10 Break-Out Sessions

  • Time: 3:30 pm - 4:30 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

In recent years and going forward, nations across Asia, Africa and Latin America are emerging as new centres of global power. This shift towards a multipolar world extends across several dimensions, incl. economic, political, technological, societal, cultural and demographic ones. Overall, it represents one of the fundamental trends today’s and tomorrow’s leaders need to grapple with and comprehend. 

Global power is shifting. What’s your innovative idea to address a related risk or opportunity?
  • BRIEFLY describe ONE specific risk or opportunity related to shifting power across world regions and nations in some specific field, including (but not limited to!) politics, business, economics, technology, sustainability or security 
  • Offer your innovative and concrete solution to address this development, i.e. how to deal with the risk or leverage the opportunity you’ve identified 
  • Be bold and think beyond the status quo, while being as specific as possible

Registration window for the Global Essay Competition to qualify for the 54th St. Gallen Symposium is open!

Click here to sign up for the 2025 Global Essay Competition and start writing your essay

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
FormEssay (max. 2,100 words, excl. abstract, bibliography, and footnotes)
LanguageEnglish
Deadline1 February 2025, 11:59 p.m. last time zone (UTC-12)
AnonymityYour name, e-mail address, university, or any identifying details must not be mentioned anywhere in the contribution file.
IndividualityIndividual work expected, no group work allowed. The essay must be written exclusively for this contest. The idea must be the author’s own.
CitationAll sources must be cited and referred to the respective part in the essay. All contributions will be tested for plagiarism.
Any auxiliary aids (AI, proofreading, translation service, layout/graphics services, writing and translation programs, etc.) are to be listed in an auxiliary aids directory.
TemplateDownload Template for the Global Essay Competition

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 1995 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 2025 (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 54th 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

FAQs

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.

“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