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FT Schools competition: Young Economist of the Year

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This article is part of the Financial Times free schools access programme. Details/registration  here .

School students across the UK in years 12 and 13 are invited to enter the Young Economist of the Year competition run by the Royal Economic Society in association with the Financial Times. 

Applicants — who need not be studying economics — have until July 25 to write up to 1,000 words on one of the five questions picked for this year.

The winning article will be published in the Financial Times and on the RES website and the author will receive £1,000, with £200 for each of the runners up. 

Entries will be judged on originality, quality of writing, economic content and quality of the economic argument. 

The five questions are:

When, if ever, is it a good idea for central banks to set interest rates below zero? 

How is Brexit going to change the economic geography of the UK?

Will the legacy of Covid-19 be an economically more unequal world?

Technological change means that the wage gap between the skilled and unskilled will simply keep growing. Do you agree with this assessment? 

We will fail to address climate change because Covid-19 showed we are unable to muster a concerted global response to common crises. Do you agree?

The competition is part of the  FT’s schools programme , which provides free access to the FT for students aged 16-19, their teachers and schools around the world.

Supporting ideas and data for entrants can be found in the FT. Full details and information on submission are available on the  RES competition website .

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Marshall Society Essay Competition

Resource details.

The Marshall Society Essay Competition is run by the Economics society at Cambridge, so the essays are all Economics-based. Entering essay competitions is a great way to expand your knowledge and interest into new areas, or to explore an issue you are already interested in in greater depth.

Department of Economics

Winners announced in the warwick future economist essay competition 2023.

We are excited to announce the winners of this year's Warwick Future Economist competition jointly organised by the Department of Economics at Warwick and the Warwick Economics Society . They have been selected out of 68 entries for the outstanding quality of their economics essays.

The overall winner of the competition is Harrison Sargent from Arden Academy in Solihull, whose essay explains how nudge theory can be used to increase voter participation in the next general election Link opens in a new window . Congratulations to Harrison who will receive the top cash prize of £250.

We also congratulate the following students in the joint-second place who receive £50 cash prize each:

• Jacob Jones , Arden Academy
• Eden Haycock, Heckmondwike Grammar School

The collaboration between Warwick Economics Society (with nearly 3000 student members from over a hundred different disciplines) and the Department of Economics at Warwick has been going strong for many years, as we combine our aims to widen access and increase diversity within the subject of economics. Tolu Odejide and Joel Cooper from Warwick Economics Society and final year students on the BSc in Economics degree, commented about the competition:

Tolu: "We were really impressed with the efforts participants had put in. I think it's really important for students to get excited about what economics can offer them." Joel: "It's the little things like this that can make a massive difference to these young people. To engage seriously with the discipline, give themselves the opportunity to be creative with their ideas, can provide the foundations for future studies. Providing opportunities like this continues to be essential to raising the profile of economics in all schools and among all under-represented groups within this field."

Warwick Future Economist Competition was set up in order to raise the awareness of economics as a subject that is concerned with understanding the major global problems of our time, such as inequality, globalisation, healthcare, climate change and many more. The topics of the essay competition had been selected from the three key areas of economics: macroeconomics, behavioural economics, and environmental economics, and challenged the young students to write how economics can help understand better the cost-of-living crisis, voter participation in a general election and the climate crisis.

Chris Mason, Acting Head of Economics & Business and EQP Coordinator at Arden Academy in Knowle, Solihull, said:

"We are delighted that two Arden Academy students have been recognised for their hard work and achievement in placing first and second in the Warwick Future Economist competition. It's clear that, given the choice of questions, the competition enables young, budding economists the opportunity to stretch themselves beyond that of their A level specification. "As part of my role as a class teacher of economics, I seek to enlighten students, so that they can see how economics applies to their everyday life, and what is happening in the world around them. I am passionate about making the economics curriculum accessible to all - if we can lift the understanding of economics across all demographics, the society in turn will benefit."

Dr Lory Barile, Associate Professor and Widening Participation Lead in the Department said:

"It was exciting to work with Warwick Economics Society on this competition and see high participation and good quality of work from young students. We hope that some of them will be pursuing further academic study to become economists and we wish them all the best in pursuing their dreams. We will continue to work with student societies on similar initiatives to increase the awareness of what economics is and what economists do."

Congratulations to the winners from all of us in the Department of Economics and the Warwick Economics Society.

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Undergraduate Essay Competition 2023/24

Are you interested in how economics can be applied to contemporary issues are you looking for a competitive edge when applying for internships want to stand out in cvs, cover letters, and other applications then we have just the opportunity for you   , this christmas, the durham university economics society is running an essay competition open to all those who study an economics degree., taking part is a great way to demonstrate your interest in economics beyond the academic course requirements, which will help you stand out in cvs, cover letters, and other applications., eligibility:.

All entrants must be an undergraduate student at Durham  University  and study  Economics as part of their degree.

There are two Amazon Vouchers up for grabs:

£75 for the overall best essay.

£50 for the best essay written by a first year student.

Winning entries will have their essays published on the DUES blog!

Requirements:

The essay should be a maximum of 1500 words, written analytically using sound economic reasoning, and provide an answer to one of the following questions:

1. Examine how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionising the structure of employment. Discuss the potential shifts in the labour market dynamics due to AI in the short and long term and propose how regulation and policy could mitigate challenges while maximizing opportunities.

2. Critically assess the balance between environmental sustainability and economic growth. Explore the differing challenges and opportunities this balance presents for developed versus developing nations, using specific case studies to anchor your analysis.

3. Identify the critical factors influencing productivity in the United Kingdom. Evaluate the effectiveness of recent policy initiatives on productivity enhancement and suggest evidence-based policy recommendations for future action.

4. Analyse the effects of China's economic strategies and outbound investments on the economic landscapes of other emerging markets. Discuss the dual nature of China's impact as both an opportunity and a challenge for these economies.

5. Explain the role of financial markets in shaping the contemporary global economy. How are technological innovations redefining the efficiency and stability of these financial markets?

6. Analyse the risks to the global economic forecast presented by geopolitical instabilities and residual pandemic upheavals. What pre-emptive policy measures could be designed to buffer these risks and foster economic resilience?

Submission:

Please submit all entries by email to [email protected] by Wednesday 31st January 2024 .

The winners will be announced shortly after the deadline closes. 

We look forward to reading your submissions!

Beyond GDP Essay Competition

The SDG Lab in collaboration with Rethinking Economics have launched an essay competition for young people to share their perspective on moving beyond GDP. Essays should reflect on the following question: 

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a measure of the economic output of a country, has become one of the most powerful statistics of our time. It has, however, been used in unintended ways, including as a proxy for wealth creation, wellbeing and development. Developing metrics to complement GDP could enhance decision-making in the best interest of people and the planet, and could fundamentally change our priorities and the future. What values and principles would you like to see in a Framework to Value What Counts beyond GDP and what are the challenges to be addressed as a priority? 

Ten winning essays will be selected to be included in a compilation to be published by the SDG Lab and Rethinking Economics. In addition, the authors of the top five essays will have travel and accommodation costs covered up to €1,300 to participate in a meeting on 17 April in person at the UN Offices in Geneva and share the main points of their essays during the meeting. We are unable to provide assistance with visa applications for those who are eligible but we can provide letters of invitation from UNCTAD. The guidelines are as follows:

Guidelines for essay competition 

Essays can be submitted by persons 30 years of age and under, regardless of the person’s affiliation with the Rethinking Economics network.

Essay submissions should be between 700 – 1000 words.

Your Essay should make a clear argument written in your own voice. 

If experts or other texts are cited, this must be clear. Hyper-linked references (if any) are preferred to footnotes.

If desired, essay submissions can be sent with a photo image. Images must be credited appropriately and free to be reproduced.

The essays will be evaluated jointly by a jury consisting of members of the SDG Lab and Rethinking Economics.

10 essays will be published in a joint publication by Rethinking Economics, the SDG Lab and IISD. 

The authors of the 5 top essays will win the opportunity to travel* to Geneva to participate in a meeting on moving Beyond GDP, hosted at UN Geneva.

Deadline for essay submissions is on March   6th.

*Winners of the essay competition will be responsible for their own visa applications. The SDG Lab will provide winners with an invitation letter for the meeting on 17 April. The SDG Lab and Rethinking Economics will cover travel and accommodation costs of up to 1300 EUR per person. 

