme.

What is the St. Gallen Global Essay Competition?

The St. Gallen Global Essay Competition is a global student essay competition, offering students who study at graduate or postgraduate level around the world the opportunity to apply for participation at the St. Gallen Symposium.

What is the Knowledge Pool?

The Knowledge Pool is a group of Leaders of Tomorrow with a strong affiliation to topics of relevance to the St. Gallen Symposium. They show outstanding track records in the particular fields they work or study. They are hand-selected by the International Students’ Committee. It is not possible to apply for membership in the Knowledge Pool.

How much does it cost to participate? 

The participation in the symposium is free for all Leaders of Tomorrow. Moreover, expenses for travel, board and lodging are covered by the ISC. However, we recommend bringing a small amount of pocket money for your convenience.

Essay Competition

Who is eligible for the 54 th  st. gallen symposium.

Students enrolled at a regular university, who are matriculated in a graduate or postgraduate programme as of 1 February 2025, from any field of study, born in 1995 or later.

What is a “regular university”?

In the context of the Global Essay Competition, a regular university is defined as an institution of higher education that also conducts research and offers at least one PhD programme. Exceptions are possible and are granted on a case-by-case basis.

Can Bachelor students participate?

Unfortunately, students on bachelor level do not fulfil the eligibility criteria and therefore cannot enter the competition. There is no other way to apply for participation and we, therefore, encourage all students to join the competition once they pursue with their studies at a graduate level. You may, however, be eligible if the level of study in your current year is equivalent to international graduate level which must be confirmed in writing by your university.

Can teams participate?

Only individual submissions are allowed as we can only grant participation to one contender per contribution.

How long should the contribution be? 

The maximum amount of words is 2,100 (excluding bibliography or graph descriptions and the like). There is no minimum word count. Please make sure to state the exact word count in your document. Also keep in mind that you must not state your name in the contribution.

Do I have to quote my sources?

All sources must be quoted and all essays are scanned for plagiarism. You must refer each source to the respective text passage. Please note that plagiarism is a serious offense and that we reserve the right to take further steps in case of deliberate fraud. Self-plagiarism will also result in disqualification, as the work has to be written exclusively for the Global Essay Competition of the St. Gallen Symposium.

Can I have a look at previous Winner Essays?

Yes, you can find winner essays as well as other publications from the Global Essay Competition here .

What file formats are accepted?

Please make sure to hand in your essay in either a doc, docx or pdf format. The document must allow to copy the text easily (no document protections).

What documents do I need to submit?

In addition to your contribution, make sure to upload

• a copy of your passport (or any other official government ID but no driver’s license) to verify your age
• a confirmation of matriculation from your university confirming your graduate or postgraduate student status as of February 2023
• a short abstract (200–300 words) which can be entered in the registration form directly

in the applicable field of the registration form.

What happens after I submitted my application?

The ISC will verify your eligibility and check all submitted documents for completeness and readability. Due to the large amount of essays we receive, our response may take some time, so thank you for your patience. If the jury selects your essay in the top 100 , you qualify as a Leader of Tomorrow for an expenses-paid participation in the 52 nd St. Gallen Symposium (4-5 May 2023). The results will be announced via e-mail by mid-March 2023. The jury selects the three awardees based on the quality of the idea on paper. The award is endowed with a total prize money of CHF 20,000. In addition, there will be a chance for the very best competitors (including the awardees) to present their ideas on the big stage at the symposium. For this, the students will be asked to pitch their idea on video beforehand.

Who’s in the jury?

The Award Jury consists of leading executives, journalists and professors from all around the world. The Academic Jury is composed of young top academics from the University of St. Gallen and the ETH Zurich.

When will the results be announced?

The jury’s decision will be announced by mid-March at the latest.

Participation

How do the travel arrangements work.

The organizing committee will get in touch with you prior to the symposium to discuss your itinerary and to book your travel.

Can the organising committee help me get a visa?

All Leaders of Tomorrow are self-responsible to get a visa. However, we will inform the applicable Swiss embassy about the invitation and will provide you with the necessary documents. Should a problem arise anyway, we are happy to help. Expenses for visa application are borne by the Leaders of Tomorrow themselves.

Where am I accommodated during the symposium?

All Leaders of Tomorrow are accommodated at private student flats across the city. Please give us an early notice should you have any special requirements (e.g. female flatmates only).

What transport is provided?

We book flights or train tickets and provide shuttle service from and to the airport. Furthermore, all Leaders of Tomorrow receive a free ticket for the public transport in St. Gallen during the week of the symposium.

How much money do I need? 

We recommend bringing some pocket money (CHF 100–200) for your convenience. Please note that depending on your time of arrival and departure, some meals might not be covered.

Can disabled people participate as well? 

Yes, of course. Most of the symposium sites are wheelchair-accessible and we are more than happy to help where we can. Although our ability to provide personal assistance is very limited, we do our best to provide the necessary services.

Is there any touristic programme and do I have time for sightseeing?

During the symposium there will be no time for sightseeing. However, we may offer selected touristic programmes a day before or after the symposium. These days can, of course, also be used for individual sightseeing. Nearby sites include the old town of St. Gallen, the lake Constance and the mountain Säntis.

Can I extend my stay in Switzerland?

Yes, upon request we can move your return flight to a date of your choice. If the new flight is more expensive, we may ask you to cover the price difference. Please note that we are unable to provide any services such as accommodation or transportation after the end of the symposium week.

Can I bring a spouse?

Unfortunately, we cannot provide any services such as travel, room, board or symposium access to any additional person.

Past Winners & Essay Reviews

Out of approx. 1,000 annual contributions submitted by graduate and post-graduate students from all around the globe, the jury selects three winner essays every year. Meet our competition’s past winners and read their contributions.

2023 – A New Generational Contract

Elliot gunn, gaurav kamath, megan murphy, essay question:.

The best or worst legacy from previous generations: How to preserve or replace it?

A great deal of our lives is influenced by when we were born. As those currently alive, we have inherited the world which previous and older generations have built. We owe a great deal to the efforts of our forebears, but we also inherit problematic legacies.

2022 – Collaborative Advantage

Sophie lara neuber, anton meier, bryan kwang shing tan.

Collaborative Advantage: what should be written into a new intergenerational contract?

 The idea of a “generational contract” embodies the principles that younger and older generations rely on each other to provide mutual support across different stages of their lives. Inclusive education systems, sustainable welfare states and meaningful environmental action are some of many challenges requiring a cross-generational collaborative effort. Yet, with the climate crisis, rapid technological change and societal aging in many countries, the generational contract and notions of intergenerational fairness have been challenged. Members of the younger generation are raising their voices as they reflect on how their futures are being compromised by current decision-makers.

