10 Break-Out Sessions
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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.
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.
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]
We expect a professional, creative and thought-provoking essay. Be bold, unconventional, and distinctive on the competition question.
Form | Essay (max. 2,100 words, excl. abstract, bibliography, and footnotes) |
Language | English |
Deadline | 1 February 2025, 11:59 p.m. last time zone (UTC-12) |
Anonymity | Your name, e-mail address, university, or any identifying details must not be mentioned anywhere in the contribution file. |
Individuality | Individual work expected, no group work allowed. The essay must be written exclusively for this contest. The idea must be the author’s own. |
Citation | All 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. |
Template | Download Template for the Global Essay Competition |
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!
Students enrolled at a regular university, who are matriculated in a master or postgraduate programme.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Only individual submissions are allowed as we can only grant participation to one contender per contribution.
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.
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. Furthermore any auxiliary aids (AI, proofreading, translation service, layout/graphics services, writing and translation programs, etc.) are to be listed in an auxiliary aids directory as shown below:
Aid | Usage | Affected parts |
Private proofreading | Spell check | Complete paper |
DeepL | Translation of text passage | Conclusion; page 4-5 |
Endnote | Compilation of the literature index | Literature index |
ChatGPT | Creation of text passages, these were commented in the folowing chapter | Paragraph 4; sentence 1-6; page 3 |
Yes, you can find winner essays as well as other publications from the Global Essay Competition here.
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).
In addition to your contribution, make sure to upload
in the applicable field of the registration form.
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 54th St. Gallen Symposium (6-8 May 2025). The results will be announced via e-mail by mid-March 2025. 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.
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.
The jury’s decision will be announced by mid-March at the latest.
The organizing committee will get in touch with you prior to the symposium to discuss your itinerary and to book your travel.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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 nearby mountains.
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.
Unfortunately, we cannot provide any services such as travel, room, board or symposium access to any additional person.
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.
1st place
2nd place
3rd place
Scarcity generally refers to a situation where human needs exceed available resources. The 2024 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. They were asked to 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? Participants were free in choosing which scarce resource they focus on: examples include – but are NOT limited to – human labour, capital, natural resources, or intangibles like time, creativity, or care. The challenge is to be bold and precise in describing a contemporary or future challenge of scarcity and the specific kind of resources they focus on, to offer a concrete and actionable idea of how we should confront it.
1st place
2nd place
3rd place
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.
1st place
2nd place
3rd place
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.
1st place – Peking University
2nd place – York University
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.
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.
1st place – The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies
2nd place – University of Pennsylvania
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.
1st place – University of Oxford
2nd place – York University
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.
1st Place – University of Oxford
2nd Place – University of St. Gallen
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.
1st place – Fordham University
2nd place – University of St.Gallen
3rd place – New York University
What are alternatives to economic growth?
1st place – London School of Economic
2nd place – Freie Universität Berlin
3rd place – University of St.Gallen
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.
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.
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.
1st place – University of Mumbai
2nd place – University of Sydney
3rd place – National University of Singapore
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?
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.
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.
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.
1st place – Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
2nd place – Rotterdam School of Management
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”
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?
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?
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.
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?
1st place – St. Joseph’s Institute of Management
2nd place – Geneva Graduate Institute
3rd place – King’s College London
Detecting Risks
Risk Aversion
Emerging Risks
Managing Risk
1st place – New York University
2nd place – London School of Economics
3rd place – Università di Camerino
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.
1st place – University of Oslo
2nd place
3rd place – University of St.Gallen (HSG)
1st place
2nd place
3rd place
“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