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Home → Study Here → Outreach → Essay Competitions

St Hugh’s essay competitions are open to Sixth Formers from the UK and across the world. These are a fantastic opportunity to explore a topic of interest in a particular subject in more depth, whether something you have studied at school has inspired you, or whether you are keen to broaden your horizons in a new academic discipline.

All four competitions are now open: the deadline for submissions is 5pm (GMT) on Friday 26th July 2024.

To find out more about these competitions please click on the links below:

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RES Young Economist Essay Competition Guidelines 2021

The RES Young Economist of the Year competition 2021 aims at encouraging year 12 and 13 students (studying for A-Level, International Baccalaureate (IB) or Scottish Highers qualifications who either normally reside or are studying in the UK) to produce their own ideas in analysing contemporary economic problems facing the UK and the world. Participants can choose from a list of topics provided on the competition website which are selected by the RES. Students do not need to be studying economics to be able to enter this competition. The RES welcomes entries from any student who is interested in economic issues and would like to share original ideas or perspectives on these issues. The RES also welcomes a diverse range of contributions and individual insights on the competition topics.

Students (“You”) must submit a written contribution which can contain tables and charts. Depending on the topic and how you approach it, your entry may focus primarily on arguments and reasoning (an “essay”), it may concentrate on data and your perspective on its implications (a “report”), or it may have elements of both. The ‘Data, Referencing and Bibliography’ section of this document contains further guidance on where to find relevant data, and you can also make your own tables or charts.

The maximum limit of the entry is 1000 words. This word limit excludes the bibliography, the title page, footnotes, acknowledgements of help received, and any in-text references (such as “(Smith, 2020)”). It also excludes images, tables, charts, and figure captions (where applicable).

Submission Method

• Every participant is required to submit their entry in the submission portal provided in the competition website. It is the participant’s responsibility to submit their essay by the deadline. No late submissions are accepted .
• Since the entries will be marked anonymously, the participant’s name must not appear anywhere, to ensure a fair evaluation of the submissions.
• The Royal Economic Society accepts no responsibility for any technical failures which may result in any entry being lost, corrupted or not properly registered. No responsibility will be taken for damaged or lost entries.

Submission Deadline

All entries must be submitted by the deadline of 23.59 (BST) on 10 July 2021 .

• Entries should be submitted in either Microsoft Word or PDF format. (If the entry contains charts or tables, the PDF format is recommended as it preserves the formatting and layout of charts and tables.)
• All pages in the entry should be numbered, including the cover page.
• The main text of the entry should be double-spaced with a font size of 12.

Every participant must submit an originally researched and originally written entry. You can only receive help with proofreading the final draft, where assistance should be limited to grammar or clear communication of ideas. In these cases, a note must accompany your entry citing any such assistance received. This acknowledgement note will not count toward the entry’s word limit.

All short-listed entries will be checked for plagiarism using state-of-the-art software. Plagiarism is “ the process or practice of using another person’s ideas or work and pretending that it is your own ”. For example, copying sentences word-for-word from another source will be detected by the plagiarism software and constitutes a plagiarism offence. You can find more examples of what counts as plagiarism, and tips on how to avoid plagiarism, at this website: https://www.niu.edu/academic-integrity/faculty/committing/examples/index.shtml .

Entries where substantial evidence of plagiarism is detected may be withdrawn from the competition, and t he RES reserves the right to cancel any such submission . So, please ensure that your competition entry is written in your own words . In addition, you must cite content that you use from any source (such as a website, book, or news article) to support your arguments. The next section explains how to properly acknowledge sources and avoid plagiarism.

Data, Referencing and Bibliography

When you use information/material from other sources, you must acknowledge them in your work. Although we do not require a detailed in-text referencing of your arguments for the 2022 competition, a list of sources that you have consulted and have substantively influenced your arguments must be included at the end of your entry. These references do not count toward the word limit of the entry.

You are encouraged to use data obtained from reliable data sources such as the Office of National Statistics , Federal Reserve Bank websites (e.g. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/ ), the World Bank , the OECD , and Our World in Data . You may also find data on your local authority website. You can take charts and tables directly from the source, but if so this must be acknowledged as a note to the chart/table in your entry. In general, it is preferable to use the data to make your own charts and tables. Any such data sources that you use should be listed in the references .

Guidance for writing your entry

• Who is the target audience?

Your entry should be aimed at a general interest audience (anyone who is interested in the topic you are writing about), rather than specifically at people who have studied economics.

• Advice on structuring and formatting your entry

Your entry should follow the general structure of introduction, main arguments, and conclusion. The following websites contains some non-subject-specific guidance about the possible structure and format of written work:

https://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/sgc/learning/NewBrandDocs-FileStore/Filetoupload,781679,en.pdf

https://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/sgc/learning/NewBrandDocs-FileStore/Filetoupload,781693,en.pdf

Your readers may not have studied economics, so it is important to explain the intuition behind the economic phenomena you are analysing. ‘Intuition’ refers to a non-technical ‘common-sense’ explanation for the observed phenomena. The first challenge for you is to think of a solid and clear economic intuition about the issue you are trying to analyse. Where appropriate, support your explanations with relevant data. (For example, you can cite some appropriate statistics, and/or include and discuss charts, images, and tables in the main body of your text.)

Make sure to structure your arguments logically. To make your arguments easy to follow, you can use the following order: motivation (why is this topic important?), assumptions (where relevant), claims (what do you think about the issue?), evidence/analysis to support your claims, and conclusion. Maintaining a clear storyline from start to end will help the judges follow your line of reasoning. Keeping the overall argument in mind can help you organise your entry.

• Planning and writing your entry

Woodrow Wilson was once asked how long it took him to write a speech. He answered, ‘That depends. If I am to speak for 10 minutes, I need a week of preparation. If 15 minutes, 3 days. If half an hour, two days. If an hour, I am ready now .’

The message is clear. Since you have only 1000 words to convey your ideas to your audience, it really helps to spend as much time as possible honing and organizing your arguments. Start early and take advantage of all the available time.

Present your arguments clearly. Choosing your words carefully is important for clear communication. For example, if you use economic terminology or refer to economic concepts, make sure you are using them in the correct context. Since your readers may not have studied economics, economic terminology should be avoided where possible and any used should be defined.

Stay within the word limit by writing concisely, using the least number of words necessary to communicate your ideas. Before submitting your entry, make sure to check your work for typos, grammatical errors, and logical fallacies.

• Additional tips

Remember, help from your peers, parents, teachers in preparing your entry must be purely nominal (limited to proofreading). Trust your instincts and take ownership of your thoughts.

Avoid using emotive and informal words such as ‘massive’, ‘chaos’, ‘crashed’, ‘tanked’, or ‘awesome’. As much as possible, avoid using less-reliable non-academic sources, such as Wikipedia or Investopedia, as references.

You can read the winning entries from recent years on the RES website at https://www.res.org.uk/education/young-economist-of-the-year.html , but bear in mind that the maximum length was reduced to 1,000 words last year. Also, the competition in previous years was of a more strict essay format than this year, with less encouragement for presenting original arguments.

• Final advice

Economics is a very exciting discipline that supports the wellbeing of every walk of life. It is a field that involves critical thinking and deep research focusing on the wellbeing of society. Regardless of the competition outcome, the experience of producing an entry that addresses these social issues will be your purest takeaway from this journey.

Evaluation Criteria

Your submission will be judged on the originality of your ideas and perspectives on economic issues, clarity of communication, strength and organization of your arguments, and soundness of the evidence you use (such as others’ views, or data and numbers). Make sure that your writing has a clear structure and consistent format; and that your arguments are convincing, by using supporting sources that are referenced and can be checked.

Data Protection Statement

Any personal data which may be submitted in an entry will be processed by RES in accordance with any applicable data protection legislation, and RES Privacy Notice available at https://www.res.org.uk/resource-library-page/privacy-notice.html .

Declaration

Entrants agree that their entry is their own work, written solely for the purpose of the Competition, and warrant that their entry does not breach any applicable laws or regulations or infringe any third intellectual property or privacy rights, and is not in any way libellous, defamatory, obscene, indecent, harassing or threatening.

By entering the Competition, entrants agree to hold RES and FT harmless for liability, damages or claims for injury or loss to any person or property, relating to, directly or indirectly, participation in this Competition, or claims based on publicity rights, third party intellectual property rights, defamation or invasion of privacy.