 What’s your specific and actionable idea that should be written into a new generational contract? Choose an area where you see evidence that intergenerational fairness is – or, going forward, will be – challenged and where the generational contract needs to be rewritten. Potential areas include, but are not limited to, business strategy and the economy, inclusive governance and education, the welfare state and health care, environmental sustainability, or the world of work. Describe your problem and offer concrete and practical proposals how inter-generational fairness can be restored or reinvented. Explain your idea’s impact for the future.

2021 – Trust Matters

Janz irvin chiang.

1st place – Peking University

Joan  Nyangena

2nd place – York University

Karl Michael Braun

3rd place – Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg

A Matter of Trust: How Can Trust be Repaired When It’s Lost?

In recent years, we have seen many reports about “trust crises” in the realms of politics, health, business, technology, science, and media. Political and corporate scandals, mass protests, and deteriorating trust indicators in global perception surveys support this diagnosis. As a result, senior leaders in many of these sectors publicly aspire to “rebuild trust” in their decisions, products, or institutions. What would be your advice to them?

Choose an area in one of the above-mentioned sectors where you see evidence that citizens’, consumers’, regulators’, employees’ or other stakeholders’ trust has been lost. Describe your example of an apparent loss of trust; offer concrete and practical proposals on repairing damaged trust. Describe your idea’s impact for the future.

2020 – Freedom Revisited

Symposium  postponed.

As a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the final review and communication of the results of the contributions to the Global Essay Competition was stopped prematurely.

Freedom Revisited: Which aspects of freedom need to be defended, or recalibrated, to meet the challenges of our time?

Domestically and on the international stage, values of individual, economic, and political freedom are subject to critical inquiry or outright attack. Diverse phenomena such as populism, global power shifts, climate change, the digital revolution, and global migration call for a reflection on the value of freedom for the way we live, do business, and organize politically in the years ahead. While some call for a defence of established freedoms, others call for recalibration of our concept of freedom, or the balance we strike between freedom and other values, such as equality, sustainability, and security. Where do you stand in this debate? Choose one of the following positions as you develop your essay:

In defence of freedom: Choose an area in the realm of business, economics, politics, or civil society where current concepts of freedom are under pressure and where they need to be defended. Describe the problem and offer a concrete and practical proposition of how established concepts of freedom should – and can be – defended. Describe its impact for the future.

In defence of recalibrating freedom: Choose an area in the realms of business, economics, politics or civil society where current concepts of freedom are unsuitable for the challenges we face and where they need to be recalibrated. Describe the problem and offer a concrete and practical proposition of how established concepts of freedom should and can be recalibrated. Describe its impact for the future.

2019 – Capital for Purpose

Reuben muhindi wambui (ke).

1st place – The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies

Natalie Hei Tung Lau (HK)

2nd place – University of Pennsylvania

Toan Do (VN)

3rd place – Yale University

Is it as good as it gets? – What approach would you suggest to change the current purpose of capital?

Political volatility, environmental issues, precarious labour markets, technological monopolies, managerial and investment short-termism are only a few challenges we face. The time has come to counter excessive short-termism and start doing business as unusual. Think about the status quo and its implications. What would be an idea to change it? Develop projects or actions you would trust in to bring new and expanded purposes to capital and aim for a long-term positive impact. In your essay you should consider how the use of capital (financial, human, social,…) can solve complex challenges and address substantial changes, be it by individuals, civil society, businesses or governments. Your idea must inspire leaders worldwide to take on responsibility and put it into practice. Be bold and develop a truly impactful concept to win our prestigious award.

2009 – 2018

2018  – beyond the end of work, nat ware (au).

1st place – University of Oxford

Janis Goldschmidt (DE)

João abreu (br).

3rd place – Harvard University

Robots are coming for your job. How do you augment yourself to stay economically relevant?

Author Yuval Noah Harari claims that the rapid progress of artificial intelligence technology will render the human species economically useless within decades. Imagine a world in which humans fight back, harnessing AI and other technologies to stay economically indispensable – and, ultimately, competitive against the computers. Describe the job you aspire to in the future, how it will potentially be influenced by AI, and how you would augment yourself technologically if necessary to prevail in your chosen career.

2017  – The dilemma of disruption

1st Place – University of Oxford

Benjamin Hofmann (DE)

2nd Place – University of St. Gallen

Sigin Ojulu (SS)

3rd Place – University of Southern California

Breaking the status quo – What’s YOUR disruptive idea?

The notion of disruption captures today’s innovation zeitgeist. Nowadays, it seems everyone claims to be a disruptor – particularly young people with an entrepreneurial mindset. Let’s think beyond disruptive innovation in management and look at disruption more generally as something that breaks the status quo – be it in business, politics, science, or society. Pick the one of these four fields you are most passionate about, identify a problem of greater magnitude and come up with a disruptive idea to solve it. Your idea must aspire to inspire top-notch leaders worldwide. Do not free ride on the buzzword “disruption” but rather be bold and develop a truly novel and radical concept to win our prestigious award.

2016  – Growth – the good, the bad, and the ugly

Schima labitsch (at).

1st place – Fordham University

Alexandra Ettlin (CH)

2nd place – University of St.Gallen

Colin Miller (US)

3rd place – New York University

What are alternatives to economic growth?

2015  – Proudly Small

Laya maheshwari (in).

1st place – London School of Economic

Leon Schreiber (ZA)

2nd place – Freie Universität Berlin

Katharina Schramm (DE)

3rd place – University of St.Gallen

Essay Questions:

• What is the next small BIG thing?

Think about unconventional ideas, undiscovered trends or peripheral signals that may turn into ground-breaking changes for societies. Present one idea which is not on the radar of current leaders yet but will change the game in business, politics or civil society – the best ones will be put to the test by the global audience of the St. Gallen Symposium.

• Collaborative Small State Initiative

Although small states lead the global rankings in international benchmark studies on competitiveness, innovation and wealth, they are often politically marginalised. Explore a common agenda for small and prosperous countries and identify one joint project that would increase the relevance of small states on the global stage. Go beyond politics and diplomacy by also including economic and civil players.

• Elites: small but superior groups rule the world – at what price?

Human history shows that the world has been ruled by tiny but superior groups of people. It is the elites who have been controlling societies and the allocation of resources. Given the rise of inequality, a devastating level of famine that still exists, ubiquitous corrupt systems of government, limited access to education for the underprivileged, to name just a few of the world’s greatest problems, elites are challenged to redefine their roles and agenda settings. Share your thoughts on how elites are supposed to emerge and transform in the 21st century.

2014  – The Clash of Generations

Ashwinikumar singh (in).

