Deadline: February 1, 2019
The St. Gallen Wings of Excellence Award is open for applications. The St. Gallen Wings of Excellence Award 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 St. Gallen Symposium is the world’s premier opportunity for debate on issues of management, politics and civil society – run by students.
Essay Question
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.
Benefits
If the jury selects your essay in the top 100, you qualify as a Leader of Tomorrow for an expenses-paid participation in the 49th St. Gallen Symposium (8–10 May 2019) -the world’s premier opportunity for intergenerational debates.
- Join the debate with 600 top global leaders and decision makers
- Share your thoughts, ideas and visions with the global elite
- Expenses for travel, board and lodging covered, travel service provided
- Meet 200 of the world’s brightest young minds
- CHF 20,000 prize money shared by the three winners
- Small and intimate gatherings with world leaders, exclusively for the Leaders of Tomorrow
- Broad media coverage
- Become member of a truly unique and strong global community
Eligibility
To be eligible, you must fulfil all of the following criteria:
- Enrolled in a graduate or postgraduate program (master level or higher) in any field of study at a regular university
- Born in 1989 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 2019 (download sample document here)
- Your contribution file with no indication of your name in the file name, the file metadata or the file itself
Guidelines
| Form | Essay (max. 2,100 words, excl. bibliography & footnotes) |
| Language | English |
| Deadline | 1 February 2019, 11:59 p.m. last time zone (UTC-12) |
| Anonymity | Your name 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. |
Application
They expect a professional, creative and thought-provoking essay. Be bold, unconventional, and distinctive on the competition question. The results will be announced via e-mail by mid-March 2019.
For more information, visit St Gallen.