RES Statement

The Royal Economic Society reserves the right to refuse entry or to refuse to award a prize to anyone in breach of any of the rules of the essay competition published at https://www.res.org.uk/education/young-economist-of-the-year.html .

These terms and conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law. Disputes arising in connection with this Competition shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

The promoter is the Royal Economic Society, 2 Dean Trench St, Westminster, London, SW1P 3HE.

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2 Dean Trench St, Westminster, London, SW1P 3HE Telephone: +44 (0) 203 137 6301 Email: [email protected]

The Royal Economic Society is a Registered Charity no. 231508.

COPYRIGHT ©2022 ROYAL ECONOMIC SOCIETY.

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Blog Competition and Markets Authority

https://competitionandmarkets.blog.gov.uk/2024/02/05/essay-competition-the-cma-turns-10/

Essay competition: the CMA turns 10

Do you have any views about what the cma does and how it could do it better.

We’re running an essay competition for students and recent graduates (within the last 2 years). This would particularly suit those who have focused on economics or law but it’s open to people who have studied any subject.

The winner will get £500 in multi-store vouchers, and there will be two runner-up prizes of £200 each.

The winner will also be announced at an event to mark our 10 th anniversary in London in late April (travel and accommodation expenses will be covered).

Essay question

The question to answer is:

What are the benefits of a strong competition and/or consumer protection regime, and how can the CMA best deliver them?

Please write 1000 to 1200 words aimed at a general, non-academic audience (no need for extensive references or footnotes).

Judging panel

• Sarah Cardell (Chief Executive, CMA)
• Amelia Fletcher (Professor of Competition Policy at Norwich Business School and Deputy Director at the Centre for Competition Policy)
• Richard Whish (Emeritus Professor of Law at King’s College, London)
• Mike Walker (Chief Economist, CMA)

Please submit your entries, or address any queries, to [email protected] by the 11 March 2024. The winner will be notified by the 4 April 2024.

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• ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT
• COMPETITIONS

Young Economist of the Year Essay Competition 

Essay  COMPETITION

2024 global essay prize, registrations are now open all essayists must register  here  before friday 31 may, 2024.

The John Locke Institute encourages young people to cultivate the characteristics that turn good students into great writers: independent thought, depth of knowledge, clear reasoning, critical analysis and persuasive style. Our Essay Competition invites students to explore a wide range of challenging and interesting questions beyond the confines of the school curriculum.

Entering an essay in our competition can build knowledge, and refine skills of argumentation. It also gives students the chance to have their work assessed by experts. All of our essay prizes are judged by a panel of senior academics drawn from leading universities including Oxford and Princeton, under the leadership of the Chairman of Examiners, former Cambridge philosopher, Dr Jamie Whyte.

The judges will choose their favourite essay from each of seven subject categories - Philosophy, Politics, Economics, History, Psychology, Theology and Law - and then select the winner of the Grand Prize for the best entry in any subject. There is also a separate prize awarded for the best essay in the junior category, for under 15s.

Q1. Do we have any good reasons to trust our moral intuition?

Q2. Do girls have a (moral) right to compete in sporting contests that exclude boys?

Q3. Should I be held responsible for what I believe?

Q1. Is there such a thing as too much democracy?

Q2. Is peace in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip possible?

Q3. When is compliance complicity?

Q1. What is the optimal global population?  

Q2. Accurate news reporting is a public good. Does it follow that news agencies should be funded from taxation?

Q3. Do successful business people benefit others when making their money, when spending it, both, or neither?

Q1. Why was sustained economic growth so rare before the later 18th century and why did this change?

Q2. Has music ever significantly changed the course of history?

Q3. Why do civilisations collapse? Is our civilisation in danger?

Q1. When, if ever, should a company be permitted to refuse to do business with a person because of that person’s public statements?

Q2. In the last five years British police have arrested several thousand people for things they posted on social media. Is the UK becoming a police state?

Q3. Your parents say that 11pm is your bedtime. But they don’t punish you if you don’t go to bed by 11pm. Is 11pm really your bedtime?

Q1. According to a study by researchers at four British universities, for each 15-point increase in IQ, the likelihood of getting married increases by around 35% for a man but decreases by around 58% for a woman. Why?

In the original version of this question we misstated a statistic. This was caused by reproducing an error that appeared in several media summaries of the study. We are grateful to one of our contestants, Xinyi Zhang, who helped us to see (with humility and courtesy) why we should take more care to check our sources. We corrected the text on 4 April. Happily, the correction does not in any way alter the thrust of the question.

Q2. There is an unprecedented epidemic of depression and anxiety among young people. Can we fix this? How?

Q3. What is the difference between a psychiatric illness and a character flaw?

Q1. “I am not religious, but I am spiritual.” What could the speaker mean by “spiritual”?

Q2. Is it reasonable to thank God for protection from some natural harm if He is responsible for causing the harm?

Q3. Does God reward those who believe in him? If so, why?

JUNIOR prize

Q1. Does winning a free and fair election automatically confer a mandate for governing?

Q2. Has the anti-racism movement reduced racism?

Q3. Is there life after death?

Q4. How did it happen that governments came to own and run most high schools, while leaving food production to private enterprise? 

Q5. When will advancing technology make most of us unemployable? What should we do about this?

Q6. Should we trust fourteen-year-olds to make decisions about their own bodies? 

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS & FURTHER DETAILS

Please read the following carefully.

Entry to the John Locke Institute Essay Competition 2024 is open to students from any country.

Registration  

Only candidates who registered before the registration deadline of Friday, 31 May 2024 may enter this year's competition. To register, click here .  

All entries must be submitted by 11.59 pm BST on  the submission deadline: Sunday, 30 June 2024 .  Candidates must be eighteen years old, or younger, on that date. (Candidates for the Junior Prize must be fourteen years old, or younger, on that date.)

Entry is free.

Each essay must address only one of the questions in your chosen subject category, and must not exceed 2000 words (not counting diagrams, tables of data, endnotes, bibliography or authorship declaration). 

The filename of your pdf must be in this format: FirstName-LastName-Category-QuestionNumber.pdf; so, for instance, Alexander Popham would submit his answer to question 2 in the Psychology category with the following file name:

Alexander-Popham-Psychology-2.pdf

Essays with filenames which are not in this format will be rejected.

The candidate's name should NOT appear within the document itself. 

Candidates should NOT add footnotes. They may, however, add endnotes and/or a Bibliography that is clearly titled as such.

Each candidate will be required to provide the email address of an academic referee who is familiar with the candidate's written academic work. This should be a school teacher, if possible, or another responsible adult who is not a relation of the candidate. The John Locke Institute will email referees to verify that the essays submitted are indeed the original work of the candidates.

Submissions may be made as soon as registration opens in April. We recommend that you submit your essay well in advance of th e deadline to avoid any last-minute complications.

Acceptance of your essay depends on your granting us permission to use your data for the purposes of receiving and processing your entry as well as communicating with you about the Awards Ceremony Dinner, the academic conference, and other events and programmes of the John Locke Institute and its associated entities.  

Late entries

If for any reason you miss the 30 June deadline you will have an opportunity to make a late entry, under two conditions:

a) A late entry fee of 20.00 USD must be paid by credit card within twenty-four hours of the original deadline; and

b) Your essay must be submitted  before 11.59 pm BST on Wednesday, 10 July 2024.

To pay for late entry, a registrant need only log into his or her account, select the relevant option and provide the requested payment information.

Our grading system is proprietary. Essayists may be asked to discuss their entry with a member of the John Locke Institute’s faculty. We use various means to identify plagiarism, contract cheating, the use of AI and other forms of fraud . Our determinations in all such matters are final.

Essays will be judged on knowledge and understanding of the relevant material, the competent use of evidence, quality of argumentation, originality, structure, writing style and persuasive force. The very best essays are likely to be those which would be capable of changing somebody's mind. Essays which ignore or fail to address the strongest objections and counter-arguments are unlikely to be successful .

Candidates are advised to answer the question as precisely and directly as possible.