1st place – University of Mumbai

Martin Seneviratne (AU)

2nd place – University of Sydney

Set Ying Ting (MY)

3rd place – National University of Singapore

• Balancing Generational Claims

The presumption of an altruistic relation between generations and its positive effect on the economic well-being of societies is illusionary. Welfare states have widened fiscal gaps to an irreparable extent for the next generations. When aspiring to a sustainable welfare system, how should intergenerational claims balance without having to rely on selflessness?

• A Double-Edged Legacy

Let’s be frank: The generational contract has failed everywhere – but for different reasons. Exuberant public debts, zooming healthcare costs, unequal distribution of wealth, loss of ethical and moral anchors, loss of trust in existing institutions: each state is facing a unique set of problems. Briefly describe the situation in your country and propose a generational contract defining mutual responsibilities on an economic and social level.

• A Prospect for the Young

Highly educated and ambitious, yet unemployed. A whole generation of young is entering the labour market with little prospect of success. The implications go way beyond individual tragedies as economies with lasting high levels of youth unemployment risk social instability. Present new solutions on how we can overcome this crisis.

• Business between Generations

Slogans like “rent is the new own” or Botsmann and Rogers’s “what’s mine is yours” (HarperBusiness, 2010) mark the trend of shared economy. Although not a new economic phenomenon per se, particularly the Millennials are embracing this attitude towards doing business where they value access over ownership. The trend is gaining global mainstream acceptance which is resulting in a lasting impact on economic performance. Discuss the future of shared economy, its overall implications and the dynamics between supply and demand.

2013 – Rewarding Courage

Kilian semmelmann (de).

1st place – Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

Dragov Radoslav (BG)

2nd place – Rotterdam School of Management

Bree Romuld (AU)

3rd place – University of St.Gallen (HSG)

The competitors must choose from one of four competition questions, which refer to the four topic clusters “Putting incentives right”, “Coping with institutions”, “Against the current – courageous people” and “Management of excellence”

• Putting incentives right

How come that both in the corporate world and in politics, responsible courage (e.g. whistleblowing, courage to disagree with current paradigms, etc.) is hardly ever rewarded? Where the big decisions for the future are taken, anxiety, conformity and despondence prevail. How can this be changed?

• Coping with institutions

Institutions of all kinds shape our behaviour – be it economic, political or social behaviour. How should institutions be designed in order to foster a sustainable economic and social development?

• Against the current – courageous people

Observers lament that younger generations, as individualistic as they are, tend to settle for a highly streamlined social and economic world that does not ask for big decisions or unconventional thinking. Please share your opinion on this observation and explain why you agree or disagree. Please use examples that support your arguments.

• Management of excellence

New insights can only flourish within a culture of dialogue in different opinions. No assumptions should be taken for granted nor should there be any unquestioned truth. However, most people (decision makers, managers, students, etc.) often fail to deal constructively with conflicting opinions. How can companies encourage their employees to build a healthy attitude towards unconventional thinking and acting?

2012 – Facing Risk

Rodrigues caren (in).

1st place – St. Joseph’s Institute of Management

Jennifer Miksch (DE)

2nd place – Geneva Graduate Institute

Jelena Petrovic (SR)

3rd place – King’s College London

Detecting Risks

• The methodological tools that allow early detection of what will shape future trends are pivotal. While risks are emerging faster, these tools still need fostered advancement. What is the role of scenario planning and forecasting methods and who is or should be responsible for these aspects in the organisation? How should the detection of risks be addressed in an increasingly complex and interconnected global landscape?

Risk Aversion

• In wealthy societies, most people tend to suppress risk taking. Given this increasing trend of risk aversion in saturated societies, what are the long term consequences for economy and society? What are the long term consequences of a high level of risk aversion?

Emerging Risks

• There are tremendous risks facing the global community and many people have not yet become aware of their potential consequences (e.g. public debt burden). What are the societal, economic and/or political risks your generation of decision makers will be facing in the future? How could you convert these risks into opportunities?

Managing Risk

• There is often a disconnect between taking risks and bearing the burden of the consequences of doing so (e.g. risk taking in investment banking). Who should bear the consequences of negligent risk taking and why? How can healthy risk taking be fostered in wealthy societies?

2011 – Just Power

Marcelo ber (ar).

1st place – New York University

Dhru Kanan Amal (IN)

2nd place – London School of Economics

Maria de los Angeles Lasa (AR)

3rd place – Università di Camerino

• Justice and Power
• Rethinking Leadership
• Public Goods and Values

We asked you to contribute visions and ideas to the theme “Just Power” – Power in the sense of its use in various areas of politics and economics. We expected a professional work which could be an essay, a scenario, a project report or proposal, a multi- media presentation or an entrepreneurial concept. It should be constructive, provocative or instructive, inspiring thoughts and actions as well as introucing new approaches and unconventional ideas. Within the framework of the theme you may choose between three subtopics for your contribution.

2010 – Entrepreneurs – Agents of Change

Ainur begim (kz).

1st place – University of Oslo

James Clear (USA)

Christoph birkholz (de).

• What makes an entrepreneur an “agent of change”?
• Changing of the guard: Who are the new entrepreneurs?
• Corporate entrepreneurship within large companies: a concept for the future or a mere pie in the sky?
• Entrepreneurship between environmental risks and opportunities: What does it take to succeed?

2009 – Revival of Political and Economic Boundaries

Shofwan al-banna choiruzzad (id), jason george (us), aris trantidis (gr), 1999 – 2008, 2008  – global capitalism – local values, guillaume darier (ch), jacobus cilliers (za), feerasta aniqa (nz), christoph matthias paret (de), 2007  – the power of natural resources, benjamin block (us), gustav borgefalk (se), kevin chua (ph), 2006  – inspiring europe, maximilian freier (de), chen yesh (sg), elidor mëhilli (al), william english (us), 2005  – liberty, trust and responsibility, christian h. harding (de), luana badiu (ro), norbert jungmichel (de), fabien curto millet (es /fr), 2004  – the challenges to growth and prosperity, ravi rauniyar (np), peter g. kirchschläger (at / ch), xin dong (cn), 2003 – seeking responses in times of uncertainty, stefanie klein (de), rosita shivacheva (bg), 2002 – pushing limits – questioning goals, constantine (dino) asproloupos (ca / gr), manita jitngarmkusol (th), 2001 – new balance of power, marion mühlberger (at), uwe seibel (de), moses ekra (ci / ca), gerald tan (my), 2000 – time, martin von brocke (de), pei-fu hsieh (tw), tzvetelina tzvetkova (bg), 1999 – new markets, new technologies, new skills, peter doralt (fr), valérie feldmann (de), rajen makhijani (in).

