Compete for the St. Gallen Wings of Excellence Award and qualify for participation as a «Leader of Tomorrow» in the world’s premier opportunity for intergenerational debates: The St. Gallen Symposium.
Application Deadline: 1st February, 2017
Offered annually? Yes
Essay: Your essay must answer the following question:
Breaking the status quo – what’s YOUR disruptive idea?
- Form: Essay (max. 2,100 words)
- Language: English
- 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
- Citation: All sources must be cited and referred to the respective part in the essay
Eligible Countries: All
About the Award: Join the debate with 600 top global leaders and decision makers. Become a member of a truly unique and strong global community by sharing your thoughts, ideas and visions with the global elite. The St. Gallen Symposium presents small and intimate gatherings with world leaders, exclusively for the Leaders of Tomorrow. Young leaders from around the world get the chance to meet 200 of the world’s brightest young minds and participate in an exciting essay competition with broad media coverage. CHF 20,000 prize money will be shared by the three winners and expenses for travel, board and lodging covered, travel service to be provided for finalists.
Eligibility: To be eligible, candidate 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 1987 or later
Selection Criteria: All contributions will be evaluated according to specific criteria by an independent jury composed of professors, corporate executives and entrepreneurs. The authors of the best 100 contributions qualify as Leaders of Tomorrow and will be invited by the ISC to the next St. Gallen Symposium.
Selection Process:
- If the jury selects your essay in the top 100, you qualify as a Leader of Tomorrow for an allexpenses-covered participation in the 47th St. Gallen Symposium (3–5 May 2017). The results will be announced via e-mail by mid-March 2017.
- You qualify as a semi-finalist to compete for the prestigious St. Gallen Wings of Excellence Award 2017 if the jury selects your essay for the top 20. You will be asked mid-March to pitch the essence of your essay in a 3-minute video presentation.
- The jury selects you as a finalist if your essay and your video presentation makes it in the top six. You will be invited to present and defend your idea on the big stage of the 47th St. Gallen Symposium.
- The jury selects the three award winners based on both the quality of the essay and the performance on stage.
Value of Award: Expenses for travel, board and lodging covered, travel service provided. The award is endowed with a total prize money of CHF 20,000
Duration of Award Programme: 3rd–5th May 2017
How to Apply: Apply here
Before applying, go through the application requirements. Also 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 2017 (download sample document here)
- Your contribution file with no indication of your name in the file name, the file metadata or the file itself
Award Providers: 35 students from the University of St. Gallen, working on an honorary basis and supported by over 350 partners.