The writers of the best essays will receive a commendation and be shortlisted for a prize. Writers of shortlisted essays will be notified by 11.59 pm BST on Wednesday, 31 July. They will also be invited to London for an invitation-only academic conference and awards dinner in September, where the prize-winners will be announced. Unlike the competition itself, the academic conference and awards dinner are not free. Please be aware that n obody is required to attend either the academic conference or the prize ceremony. You can win a prize without travelling to London.

All short-listed candidates, including prize-winners, will be able to download eCertificates that acknowledge their achievement. If you win First, Second or Third Prize, and you travel to London for the ceremony, you will receive a signed certificate. 

There is a prize for the best essay in each category. The prize for each winner of a subject category, and the winner of the Junior category, is a scholarship worth US$2000 towards the cost of attending any John Locke Institute programme, and the essays will be published on the Institute's website. Prize-giving ceremonies will take place in London, at which winners and runners-up will be able to meet some of the judges and other faculty members of the John Locke Institute. Family, friends, and teachers are also welcome.

The candidate who submits the best essay overall will be awarded an honorary John Locke Institute Junior Fellowship, which comes with a US$10,000 scholarship to attend one or more of our summer schools and/or visiting scholars programmes. 

The judges' decisions are final, and no correspondence will be entered into.

R egistration opens: 1 April, 2024.

Registration deadline: 31 May, 2024. (Registration is required by this date for subsequent submission.)

Submission deadline: 30 June, 2024.

Late entry deadline: 10 July, 2024. (Late entries are subject to a 20.00 USD charge, payable by 1 July.)

Notification of short-listed essayists: 31 July, 2024.

Academic conference: 20 - 22 September, 2024.

Awards dinner: 21 September, 2024.

Any queries regarding the essay competition should be sent to [email protected] . Please be aware that, due to the large volume of correspondence we receive, we cannot guarantee to answer every query. In particular, regrettably, we are unable to respond to questions whose answers can be found on our website.

If you would like to receive helpful tips  from our examiners about what makes for a winning essay or reminders of upcoming key dates for the 2024  essay competition, please provide your email here to be added to our contact list. .

Thanks for subscribing!

The John Locke Institute's Global Essay Prize is acknowledged as the world's most prestigious essay competition. 

We welcome tens of thousands of submissions from ambitious students in more than 150 countries, and our examiners - including distinguished philosophers, political scientists, economists, historians, psychologists, theologians, and legal scholars - read and carefully assess every entry. 

I encourage you to register for this competition, not only for the hope of winning a prize or commendation, and not only for the chance to join the very best contestants at our academic conference and gala ceremony in London, but equally for the opportunity to engage in the serious scholarly enterprise of researching, reflecting on, writing about, and editing an answer to one of the important and provocative questions in this year's Global Essay Prize. 

We believe that the skills you will acquire in the process will make you a better thinker and a more effective advocate for the ideas that matter most to you.

I hope to see you in September!

Best wishes,

Jamie Whyte, Ph.D. (C ANTAB ) 

Chairman of Examiners

Q. I missed the registration deadline. May I still register or submit an essay?

A. No. Only candidates who registered before 31 May will be able to submit an essay. 

Q. Are footnote s, endnotes, a bibliography or references counted towards the word limit?

A. No. Only the body of the essay is counted. 

Q. Are in-text citations counted towards the word limit? ​

A. If you are using an in-text based referencing format, such as APA, your in-text citations are included in the word limit.

Q. Is it necessary to include foo tnotes or endnotes in an essay? ​

A. You  may not  include footnotes, but you may include in-text citations or endnotes. You should give your sources of any factual claims you make, and you should ackn owledge any other authors on whom you rely.​

Q. I am interested in a question that seems ambiguous. How should I interpret it?

A. You may interpret a question as you deem appropriate, clarifying your interpretation if necessary. Having done so, you must answer the question as directly as possible.

Q. How strict are  the age eligibility criteria?

A. Only students whose nineteenth birthday falls after 30 June 2024 will be eligible for a prize or a commendation. In the case of the Junior category, only students whose fifteenth birthday falls after 30 June 2024 will be eligible for a prize or a commendation. 

Q. May I submit more than one essay?

A. Yes, you may submit as many essays as you please in any or all categories.

Q. If I am eligible to compete in the Junior category, may I also (or instead) compete in another category?

A. Yes, you may.

Q. May I team up with someone else to write an essay?  

A. No. Each submitted essay must be entirely the work of a single individual.

Q. May I use AI, such as ChatGPT or the like, in writing my essay?

A. All essays will be checked for the use of AI. If we find that any content is generated by AI, your essay will be disqualified. We will also ask you, upon submission of your essay, whether you used AI for  any  purpose related to the writing of your essay, and if so, you will be required to provide details. In that case, if, in our judgement, you have not provided full and accurate details of your use of AI, your essay will be disqualified. 

Since any use of AI (that does not result in disqualification) can only negatively affect our assessment of your work relative to that of work that is done without using AI, your safest course of action is simply not to use it at all. If, however, you choose to use it for any purpose, we reserve the right to make relevant judgements on a case-by-case basis and we will not enter into any correspondence. 

Q. May I have someone else edit, or otherwise help me with, my essay?

A. You may of course discuss your essay with others, and it is perfectly acceptable for them to offer general advice and point out errors or weaknesses in your writing or content, leaving you to address them.

However, no part of your essay may be written by anyone else. This means that you must edit your own work and that while a proofreader may point out errors, you as the essayist must be the one to correct them. 

Q. Do I have to attend the awards ceremony to win a prize? ​

A. Nobody is required to attend the prize ceremony. You can win a prize without travelling to London. But if we invite you to London it is because your essay was good enough - in the opinion of the First Round judges - to be at least a contender for First, Second or Third Prize. Normally the Second Round judges will agree that the short-listed essays are worth at least a commendation.

Q. Is there an entry fee?

A. No. There is no charge to enter our global essay competition unless you submit your essay after the normal deadline, in which case there is a fee of 20.00 USD .

Q. Can I receive a certificate for my participation in your essay competition if I wasn't shortlisted? 

A. No. Certificates are awarded only for shortlisted essays. Short-listed contestants who attend the award ceremony in London will receive a paper certificate. If you cannot travel to London, you will be able to download your eCertificate.

Q. Can I receive feedba ck on my essay? 

A. We would love to be able to give individual feedback on essays but, unfortunately, we receive too many entries to be able to comment on particular essays.

Q. The deadline for publishing the names of short-listed essayists has passed but I did not receive an email to tell me whether I was short-listed.

A. Log into your account and check "Shortlist Status" for (each of) your essay(s).

Q. Why isn't the awards ceremony in Oxford this year?

A. Last year, many shortlisted finalists who applied to join our invitation-only academic conference missed the opportunity because of capacity constraints at Oxford's largest venues. This year, the conference will be held in central London and the gala awards dinner will take place in an iconic London ballroom. 

TECHNICAL FAQ s

Q. The system will not accept my essay. I have checked the filename and it has the correct format. What should I do?  

A. You have almost certainly added a space before or after one of your names in your profile. Edit it accordingly and try to submit again.

Q. The profile page shows my birth date to be wrong by a day, even after I edit it. What should I do?

A. Ignore it. The date that you typed has been correctly input to our database. ​ ​

Q. How can I be sure that my registration for the essay competition was successful? Will I receive a confirmation email?

A. You will not receive a confirmation email. Rather, you can at any time log in to the account that you created and see that your registration details are present and correct.

TROUBLESHOOTING YOUR SUBMISSION

If you are unable to submit your essay to the John Locke Institute’s global essay competition, your problem is almost certainly one of the following.

If so, please proceed as indicated.

1) PROBLEM: I receive the ‘registrations are now closed’ message when I enter my email and verification code. SOLUTION. You did not register for the essay competition and create your account. If you think you did, you probably only provided us with your email to receive updates from us about the competition or otherwise. You may not enter the competition this year.

2) PROBLEM I do not receive a login code after I enter my email to enter my account. SOLUTION. Enter your email address again, checking that you do so correctly. If this fails, restart your browser using an incognito window; clear your cache, and try again. Wait for a few minutes for the code. If this still fails, restart your machine and try one more time. If this still fails, send an email to [email protected] with “No verification code – [your name]” in the subject line.

SUBMITTING AN ESSAY

3) PROBLEM: The filename of my essay is in the correct format but it is rejected. SOLUTION: Use “Edit Profile” to check that you did not add a space before or after either of your names. If you did, delete it. Whether you did or did not, try again to submit your essay. If submission fails again, email [email protected] with “Filename format – [your name]” in the subject line.