“Partaking in the competition was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Not only was I able to come to St. Gallen and meet incredible young entrepreneurs and leaders who I’m still in contact with, but it provided me the opportunity to develop and share ideas with key decision-makers. The main idea I submitted was for a new way to finance retraining and healthcare at no cost to individuals or governments. Given the COVID- 19 pandemic, this idea is needed now more than ever, so I’m currently implementing the idea through a new organization I’ve established called FORTE ( Financing Of Return To Employment ).” NAT WARE , Founder & CEO of FORTE, Leader of Tomorrow at the 47th and 48th St. Gallen Symposium

On Matthew Arnold & Oxford’s past.

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M at thew Arnold is responsible for two of the most celebrated remarks ever made about Oxford. One is the phrase “city of dreaming spires”—actually “that sweet City with her dreaming spires,” in his poem “Thyrsis.” The other is a passage in the preface to Essays in Criticism where Oxford is seen as the “home of lost causes” and is heard to be “whispering from her towers the last enchantments of the Middle Age.” The phrase from “Thyrsis” is routinely misquoted and endlessly reused. There is an Oxford Spires Barbers on the High Street, an Oxford Spires hotel, and (perhaps less incongruously) an Oxford Spires Scaffolding company. More seriously, “dreaming spires” has become a compound noun, used as a synonym not just for Oxbridge but for the traditional conception of the university more generally, especially when that conception is attacked as outdated or inadequate. The “dreaming spires” model of academic life is, we are told, a false ideal, a complacent or self-congratulatory convention.

The circumstances in which Arnold made these statements, however, are rather less well known. Have we, perhaps, misunderstood them? The preface to Essays in Criticism , which describes Oxford in its final paragraph, was published in February 1865. “Thyrsis,” Arnold’s elegy for Arthur Hugh Clough, appeared fourteen months later in April 1866. Though close in date, they are very different texts: One is in prose, the other in verse. One is a comic and combative introduction to a volume of essays, the other an elegy for a close friend. They also give two curiously different accounts of the skyline of Oxford: one as “towers,” the other as “spires.”

The “dreaming spires” model of academic life is, we are told, a false ideal, a complacent or self-congratulatory convention.

Both date from Arnold’s second term as Oxford’s Professor of Poetry, a visiting post that he held (while working elsewhere as an inspector of schools) for ten years between 1857 and 1867. The preface to Essays in Criticism , written in the winter of 1864–65, introduces nine essays that had previously appeared in magazines, six of them having originally been given as Oxford lectures. Arnold wished to hit back at the critics who had attacked either these magazine articles or his previous volume of Oxford lectures, On Translating Homer (1861). He needed, however, to make it clear that Matthew Arnold, rather than the university, was responsible for what had been said in the lectures: “seekers often make mistakes, and I wish mine to redound to my own discredit only, and not to touch Oxford.” And, more particularly, he needed to establish that the university could not be blamed for his savage mockery of his critics in the earlier sections of the preface (even more savage in the original version than in the now more familiar 1869 revision). He therefore constructed a vivid contrast between himself, on the one hand, and Oxford—“so venerable, so lovely, so unravaged by the fierce intellectual life of our century”—on the other. Arnold swapping insults with James Fitzjames Stephen is “the fierce intellectual life of our century.” Oxford, “whispering from her towers the last enchantments of the Middle Age,” is not.

The preface is, in other words, an exercise in aggressive irony, counterbalanced at the end by a short passage of deliberate overstatement. Writing to his brother Edward in July 1867, Arnold confessed that, “in the praise I have given to Oxford . . . I am generally thought to have buttered her up to excess.” Was this insincerity? Not quite—writing to his wife from Cambridge in March 1853, he felt “that the Middle Ages and all their poetry and impressiveness are in Oxford and not here,” and in a letter to another brother, Tom, in May 1857, he remembered

that life at Oxford, the freest and most delightful part, perhaps, of my life, when . . . I shook off all the bonds and formalities of the place, and enjoyed . . . that unforgotten Oxfordshire and Berkshire country. . . . [T]he sentiment of the place is overpowering to me when I have leisure to feel it.

But he distinguished the countryside, here, from the “bonds and formalities” of the university, and the final paragraph of the preface (which lacks that careful distinction) is certainly calculated or contrived. Arnold’s words are, in their literary context, a rhetorical exaggeration—a deliberate overstatement that has since been mistaken for straightforward or literal description.

I s there substance, here, as well as rhetoric? What are the preface’s “lost causes,” “forsaken beliefs,” “impossible loyalties,” and “unpopular names”? When Tom Brown arrives at the university in Thomas Hughes’s 1859 novel Tom Brown at Oxford , he visits the colleges of figures accepted as heroes, one assumes, at Dr. Arnold’s Rugby School, the first seven of whom might all be said to have been unpopular or, at least, to have come to a bad end: “Wycliffe, the Black Prince . . . Sir Walter Raleigh, Pym, Hampden, Laud, Ireton, Butler, and Addison.” More generally, one might see the Oxford of the English Civil War as the home of a “lost cause” for having served as the Cavalier headquarters. Meanwhile the colleges had opposed Roman Catholic emancipation in 1829 and responded rather reluctantly to the changes required by the Oxford University Act of 1854. Arnold himself, in his essay on Emerson, linked his “last enchantments of the Middle Age” phrase to another issue, the Oxford Movement and John Henry Newman:

Forty years ago he was . . . preaching in St. Mary’s pulpit every Sunday. . . . Somewhere or other I have spoken of those “last enchantments of the Middle Age” which Oxford sheds around us, and here they were!

Though the Emerson essay was not written until 1883, Newman was certainly in Arnold’s mind in 1864, since the Apologia had been published that year and was praised in Arnold’s “The Literary Influence of Academies” lecture on June 4. Delighted though he was by Newman’s “charm” and “sentiment,” however, Arnold was not persuaded by his views: “he has adopted, for the doubts and difficulties which beset men’s minds to-day, a solution which, to speak frankly, is impossible.” In the words of the preface to Essays in Criticism , these are “sides and . . . heroes not mine.” Arnold celebrates Oxford as a fellow opponent of “the Philistines”—the new, non-Oxbridge, non-Anglican, middle-class culture that he associates with scientific materialism and Utilitarian moral philosophy. But he does so on the basis that my enemy’s enemy is my friend, rather than by identifying himself with the university.

Arnold celebrates Oxford as a fellow opponent of “the Philistines.”

Oxford’s ideality, in other words, consists of a (supposed) outdatedness, which in his active life Arnold opposed. He supported the movement for university reform in the late 1840s. His move to London in 1847 was a rejection of the traditional assumption that a college fellowship should lead to a career in the Anglican Church. He was the first Professor of Poetry to lecture in English, rather than Latin. His Essays in Criticism lectures were not on the major Greek, Latin, and English poets that his audience expected but on relatively minor, modern European writers, one of them a woman. On the Study of Celtic Literature (1867) was a protest against the fact that the subject was not studied at Oxford. Arnold’s other famous Oxford poem, “The Scholar-Gipsy” (1853), is set, like “Thyrsis,” in the Cumnor hills, where “the eye travels down to Oxford’s towers” (towers, not spires). But the poem’s hero is a scholar who has rejected Oxford in order to live, instead, with the gypsies in the Berkshire countryside.

As for being “unravaged by the fierce intellectual life of our century,” Oxford dons of the 1860s would have been surprised to hear that they were living in an intellectual backwater. Their university had been the setting for two very conspicuous battles in “the fierce intellectual life” of the nineteenth century: the publication of Essays and Reviews in March 1860 and the clash, three months later, between Thomas Henry Huxley and Bishop Samuel Wilberforce at the annual meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Did Arnold know about the Huxley–Wilberforce debate? He was on terms of polite acquaintance with Wilberforce and later became a close friend of Huxley; he was in Oxford in October and November 1860, staying first at All Souls and then at Oriel. Though it seems improbable that he did not hear about it, there is no evidence that he did.

Their university had been the setting for two very conspicuous battles in “the fierce intellectual life” of the nineteenth century.

Essays and Reviews , on the other hand, Arnold certainly knew, since he wrote a letter about it in March 1861. This was a collection of seven essays, six of them by Anglican clergymen, five of whom were or had been Oxford dons. It welcomed both the German Bible scholarship that Arnold refers to in his preface as “the science of Tübingen” and the recent developments in geology and biology that made some traditional assumptions about religion hard to sustain. Baden Powell, the Savilian Professor of Geometry (and the father of the future scouting pioneer), referred in his essay to “Mr Darwin’s masterly volume,” which “must soon bring about an entire revolution in opinion in favour of the grand principle of the self-evolving powers of nature.” Two of the authors were tried for heresy in the Court of Arches in 1862 and only acquitted after an appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in 1864. Another, Benjamin Jowett, was brought before the vice-chancellor’s court in 1863 for teaching contrary to the doctrines of the Church of England.

Was this a demonstration of Oxford’s status as a center of “forsaken beliefs”? Not obviously. The circulars opposing the views of the essayists and supporting traditional beliefs were signed by 137,000 laypeople and 11,000 clergymen. Nor, on the other hand, is it easy to see the controversial Essays and Reviews contributors as a “lost cause.” The book sold 22,000 copies in two years, Williams and Wilson were acquitted, the case against Jowett was dropped, and one of the essayists, Fredrick Temple, became Bishop of Exeter in 1869 and Archbishop of Canterbury in 1896. If “the last enchantments of the Middle Age” is a reference to Newman, he had left Oxford in 1846. Even if you do feel that one or other of the parties to these debates was the upholder of “forsaken beliefs,” as in the long run I suppose one must, it is hard to see the circumstances as “serene.” Describing Oxford in February 1865 as a city “unravaged by the fierce intellectual life of our century” would have struck well-informed readers as paradoxical, even perverse. Perhaps, they might have thought, Mr. Arnold is speaking with his tongue in his cheek.

T he brief reference to Oxford in “Thyrsis” might seem less complicated or equivocal than this. How much ambiguity can there be in a phrase of just two words like “dreaming spires”? But was Oxford a city of spires? Not really—or, at least, much less so than, say, London. Oxford had just four spires: on its cathedral, on St Mary’s, on All Saints, and at St Aldate’s. “Towers” was much more accurate. Most colleges have towers, and their chapels are as thickly clustered as London parish churches. But college chapels don’t have spires. There are lots of pinnacles—at New College, for example, and around the spire of St Mary’s. But pinnacles are not spires, nor do they project sufficiently to be conspicuous when viewed from Boars Hill.

Some colleges had begun to make Gothic Revival gestures towards spires in the 1850s. Exeter’s new chapel (George Gilbert Scott, 1856–59) has a flèche, Balliol’s (William Butterfield, 1856–57) a turret. And the city’s new churches came to do something rather similar. St Aloysius (J. A. Hansom) echoed Balliol’s turret in 1873–75, while St Barnabas (Arthur Blomfield, 1869) added a campanile in 1872. But these postdate the 1860s, and many of Oxford’s spires have been added still more recently. There is the Wesley Memorial Methodist Church (Charles Bell, 1878). There is Nuffield College, designed with a spireless tower by Austen Harrison in 1938 but altered to include a spire when it was ultimately built (1949–60) because the donor wanted it to look like other Oxford colleges (which don’t, in fact, have them). And there is the Said Business School (Edward Jones and Jeremy Dixon, 2001) with its “deconstructed” spire—deconstructing a phenomenon that wasn’t really there in the first place.

Was there a reason why Arnold might have associated Oxford, so particularly, with spires?

Was there a reason why Arnold might have associated Oxford, so particularly, with spires? One was being built during his time as an undergraduate, just outside his college, though it is too low (in every sense of the word) to be seen from Boars Hill: the Martyrs’ Memorial (Gilbert Scott, 1841–43). And another was being built during the very years in which he was writing “Thyrsis.” Though St Philip & St James (G. E. Street) was mostly constructed in 1860–62, its spire was added in 1864–66. Despite this new addition, Arnold knew that Oxford was not really a city of spires—he had himself referred, instead, to towers, in both “The Scholar-Gipsy” and the Essays in Criticism preface. Other poets had done, and would do, the same. Wordsworth in his sonnet “Oxford, May 30, 1820” begins with spires but quickly adds the other components of the skyline: “Yet, O ye spires of Oxford! domes and towers!” Gerard Manley Hopkins captured the predominant quality of the view more precisely in his sonnet “Duns Scotus’s Oxford,” written in 1878 or 1879: “Towery city and branchy between towers.” The reference, in “Thyrsis,” only to “spires” is another rhetorical exaggeration or, in this case, rhetorical simplification.