4) PROBLEM: When trying to view my submitted essay, a .txt file is downloaded – not the .pdf file that I submitted. SOLUTION: Delete the essay. Logout of your account; log back in, and resubmit. If resubmission fails, email [email protected] with “File extension problem – [your name]” in the subject line.

5) PROBLEM: When I try to submit, the submission form just reloads without giving me an error message. SOLUTION. Log out of your account. Open a new browser; clear the cache; log back in, and resubmit. If resubmission fails, email [email protected] with “Submission form problem – [your name]” in the subject line.

6) PROBLEM: I receive an “Unexpected Error” when trying to submit. SOLUTION. Logout of your account; log back in, and resubmit. If this resubmission fails, email [email protected] with “Unexpected error – [your name]” in thesubject line. Your email must tell us e xactly where in the submission process you received this error.

7) PROBLEM: I have a problem with submitting and it is not addressed above on this list. SOLUTION: Restart your machine. Clear your browser’s cache. Try to submit again. If this fails, email [email protected] with “Unlisted problem – [your name]” in the subject line. Your email must tell us exactly the nature of your problem with relevant screen caps.

READ THIS BEFORE YOU EMAIL US.

Do not email us before you have tried the specified solutions to your problem.

Do not email us more than once about a single problem. We will respond to your email within 72 hours. Only if you have not heard from us in that time may you contact us again to ask for an update.

If you email us regarding a problem, you must include relevant screen-shots and information on both your operating system and your browser. You must also declare that you have tried the solutions presented above and had a good connection to the internet when you did so.

If you have tried the relevant solution to your problem outlined above, have emailed us, and are still unable to submit before the 30 June deadline on account of any fault of the John Locke Institute or our systems, please do not worry: we will have a way to accept your essay in that case. However, if there is no fault on our side, we will not accept your essay if it is not submitted on time – whatever your reason: we will not make exceptions for IT issues for which we are not responsible.

We reserve the right to disqualify the entries of essayists who do not follow all provided instructions, including those concerning technical matters.

Bookings Open for Online Summer Courses

Watch our Explainer Video

How Our Essay Competition Works

Submit your entry.

Research and write your essay and then submit it, along with your references, via our short form below.

Entries close at 9pm UK time on 15th April 2024 !

Awards Ceremony

All shortlisted entrants and their parents and teachers will be invited to attend our Awards Ceremony in May 2024, where the winners will be announced.

Over £100,000 Worth of Academic Prizes

Free Conference place

The first thousand students who are successfully shortlisted will be awarded a free place at one of our OxBright Conferences (worth £95) in the autumn. Alternatively, you can put this credit towards an Online Course or Online Internship .

All shortlisted entrants and their parents and teachers will be invited to attend our online Awards Ceremony in May 2024, where the winners will be announced.

Matilda Winner, History, 2023

I’m both thrilled and flabbergasted at the outcome of the competition.

Winning this competition undoubtedly made me feel much more confident in researching and writing in my field from now on, opening a lot of new doors for me!

Regina Winner, Psychology, 2023

I’m very happy and grateful to win such a meaningful competition. I truly learned a lot.

My advice to anyone considering entering is to try to think deeper and further about your chosen topic.

Alex Winner, Philosophy, 2023

Frequently Asked Questions

Entering the essay competition, how will entering the oxbright essay competition help me in the future, why do you run an essay competition.

OxBright is about giving students the edge to help them to succeed, find their purpose and make a difference in the world.

We think it’s the greatest time to be alive, but we’re aware that young people face challenges their predecessors didn’t. We’re passionate about encouraging students to be optimistic about the future by being active thinkers interested in collaborating to create a better future for the long-term. You can read more about this in our Worldview .

Our essay competition combines these two elements – encouraging students to think actively about the future, and giving them tools to help them to succeed.

Who can enter?

Anyone can enter – the only eligibility criteria is that you must be aged between 15-18. You don’t need to have previously joined an OxBright programme in order to take part.

Kindly be aware that to be eligible to take up any of the free places offered as prizes, such as our online courses/internships, winning students must be between the ages of 15 and 18 at the commencement of the programme.

Can I write more than one essay?

Sorry, we only accept one essay per student in each Essay Competition. This is due to the volume of essays we receive.

Can I enter jointly with a friend?

No, we can only accept entries from individuals, and it’s important to make sure that your work is entirely your own.

Is there a fee to enter the OxBright Essay Competition?

No, the essay competition is completely free to enter.

When is the entry deadline?

The deadline has been extended, and is now the 15th April 2024, at 9pm.

Are you connected to any university?

No, OxBright is an independent education organisation which is not connected to any university.

Where can I see the results of the Essay Competition 2023?

You can see the results of our previous Essay Competition, including the winning essay in full, here .

Writing Your Essay

What are the subject categories i can enter for, how long should my essay be.

There are three parts to the essay:

• Essay title: the title of your essay can be up to 100 characters long, including spaces
• Essay: your essay can have up to 3,800 characters , including spaces (this is about 500 words). This includes everything you write, like the main text and in-text citations. In-text citations are little notes you put in your essay to show where your information came from. For example, if you quote something from a book by John Smith, you would add (Smith, 2010, p. 50) right after the quote. These citations are part of your word count, so make sure to include them
• References: as for references, there’s no word limit – you can include as many as you need! These are important for showing where your information came from. Please use the Harvard Referencing Style for your references (you can find how to do this in the guidelines provided here ). This won’t count towards your essay character limit, so please list all the sources you used

What are the evaluation criteria?

We’ll be assessing essays on the following criteria:

• Fluency of written English
• Relevance to the question
• Creativity and originality of ideas
• Use of evidence or examples
• Relevance to the OxBright Worldview

Should I use references?

Please make sure to include references to your sources, using the Harvard Referencing Style (guidelines here ).

What makes a good essay?

Make sure to read our criteria carefully (you can find it in the FAQ above).

We want essays that are thoroughly researched, packed with examples and solid evidence. What really catches our attention are essays with unique analysis. So, we’re not just interested in essays that simply describe things – we want your thoughts, analysis, and fresh ideas.

Don’t forget, it’s crucial to use and mention trustworthy sources for the evidence you provide.

Do you accept personal or descriptive essays?

We’re looking for clear, concise and compelling answers to the question above, written and formatted in an academic style. Please don’t submit personal essays or creative writing samples.

What Happens Next?

When will i hear the results.

We’ll be in touch within two weeks of your entry to let you know whether or not you’ve been shortlisted (all entrants who meet our core standards of relevance and coherence will be shortlisted).

All shortlisted entrants and their parents and teachers will be invited to our Awards Ceremony in May 2024, when the winners in each subject category will be announced.

How are essays assessed?

You can read about the criteria we use to assess your essay in the FAQ above (“What are the evaluation criteria?”).

Essays are assessed using our proprietary system which combines a mixture of technology and personal assessment. Essays which are deemed to be plagiarised or be written by AI will be rejected and our decision on this is final.

There are two stages to our assessment process:

Shorlisting Our first stage assessment reviews whether the essay is relevant and coherent. If so, your essay will be shortlisted, you will be offered a free place at an OxBright Conference and you will be invited to the Awards Ceremony.

Awards Shortlised essays are then given further assessment by our panel. This includes a review of the References. In the application form, we ask for a the name of a teacher who is familiar with your academic work. If your essay is nominated for an Award, we will ask this teacher to confirm that the essay was genuinely written by you.

What are the prizes?

Please click here for more information about the prizes and awards.

Why is the overall prize a place at Oxford Scholastica in 2025, not 2024?

Will i receive feedback.

Unfortunately, due to the volume of entries received, we are unable to provide feedback on essays.

Does everyone who enters get a free place at a Conference?

The first thousand students to who make a valid submission and are shortlisted will be invited to attend an OxBright Conference of their choice, free of charge (worth £95). Conference subjects include Business, Medicine, Law and Psychology. It is optional to attend a Conference.

Alternatively, you’ll be able to choose to apply the £95 credit toward another programme with us.

Does everyone receive a certificate?

Only students who win one of the awards receive a certificate. Certificates are issued in online format.

Do you publish the names of the award winners?

Yes, award winners will be published on our website after the Awards Ceremony.

How can I pass on some feedback about the essay competition?