A nd what about the other word? In what sense are the spires “dreaming”? Or, in the words of the preface to Essays in Criticism , what does it mean to call Oxford an “[a]dorable dreamer”? The word “dream” has three principal meanings. One is the literal or neurological sense. Arnold’s usage is clearly not that. But the two figurative meanings are so different as to be contradictory. One of them is positive. A “dream,” in this sense, is a vision of a higher truth: originally an experience of the divine. The Romantic movement secularized it into a term for the imagination, seen as a mode of access to a transcendent reality, no longer religious but still apprehended less by observation than by inspiration. Coleridge’s “Kubla Khan: or a vision in a dream” and Schumann’s “Träumerei” are examples of this Romantic enthusiasm for dreaming. Martin Luther King Jr., drawing as much on religious as Romantic precedent, was still using the word in this way in his “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963. If the walk described in “Thyrsis” took place in November 1863 (as seems likely), then Arnold was in Oxford to lecture on Joseph Joubert as a French equivalent of Coleridge, so would have had Coleridge in mind. The preface to Essays in Criticism makes an explicit distinction between the supposed triumph of Benthamite Utilitarianism and what is referred to as “the last mists of transcendentalism.” Oxford, in Arnold’s account, is associated with the transcendental idealism of the Romantic period and distinguished from the Benthamism of University College London. The scholar-gypsy in the Berkshire countryside was seeking not scientific truth, but inspiration—“waiting for the spark from Heaven to fall.” Arnold’s simplification of the Oxford skyline to just “spires” brilliantly reinforces the idea: “spires” suggests (by sound rather than etymology) the words “aspires” and “inspires.” This subtle suggestion is, I think, one reason why the “dreaming spires” phrase has been so potent and persistent.

“Dream” can mean delusion as well as vision.

But the other figurative meaning of “dream” is entirely different. “Dream” can mean delusion as well as vision. Dreaming, and more especially the self-indulgent process of daydreaming, can be foolish and deceptive. There are some “dreaming garden-trees” in “Thyrsis” that sound pleasant enough. But elsewhere in Arnold’s poetry, “dream” is associated with self-deception or illusion. In Arnold’s verse drama Empedocles on Etna (1852), “Man . . . errs because he dreams,” and “dream” is the term for what we do when we delude ourselves, for example by attributing our misfortunes to external forces: “Harsh Gods and hostile Fates/ Are dreams!” The verse form used in “The Scholar-Gipsy” and “Thyrsis” is relevant here because it is adapted from the stanza pattern of Keats’s “Ode to a Nightingale” (1819). “Thyrsis” is Arnold’s nightingale ode, in matter as well as manner. Keats symbolically identifies his nightingale with the belief, suggested by the imagination, that there is life after death (“Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!”). But his nightingale flies away and the poet is left wondering, “Was it a vision, or a waking dream?”—a truth, that is, or a self-indulgent daydream? Arnold’s equivalent of the nightingale is the tree, or “signal-elm,” which turns out, reassuringly, still to be there. But it would, of course, have been tactless to end an elegy with a statement of doubt or despair, and Arnold does not do so: the tree and the scholar-gypsy remain present (the latter only fictively) in the Cumnor landscape. Keats’s disturbing question stays, nonetheless, allusively present, and just fifteen months later, in July 1867, Arnold returned to the topic of a dream in his best-remembered poem, “Dover Beach”:

Ah, love, let us be true

To one another! for the world, which seems

To lie before us like a land of dreams,

So various, so beautiful, so new,

Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,

Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain.

D re ams, alas, are an illusion. Dreaming spires are, at very best, ambivalent. Far from being a complacent self-description, Arnold’s famous phrases are, at best, a piece of deliberate “buttering up,” at worst a subtle attack by a critic who did not fully understand the process of evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, change in which nineteenth-century Oxford was involved. When Arnold’s words are deployed in modern debates about the nature and future of our universities, we would do well to remember their uncertain significance.

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In obedience to the Tractarian principles of the High Church 'Oxford Movement', Sewell held that education should be conducted in an environment replete with beautiful buildings and gardens and objets d'art. For this reason he selected 800 acres on the edge of Oxford, in what must be one of the most beautiful campuses in England.

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St. Gallen Symposium Global Essay Competition 2024 (CHF 20,000 prize)

Deadline: February 1, 2024

Applications are open for the St. Gallen Symposium Global Essay Competition 2024 . Compete in the Global Essay Competition and qualify for participation as a Leader of Tomorrow in the world’s premier opportunity for cross-generational debates: The St. Gallen Symposium.

Meet 300 of society’s brightest young minds. Present and debate your ideas with 600 senior leaders. Be inspired by some of the world’s most impressive speakers. Gain a unique and new perspective on this year’s topic. Become a member of a unique global community. Participate in the symposium.

Topic Question : Striving for more or thriving with less – What pressing scarcity do you see, and how do you suggest to tackle it?

Scarcity generally refers to a situation where human needs exceed available resources. This year’s Global Essay Competition invites young leaders worldwide to focus on a specific contemporary or future challenge related to scarcity and propose an innovative way to address it.

Be creative in thinking about proposed solutions: do we need to strive for more and find ways to boost the availability of the resource in question? Or does it focus on ways to thrive with less and thus rethink our needs and demand?

Be free in choosing which scarce resource you focus on: examples include – but are NOT limited to – human labour, capital, natural resources, or intangibles like time, creativity, or care. Be bold and precise in describing a contemporary or future challenge of scarcity and the specific kind of resources you focus on and offer a concrete and actionable idea of how we should confront it.

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Jude Ogar is an educator and youth development practitioner with years of experience working in the education and youth development space. He is passionate about the development of youth in Africa.

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10 Reasons to Love Oxford—the City of Dreaming Spires

One of the most famous university cities in the world, Oxford is steeped in history, with beautiful honey-coloured college buildings dotted throughout the city.

Wander the cobbled streets and peaceful courtyards and admire the famed spires reaching to the heavens as you contemplate the enormous wealth of human talent Oxford has given the world over the centuries.

Here are 10 of our favorite things to love about Oxford.

1. The “City of Dreaming Spires”

So beautiful were the views of Oxford from nearby Boar’s Hill that 19th-century poet Matthew Arnold was inspired to write a poem called Thyrsis in memory of his close friend and fellow poet Arthur Hugh Clough who lived in the city of dreaming spires.

Today, those spires are best appreciated from atop St. Mary’s Church or Carfax Towers in the city center, or from South Park.

On this spot, where the Folly Bridge crosses the River Thames, basking in the golden glow of the evening sunlight, there was once a ford.

It was no ordinary ford. It was a ford to be crossed with a valuable cargo of oxen—”Oxnaforda” in Anglo-Saxon, from which Oxford derives its name.

Oxen were the haulage lorries (trucks) of the Middle Ages, used for hauling carts and wagons and also for ploughing.

They were a form of wealth comparable to money, and Oxford might have been a major crossing point on a cattle “drove road”, along which they were driven for long distances.

Another theory about the origins of Oxford’s name is that “Ox” derives from the Celtic word for river.

Either way, for history buffs, Oxford will not disappoint since centuries past remain to explore and enjoy.

It’s nice to know that in this world of change, some things don’t change.

The carriages may be different, the people dressed differently, but Oxford High Street looks the same now as it did at the end of the 18th century.

And that’s reassuring—some things are worth preserving.

3. University of Oxford

Evidence of teaching at Oxford dates as far back as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world.

Banned from attending the University of Paris by King Henry II, students flocked to Oxford instead and the university grew rapidly from 1167.

But in 1209, disputes between students and townspeople led some faculty to move north-east and establish Cambridge University.

The two universities became known as “Oxbridge” and are frequently cited in the top five in world rankings, with Oxford currently rated #1 by the Times Higher Education  World University Rankings 2016-2017.

Oxford University has 38 constituent colleges and has educated many notable alumni, including 28 Nobel laureates, 27 British Prime Ministers, and many other heads of state.

Christ Church alone has produced 13 British Prime Minsters—more than any other Oxbridge college.

Known as the Bridge of Sighs because of its supposed similarity to the famous Bridge of Sighs in Venice, Hertford Bridge is, however, closer in appearance to the Rialto Bridge in Venice.

Built as a skyway over New College Lane, the “Bridge of Sighs” joins two parts of Hertford College and has become a city landmark.

All Souls College was founded in 1438 and is unique in having only Fellows as members of the college, and no undergraduates.

All Souls College features a magnificent quadrangle, with striking twin towers designed in the 1720s by Nicholas Hawksmoor in the Gothic style to harmonise with the medieval college chapel.

There are lots of old doors like this one all over Oxford and one thing is for certain: there’s a lot of scholarly things going on behind each one.

4. Architecture

Demonstrating noteworthy examples of every English architectural period since the late 11th century, the historic buildings in Oxford make it an ideal location for film and TV crews.

Occupied by the Carfax Tobacco Company and a branch of Lloyds Bank since first opening in 1901, the ornate Rennaissance Revival building marks the start of Oxford High Street.

Further down the adjacent Cornmarket Street on the corner of Ship Street is a 14th-century timber-framed building originally built as the New Inn and now owned by Jesus College, which restored it in 1983.

Jesus college was founded by Queen Elizabeth I in 1571.

The Sheldonian Theatre was built for the University of Oxford between 1664 and 1669 after a design by Sir Christopher Wren who also designed and built St Paul’s Cathedral.

Named after Gilbert Sheldon, chancellor of the University from 1667 – 1669 and the project’s main financial backer, it is used for music concerts, lectures and University ceremonies.

But since 2015 has it also been used for drama, with the Christ Church Dramatic Society staging a production of The Crucible.

Established in 1683, the Ashmolean Museum was the world’s first university museum and is the oldest museum in the United Kingdom.

Originally housing a “cabinet of curiosities” give to the University of Oxford in 1677, it now holds significant art and archeology works by Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Turner, and Picasso, as well as treasures such as the Scorpion Macehead, Parian Marble, the Alfred Jewel, and “The Messiah” Stradivarius violin—regarded by many as the world’s finest.

Housed in a large neo-Gothic building in Oxford University’s Science Area, the University Museum of Natural History boasts skeletons of a Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops, and the most complete remains of a dodo found anywhere in the world.

Founded in 1884, the Pitt Rivers Museum contains over 500,000 items from the University’s archaeological and anthropological collections.

6. Cafes, Pubs, and Restaurants

According to the famous 17th-century politician and diarist Samuel Pepys, the first English coffee house was established on the precise site of the Grand Café on Oxford’s High Street in 1650.

This is where some of the great luminaries of the Enlightenment would meet to exchange ideas, acting as a supplementary sphere to the university.

The absence of alcohol created an atmosphere more conducive to serious conversation than an alehouse.

Coffeehouses also played an important role in the development of financial markets and newspapers, and political groups frequently used them as meeting places.

Oxford’s pubs overflow with enough character and atmosphere to stimulate the minds of some of the best fiction writers of all time.

Meeting here every Tuesday morning between 1939 and 1962, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien and other friends, popularly known as the “Inklings” would drink beer and discuss the books they were writing.

The Head of the River Pub is adjacent to Folly Bridge which crosses the River Thames at the point of the ancient ford for which Oxford is named.

For light refreshment, why not try Gee’s Restaurant and bar, serving a uniquely rustic, Mediterranean dining experience set in an iconic Glasshouse.

7. Religious Buildings

The University Church of St Mary the Virgin is the centre from which the University of Oxford grew.

With an eccentric baroque porch, designed by Nicholas Stone, its spire is claimed by some church historians to be one of the most beautiful in England.

Designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and constructed in 1854–60, the chapel at Exeter College, Oxford, was heavily inspired by the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris.

8. Footpaths, Waterways, and Cycle Lanes

Oxford has 28 nature reserves within or just outside the city ring road, making it one of Britain greenest cities.

Whether you prefer a leisurely walk along one of Oxford’s many footpaths, a relaxing punt ride down the river, or an invigorating cycle ride, Oxford is a magical place for all.

While away the hours in the peace and tranquility of Oxford’s Botanic Gardens.

Oxford is second only to Cambridge in the popularity of cycling.

22% of Oxford’s residents ride three or more times per week.

9. Books, Books, and more Books

The University of Oxford maintains the largest university library system in the UK.

With over 11 million volumes housed on 120 miles (190 km) of shelving, the Bodleian group is the second-largest library in the UK, after the British Library.

Entitled to a free copy of every book published in the UK, the Bodleian is growing its collection at a rate of over three miles (five kilometres) of shelving every year.

Visitors can take a guided tour of the Old Bodleian Library to see inside its historic rooms, including the 15th-century Divinity School, medieval Duke Humfrey’s Library, and the Radcliffe Camera.

Designed by James Gibbs in the neo-classical style and built in 1737–49, the Radcliffe Camera (Camera, meaning “room” in Latin; colloquially, “Rad Cam” or “The Camera”) was built to house the Radcliffe Science Library.

Book lovers, be warned—you might be here a long time.

Blackwell’s Bookshop has the largest single room devoted to book sales in the whole of Europe—the cavernous 10,000 sq ft Norrington Room.

10. Literature and Film

Oxford was mentioned in fiction as early as 1400 when Chaucer referred to a “Clerk of Oxenford” in his Canterbury Tales.

Oxford University’s hallowed halls have been a source of inspiration for several authors of classic children’s literature.

It was July of 1862 and a slightly eccentric young man named Charles Dodgson rowed up the river Thames with a colleague and the three daughters of the Dean of Christ Church college where Dodgson taught mathematics.

Better known today as Lewis Carroll, the young man told a story to keep the children amused during the five-mile journey to Godstow.

Star of the adventure was Alice Liddell, the ten-year-old middle sister, who, as Dodgson began, had followed a rabbit down a hole.