Summer 2024 Admissions Open Now. Sign up for upcoming live information sessions here (featuring former and current Admission Officers at Havard and UPenn).

Discourse, debate, and analysis

Cambridge re:think essay competition 2024.

Competition Opens: 15th January, 2024

Essay Submission Deadline: 10th May, 2024 Result Announcement: 20th June, 2024 Award Ceremony and Dinner at the University of Cambridge: 30th July, 2024

We welcome talented high school students from diverse educational settings worldwide to contribute their unique perspectives to the competition.

Entry to the competition is free.

About the Competition

The spirit of the Re:think essay competition is to encourage critical thinking and exploration of a wide range of thought-provoking and often controversial topics. The competition covers a diverse array of subjects, from historical and present issues to speculative future scenarios. Participants are invited to engage deeply with these topics, critically analysing their various facets and implications. It promotes intellectual exploration and encourages participants to challenge established norms and beliefs, presenting opportunities to envision alternative futures, consider the consequences of new technologies, and reevaluate longstanding traditions. 

Ultimately, our aim is to create a platform for students and scholars to share their perspectives on pressing issues of the past and future, with the hope of broadening our collective understanding and generating innovative solutions to contemporary challenges. This year’s competition aims to underscore the importance of discourse, debate, and critical analysis in addressing complex societal issues in nine areas, including:

Religion and Politics

Political science and law, linguistics, environment, sociology and philosophy, business and investment, public health and sustainability, biotechonology.

Artificial Intelligence 

Neuroengineering

2024 essay prompts.

This year, the essay prompts are contributed by distinguished professors from Harvard, Brown, UC Berkeley, Cambridge, Oxford, and MIT.

Essay Guidelines and Judging Criteria

Review general guidelines, format guidelines, eligibility, judging criteria.

Awards and Award Ceremony

Award winners will be invited to attend the Award Ceremony and Dinner hosted at the King’s College, University of Cambridge. The Dinner is free of charge for select award recipients.

Registration and Submission

Register a participant account today and submit your essay before the deadline.

Advisory Committee and Judging Panel

The Cambridge Re:think Essay Competition is guided by an esteemed Advisory Committee comprising distinguished academics and experts from elite universities worldwide. These committee members, drawn from prestigious institutions, such as Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford, and MIT, bring diverse expertise in various disciplines.

They play a pivotal role in shaping the competition, contributing their insights to curate the themes and framework. Their collective knowledge and scholarly guidance ensure the competition’s relevance, academic rigour, and intellectual depth, setting the stage for aspiring minds to engage with thought-provoking topics and ideas.

We are honoured to invite the following distinguished professors to contribute to this year’s competition.

The judging panel of the competition comprises leading researchers and professors from Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Cambridge, and Oxford, engaging in a strictly double blind review process.

Keynote Speeches by 10 Nobel Laureates

We are beyond excited to announce that multiple Nobel laureates have confirmed to attend and speak at this year’s ceremony on 30th July, 2024 .

They will each be delivering a keynote speech to the attendees. Some of them distinguished speakers will speak virtually, while others will attend and present in person and attend the Reception at Cambridge.

Why has religion remained a force in a secular world? 

Professor Commentary:

Arguably, the developed world has become more secular in the last century or so. The influence of Christianity, e.g. has diminished and people’s life worlds are less shaped by faith and allegiance to Churches. Conversely, arguments have persisted that hold that we live in a post-secular world. After all, religion – be it in terms of faith, transcendence, or meaning – may be seen as an alternative to a disenchanted world ruled by entirely profane criteria such as economic rationality, progressivism, or science. Is the revival of religion a pale reminder of a by-gone past or does it provide sources of hope for the future?

‘Religion in the Public Sphere’ by Jürgen Habermas (European Journal of Philosophy, 2006)

In this paper, philosopher Jürgen Habermas discusses the limits of church-state separation, emphasizing the significant contribution of religion to public discourse when translated into publicly accessible reasons.

‘Public Religions in the Modern World’ by José Casanova (University Of Chicago Press, 1994)

Sociologist José Casanova explores the global emergence of public religion, analyzing case studies from Catholicism and Protestantism in Spain, Poland, Brazil, and the USA, challenging traditional theories of secularization.

‘The Power of Religion in the Public Sphere’ by Judith Butler, Jürgen Habermas, Charles Taylor, and Cornel West (Edited by Eduardo Mendieta and Jonathan VanAntwerpen, Columbia University Press, 2011)

This collection features dialogues by prominent intellectuals on the role of religion in the public sphere, examining various approaches and their impacts on cultural, social, and political debates.

‘Rethinking Secularism’ by Craig Calhoun, Mark Juergensmeyer, and Jonathan VanAntwerpen (Oxford University Press, 2011)

An interdisciplinary examination of secularism, this book challenges traditional views, highlighting the complex relationship between religion and secularism in contemporary global politics.

‘God is Back: How the Global Rise of Faith is Changing the World’ by John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge (Penguin, 2010)

Micklethwait and Wooldridge argue for the coexistence of religion and modernity, suggesting that religious beliefs can contribute to a more open, tolerant, and peaceful modern world.

‘Multiculturalism’ by Tariq Modood (Polity Press, 2013)

Sociologist Tariq Modood emphasizes the importance of multiculturalism in integrating diverse identities, particularly in post-immigration contexts, and its role in shaping democratic citizenship.

‘God’s Agents: Biblical Publicity in Contemporary England’ by Matthew Engelke (University of California Press, 2013)

In this ethnographic study, Matthew Engelke explores how a group in England seeks to expand the role of religion in the public sphere, challenging perceptions of religion in post-secular England.

Gene therapy is a medical approach that treats or prevents disease by correcting the underlying genetic problem. Is gene therapy better than traditional medicines? What are the pros and cons of using gene therapy as a medicine? Is gene therapy justifiable?

Especially after Covid-19 mRNA vaccines, gene therapy is getting more and more interesting approach to cure. That’s why that could be interesting to think about. I believe that students will enjoy and learn a lot while they are investigating this topic.

The Hall at King’s College, Cambridge

The Hall was designed by William Wilkins in the 1820s and is considered one of the most magnificent halls of its era. The first High Table dinner in the Hall was held in February 1828, and ever since then, the splendid Hall has been where members of the college eat and where formal dinners have been held for centuries.

The Award Ceremony and Dinner will be held in the Hall in the evening of  30th July, 2024.

Stretching out down to the River Cam, the Back Lawn has one of the most iconic backdrop of King’s College Chapel. 

The early evening reception will be hosted on the Back Lawn with the iconic Chapel in the background (weather permitting). 

King’s College Chapel

With construction started in 1446 by Henry VI and took over a century to build, King’s College Chapel is one of the most iconic buildings in the world, and is a splendid example of late Gothic architecture. 

Attendees are also granted complimentary access to the King’s College Chapel before and during the event. 

Confirmed Nobel Laureates

Dr Thomas R. Cech

The nobel prize in chemistry 1989 , for the discovery of catalytic properties of rna.

Thomas Robert Cech is an American chemist who shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Sidney Altman, for their discovery of the catalytic properties of RNA. Cech discovered that RNA could itself cut strands of RNA, suggesting that life might have started as RNA. He found that RNA can not only transmit instructions, but also that it can speed up the necessary reactions.

He also studied telomeres, and his lab discovered an enzyme, TERT (telomerase reverse transcriptase), which is part of the process of restoring telomeres after they are shortened during cell division.

As president of Howard Hughes Medical Institute, he promoted science education, and he teaches an undergraduate chemistry course at the University of Colorado

Sir Richard J. Roberts

The nobel prize in medicine 1993 .

F or the discovery of split genes

During 1969–1972, Sir Richard J. Roberts did postdoctoral research at Harvard University before moving to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where he was hired by James Dewey Watson, a co-discoverer of the structure of DNA and a fellow Nobel laureate. In this period he also visited the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology for the first time, working alongside Fred Sanger. In 1977, he published his discovery of RNA splicing. In 1992, he moved to New England Biolabs. The following year, he shared a Nobel Prize with his former colleague at Cold Spring Harbor Phillip Allen Sharp.

His discovery of the alternative splicing of genes, in particular, has had a profound impact on the study and applications of molecular biology. The realisation that individual genes could exist as separate, disconnected segments within longer strands of DNA first arose in his 1977 study of adenovirus, one of the viruses responsible for causing the common cold. Robert’s research in this field resulted in a fundamental shift in our understanding of genetics, and has led to the discovery of split genes in higher organisms, including human beings.

Dr Aaron Ciechanover

The nobel prize in chemistry 2004 .

F or the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation

Aaron Ciechanover is one of Israel’s first Nobel Laureates in science, earning his Nobel Prize in 2004 for his work in ubiquitination. He is honored for playing a central role in the history of Israel and in the history of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.

Dr Ciechanover is currently a Technion Distinguished Research Professor in the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Research Institute at the Technion. He is a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the Russian Academy of Sciences and is a foreign associate of the United States National Academy of Sciences. In 2008, he was a visiting Distinguished Chair Professor at NCKU, Taiwan. As part of Shenzhen’s 13th Five-Year Plan funding research in emerging technologies and opening “Nobel laureate research labs”, in 2018 he opened the Ciechanover Institute of Precision and Regenerative Medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen campus.

Dr Robert Lefkowitz

The nobel prize in chemistry 2012 .

F or the discovery of G protein-coupled receptors

Robert Joseph Lefkowitz is an American physician (internist and cardiologist) and biochemist. He is best known for his discoveries that reveal the inner workings of an important family G protein-coupled receptors, for which he was awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize for Chemistry with Brian Kobilka. He is currently an Investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute as well as a James B. Duke Professor of Medicine and Professor of Biochemistry and Chemistry at Duke University.

Dr Lefkowitz made a remarkable contribution in the mid-1980s when he and his colleagues cloned the gene first for the β-adrenergic receptor, and then rapidly thereafter, for a total of 8 adrenergic receptors (receptors for adrenaline and noradrenaline). This led to the seminal discovery that all GPCRs (which include the β-adrenergic receptor) have a very similar molecular structure. The structure is defined by an amino acid sequence which weaves its way back and forth across the plasma membrane seven times. Today we know that about 1,000 receptors in the human body belong to this same family. The importance of this is that all of these receptors use the same basic mechanisms so that pharmaceutical researchers now understand how to effectively target the largest receptor family in the human body. Today, as many as 30 to 50 percent of all prescription drugs are designed to “fit” like keys into the similarly structured locks of Dr Lefkowitz’ receptors—everything from anti-histamines to ulcer drugs to beta blockers that help relieve hypertension, angina and coronary disease.

Dr Lefkowitz is among the most highly cited researchers in the fields of biology, biochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology, and clinical medicine according to Thomson-ISI.

Dr Joachim Frank

The nobel prize in chemistry 2017 .

F or developing cryo-electron microscopy

Joachim Frank is a German-American biophysicist at Columbia University and a Nobel laureate. He is regarded as the founder of single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), for which he shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2017 with Jacques Dubochet and Richard Henderson. He also made significant contributions to structure and function of the ribosome from bacteria and eukaryotes.

In 1975, Dr Frank was offered a position of senior research scientist in the Division of Laboratories and Research (now Wadsworth Center), New York State Department of Health,where he started working on single-particle approaches in electron microscopy. In 1985 he was appointed associate and then (1986) full professor at the newly formed Department of Biomedical Sciences of the University at Albany, State University of New York. In 1987 and 1994, he went on sabbaticals in Europe, one to work with Richard Henderson, Laboratory of Molecular Biology Medical Research Council in Cambridge and the other as a Humboldt Research Award winner with Kenneth C. Holmes, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg. In 1998, Dr Frank was appointed investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). Since 2003 he was also lecturer at Columbia University, and he joined Columbia University in 2008 as professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics and of biological sciences.

Dr Barry C. Barish

The nobel prize in physics 2017 .

For the decisive contributions to the detection of gravitational waves

Dr Barry Clark Barish is an American experimental physicist and Nobel Laureate. He is a Linde Professor of Physics, emeritus at California Institute of Technology and a leading expert on gravitational waves.

In 2017, Barish was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics along with Rainer Weiss and Kip Thorne “for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves”. He said, “I didn’t know if I would succeed. I was afraid I would fail, but because I tried, I had a breakthrough.”

In 2018, he joined the faculty at University of California, Riverside, becoming the university’s second Nobel Prize winner on the faculty.

In the fall of 2023, he joined Stony Brook University as the inaugural President’s Distinguished Endowed Chair in Physics.

In 2023, Dr Barish was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Biden in a White House ceremony.

Dr Harvey J. Alter

The nobel prize in medicine 2020 .

For the discovery of Hepatitis C virus

Dr Harvey J. Alter is an American medical researcher, virologist, physician and Nobel Prize laureate, who is best known for his work that led to the discovery of the hepatitis C virus. Alter is the former chief of the infectious disease section and the associate director for research of the Department of Transfusion Medicine at the Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. In the mid-1970s, Alter and his research team demonstrated that most post-transfusion hepatitis cases were not due to hepatitis A or hepatitis B viruses. Working independently, Alter and Edward Tabor, a scientist at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, proved through transmission studies in chimpanzees that a new form of hepatitis, initially called “non-A, non-B hepatitis” caused the infections, and that the causative agent was probably a virus. This work eventually led to the discovery of the hepatitis C virus in 1988, for which he shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2020 along with Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice.

Dr Alter has received recognition for the research leading to the discovery of the virus that causes hepatitis C. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, the highest award conferred to civilians in United States government public health service, and the 2000 Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research.

Dr Ardem Patapoutian

The nobel prize in medicine 2021 .

For discovering how pressure is translated into nerve impulses

Dr Ardem Patapoutian is an Lebanese-American molecular biologist, neuroscientist, and Nobel Prize laureate of Armenian descent. He is known for his work in characterising the PIEZO1, PIEZO2, and TRPM8 receptors that detect pressure, menthol, and temperature. Dr Patapoutian is a neuroscience professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at Scripps Research in La Jolla, California. In 2021, he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with David Julius.

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• Crime, justice and law

Times Law Awards 2024: Alex Chalk speech

Lord Chancellor Alex Chalk congratulated winners at the Times Law Awards 2024.

My Lords, Ladies and gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to join you tonight.

I am, as you’ve just heard, the Lord Chancellor. It was a predecessor of mine who went along to HMP Wormwood Scrubs, and the Governor said, “thank you very much for coming” and “if you wouldn’t mind addressing the prisoners, please”.  He thought it was a bit strange, but that he had better do as he was told. Anyway, the prisoners were in the exercise yard, and they were looking at him - rather as you are now - and he was looking at them - rather as I am now - and he didn’t know how to begin, so he just said, “I’m delighted to see you all here.”  But I am, I am delighted to see you all here!

Thank you, Lord Grabiner, for inviting me, and for your kind introduction. I am told Lord Grabiner is standing down as Head of Chambers; but he is definitely not retiring from One Essex Court…or indeed defecting. I want to make that clear as well.

Thank you too to The Times and One Essex Court for organising and sponsoring this wonderful event.

Now, the essay question this year is about AI. I know some of you are worried that AI is coming for your jobs. After the local election results in Cheltenham, I’m not entirely unsympathetic…

But actually, being at the Times Law Awards reminds me that I’ve been in post for a year. This was the first event I spoke at as Lord Chancellor. By current standards a year’s not bad going – longer I’m told than at least three of the last ten Lord Chancellors. And about the going rate for a First Minister of Scotland.

But one of the consequences of becoming Lord Chancellor and being cloistered in the MOJ for a year, is that when there is a defection you find out about colleagues that you never knew existed…

And what a pleasure it is to be back in this extraordinary building. This is the place where Lady Jane Grey was sentenced to death, where Henry Garnet was actually executed as an accessory to the Gunpowder Plot. And just outside, beneath Guildhall Yard, lie the ruins of London’s first Roman amphitheatre where criminals were routinely put to death. To you that may sound like history. To me, it sounds like inspiration for a manifesto. I am joking, that was a joke. Seriously.

The essay question this year is topical. I won’t seek to add to the erudition in so many of these essays. Instead, I want to make a few observations about context: specifically, AI’s place as part of a gathering global lawtech revolution – a revolution in which we can credibly say that England and Wales is at the leading edge.