Much inspiration for Dodgson’s story came from Christ Church.

The long-necked “firedogs” that held the logs in the fireplace gave him the idea for Alice’s neck to stretch.

When Alice Liddell’s father, the dean, descended a narrow spiral staircase, it reminded him of a rabbit disappearing down a hole.

And a cat perched on a mulberry tree outside the library was the inspiration for the Cheshire cat.

Studying English Literature at Oxford University when World War One broke out,  J. R. R. Tolkien finished his degree before enlisting in the Oxford University Officer’s Training Corps.

It was the experience at the Battle of the Somme, where one million men were wounded or killed, that helped him describe the evil barren landscape crossed by the hobbits on their way to Mordor.

Christ Church college’s dining hall was used in the filming of the movies of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series

The “Inspector Morse” and “Lewis” TV series were both set in Oxford as were “Brideshead Revisited” by Evelyn Waugh and the trilogy “His Dark Materials” by Philip Pullman.

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How changed is here each spot man makes or fills! In the two Hinkseys nothing keeps the same; The village street its haunted mansion lacks, And from the sign is gone Sibylla’s name, And from the roofs the twisted chimney-stacks— Are ye too changed, ye hills? See, ’tis no foot of unfamiliar men To-night from Oxford up your pathway strays! Here came I often, often, in old days— Thyrsis and I; we still had Thyrsis then.

Runs it not here, the track by Childsworth Farm, Past the high wood, to where the elm-tree crowns The hill behind whose ridge the sunset flames? The signal-elm, that looks on Ilsley Downs, The Vale, the three lone weirs, the youthful Thames?— This winter-eve is warm, Humid the air! leafless, yet soft as spring, The tender purple spray on copse and briers! And that sweet city with her dreaming spires, She needs not June for beauty’s heightening,

Lovely all times she lies, lovely to-night! Only, methinks, some loss of habit’s power Befalls me wandering through this upland dim; Once pass’d I blindfold here, at any hour, Now seldom come I, since I came with him. That single elm-tree bright Against the west—I miss it! is it gone? We prized it dearly; while it stood, we said, Our friend, the Scholar-Gipsy, was not dead; While the tree lived, he in these fields lived on.

Too rare, too rare, grow now my visits here! But once I knew each field, each flower, each stick; And with the country-folk acquaintance made By barn in thresting-time, by new-built rick. Here, too, our shepherd-pipes we first assay’d. Ah me! this many a year My pipe is lost, my shepherd’s-holiday! Needs must I lose them, needs with heavy heart Into the world and wave of men depart; But Thyrsis of his own will went away.

It irk’d him to be here, he could not rest. He loved each simple joy the country yields, He loved his mates; but yet he could not keep, For that a shadow lower’d on the fields, Here with the shepherds and the silly sheep. Some life of men unblest He knew, which made him droop, and fill’d his head. He went; his piping took a troubled sound Of storms that rage outside our happy ground; He could not wait their passing, he is dead!

So, some tempestuous morn in early June, When the year’s primal burst of bloom is o’er, Before the roses and the longest day— When garden-walks, and all the grassy floor, With blossoms, red and white, of fallen May, And chestnut-flowers are strewn— So have I heard the cuckoo’s parting cry, From the wet field, through the vext garden-trees, Come with the volleying rain and tossing breeze: The bloom is gone, and with the bloom go I.

GYEF Competitions

We host gyef competitions to give our members an opportunity to apply their knowledge of various business/finance/economics theories while enhancing their knowledge of current events. this information can be gained through the weekly news updates, videos, and content curated by the gyef team.  in addition to the competition itself, it is a great opportunity for high school and college students to learn/engage with others, forge new friendships, and learn about the wider field of economics/finance/business beyond the classroom.   winners of our gyef competition also receive a monetary prize (small financial incentive) for being in the top place. all participants also receive a certificate of participation  want to attend our upcoming competitions please be sure to become a member today by filling out our member application in our "get involved" page. , active competitions, dreams fund scholarship: june 1, 2023, the global youth economics forum is excited to present our first ever scholarship grant open to current high school and college students. this grant package is designed to assist students in making their dream of attending college a reality. recipients are picked on both a merit and need basis and will be awarded based on school achievements, leadership ability, and dedication to community service. funds are to be spent solely on academic, artistic, or personal endeavors including but not limited to: conference expenses, technology fees, personal projects, school supplies, etc. the winner will receive further information about the grant disbursement process but it will most likely be a gift card, digital check, or prepaid card in the amount of $250 usd sent directly to the winner. , eligibility:  - high school or college student., - current college/undergraduate seniors for the 2022-2023 academic year are not eligible to apply. - c urrent or past gyef executives are not eligible to apply. , application:  bit.ly/gyef-dreamfund   , past competitions, global essay writing competition: august 31st 2022 - october 15th 2022 - members are able to participate in a global essay writing competition giv ing students the opportunity to practice their application of economic theory, analysis, and written argumentation  - winners will have their work published on our website (with the candidate’s consent), earning recognition for their efforts and substantiating their achievements in an international contest. additionally, the first place will win a $50 monetary incentive and 2 runner-ups will receive honorary mentions on our website with links to their work. - competition summary: (see submissions to their work in our blog linked here ).

1st place - Saanvi Tripuramallu, Ireland, Rockford Manor, 6th year, 16 Years Old

2nd place - Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy, Vietnam, École Puginier High School, 11th Grade, 16 Years Old

3rd place - Oceana Zhu, USA, The Bronx High School of Science, 11th Grade, 16 Years Old

Second Annual Stock Market Competition: July 7th 2022 - August 15th 2022 

- Members were able to participate in our second annual (virtual cash) stock market stimulation. 

- Competition Summary:

1st place: Elvis Eziokwu, Loyola Jesuit College 2nd place: Fiona Zheng, Townsend Harris High School  3rd place: Carl Lu, Eleanor Roosevelt High School

Quiz Bowl - August 13, 2022

 Members were able to participate in our first quiz bowl that tested students' knowledge of basic microeconomics, macroeconomics, financial literacy, and current news in the world of busIness, finance, and economics.

 Competition Summary: 

Camila Pierre, Manhattan Hunter Science High School

November 1st 2021 - January 10th 2022 

 Members were able to participate in our first annual (virtual cash) stock market stimulation. 

1st place: Melvin Joseph, Milton Academy 2nd place: Allen Li, Stuyvesant High School  3rd place: Gavin Chi, Kingsway School

Creative Writing (summer only)

French and Spanish

Mathematics

Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Anatomy & Physiology, and General Science

Geography and Astronomy

Art History and Theater Studies

Classical History

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