This jurisdiction has of course, long been fertile ground for innovation. It isn’t by luck, still less sentimentality, or tradition, that English and Welsh common law is used as the basis for over a quarter of the world’s 320 legal jurisdictions. It’s not out of habit that international businesses choose our law to govern their contracts, and our courts to settle their disputes. Nor is it mere coincidence that we have the largest legal sector in Europe, second only to the USA in the world rankings.

The success of our justice system for centuries has been underpinned by its ability to evolve, to adapt and to modernise, while never losing sight of its values and its standards.

And in that spirit, let us not see our current leading position as a high watermark. Let us instead see it as the springboard for further success. We must be relentlessly ambitious to increase our legal sector’s international market share.

We don’t want that simply for the sake of it, although getting one over on France is helpful from time to time! We do it because of what it can deliver for our people and our economy. We achieve that principally on the basis of our people. Our legal profession and our judiciary are rightly renowned around the world for quality and integrity. That will remain, of course, far and away our most precious asset. But increasingly important in future will be our ability to harness new and changing technology.  

And what are our competitors up to?

In Singapore, the Supreme Court now uses a digital transcription system to capture court proceedings, meaning that transcripts can be turned around rapidly, including near real time transcription with annotations made by judges during hearings.

And they are developing a generative AI programme to help users of the Small Claims Tribunal to file claims by auto-filling the required forms and advising on possible outcomes and claim amounts, prompting parties to settle earlier or consider mediation.

In India, the justice system is embarking on one of the largest digital rollouts in history, computerising almost 15,000 courts and creating 7 digital platforms to provide real time information on case status, court listings and judgments.

In British Columbia, they have set up an online dispute resolution platform that supports parties to negotiate online and settle their cases without going in front of judges.

There are many other examples. But we should be confident in the ambitious approach we are taking on digital justice.

Last year, with the judiciary, I set out a shared vision for a digital justice system that gives citizens the option to resolve their disputes entirely online. One that harnesses technology – like AI – to guide people in what they need to do and when. And crucially, that clearly sets out all their options, including mediation and arbitration, so that people don’t end up in court unnecessarily. Sometimes the best legal advice is that your issue is not really a legal issue at all.

Meanwhile, we are, I believe, the first jurisdiction to have established an Online Procedure Rule Committee to set standards and govern our digital justice system. This is a genuinely historic step forward – one of the most significant since the introduction of the CPR in 1999.

Of course, all this hasn’t come from a standing start: it builds on the progress we are making in Lawtech, a sector that has grown dramatically in the last three years. The UK has become a global hub for Lawtech and a haven for innovators – supported by LawtechUK, an industry-led programme set up by the Government in 2019.

In that time, it has:

Created a LawTech accelerator to nurture start-ups and support them to access the legal market.

Created a Regulatory Response Unit to make it easier for startups to navigate the complex landscape of legal regulation.

Developed a ground-breaking feasibility study for an online dispute resolution platform for SMEs and so much more…

And take quiet pride that today we are home to some 43 percent of all lawtech startups in Europe.

That is not a coincidence. Lawtech in the UK benefits from a technology talent pipeline, a competitive tax system, a liberal regulatory regime and (dare I say it) Government recognition of the importance of innovation.

And let us also take pride in the fact that we also have one of the most open legal markets anywhere in the world, where any foreign lawyer can practice foreign and international law. As I said to the legal professionals at the Bar Council of India’s Conference in Delhi, which I was delighted to be invited to last year, I said to them that any one of them in the audience could jump on the plane back to the UK and start practising Indian and international law in our country the very next day.

And in that context, is it any wonder that London is now home to more than 200 foreign law firms from over 40 different jurisdictions. I believe, it’s a model for the open, globalist, enterprising country we should inspire to be.

Politicians are pretty good by and large at setting out the ‘what’ - the statistics, the achievements and so on. But I think we spend less time talking about the ‘why’. Why does any of this matter? Why is it important to stay ahead?

First, straightforwardly, of course it’s about the economic benefit, we shouldn’t be squeamish talking about that, our legal services drive prosperity – generating billions for our economy each year, around £34 billion gross value added in 2022 alone. At the same time, annual demand for lawtech products and services in the UK is estimated to be worth up to £22 billion a year – and only likely to grow further, and that’s of course important for the public services that we cherish. 

Second, access to justice, so that citizens can vindicate their individual rights. Because a nation of laws must be, of course, one nation of laws – where legal remedies aren’t the preserve of those with the deepest pockets. Tech is our friend here, as we know from our work to digitise the courts system through our modernisation programme. More claims are being made digitally online, more quickly. And our new digital services – including for civil money and injury claims – have been used over 2 million times. That broadens access to justice.

Remember this as well. Many people in this room - people who have worked hard and focused on their practices, will also believe passionately in social mobility. When I was in practice at the Bar, I used to go in my wig and gown to tough inner London schools and do cross-examinations, do mock trials, and so on. And I remember one young man came with me to the Old Bailey, because I’d spotted that his cross examination was truly exceptional. He came to watch a trial and was absolutely transfixed by the whole thing. Five years later I was reminded by his school about him, and he’d won a place at Cambridge to read law. So, yours is a sector that can genuinely change lives.

Third, the rule of law – fundamental to our values as a nation. Keeping our justice system up-to-date means that the rule of law remains relevant as tech moves on. In simple terms, more people are able to use the law to vindicate their rights and to secure just outcomes. That strengthens the rule of law. And, because of our international standing, with litigants from around the world choosing England and Wales, I hope we can reasonably observe that it strengthens the international rule of law too.

That in turn strengthens our position and our voice in upholding the international rules-based order. Let me give you just a brief example. When I travelled recently to the United States, I met with Merrick Garland, US Attorney General, Lisa Monaco, Deputy Attorney General, and Samuel Alito, Supreme Court Justice. And which is the nation that the US turns to as a trusted friend as we grapple with difficult legal issues, such as how to manage billions in immobilised Russian assets - is there a legal route to go from freezing to seizing? Which is the nation with the expertise they very often turn to, and did so in that case? It’s the United Kingdom.

Finally, let me touch on AI. I’m not going to drill into the detail of each of these essays, but one core theme shines out. By and large our winners believed that AI is a good thing – that its promise outweighs its threats. That’s also the Governments position – so there’s the kiss of death for your collective credibility….!

Harnessing the power of AI is, of course, a big priority for Government and the PM – backed by a £900 million fund and plans for a world-leading AI research centre in Bristol, which will make sure the UK is securing its leadership position in AI development.

And when it comes to legal services, LawtechUK, along with the UK Jurisdiction Taskforce and the Law Commission, has and continues to bring together lawyers, investors, technologists, and other experts to explore how Generative AI is shaping the legal landscape – and how we can use it to open up access to justice. 

But as our essayists set out, if we’re to harness the benefits, we need to manage the risks. To gain public trust requires transparency, reliable data, and an understanding of how bias can accidentally be embedded – and how to prevent it, as well as protection against cyber security threats.

Again, the UK is playing a leading role with the PM convening a global AI safety summit last year. And we have signed an MoU with the United States, to work together to develop tests for the most advanced AI.

So, let me turn now to those finalists who entered this competition. My congratulations to you all. Your cases were powerfully and engagingly made, and it was a genuine pleasure to read them.

To produce such strong pieces of work, despite myriad demands on your time, says a great deal about your commitment to, and aptitude for, the law. You should all be very proud.

And if the standard of these essays is anything to go by, the future of our profession is bright. I look forward to seeing great things from you in the years ahead.

So, without further ado, let me announce our runners up. I’m going to ask you please to come up and collect your prizes – Jonathan Macarthy, Laura Wilson, and Jay Staker.

Next, our third prize winner is… Maximilian Mutkin

Second prize goes to… Jonathan Stelzer

And, finally, I’m delighted to announce our first prize winner…. Henrik Tiemroth.

And that’s your lot, thank you very much indeed.

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• The Weekend Interview

Joseph Stiglitz: the UK’s tax system is “inexcusable”

The American economist on how neoliberalism put us on “the road to 21st-century fascism”.

By Will Dunn

One of the first things the Nobel Prize winner and former chief economist at the World Bank, Joseph Stiglitz, told me when we met in London earlier this month was that the tax breaks currently enjoyed by the wealthy in the UK are “inexcusable” and that Labour – which currently has no plans to raise capital gains tax in line with income tax – should pursue “more progressive taxes” if it forms the next government.

Over peppermint tea in the bar of a London hotel, Stiglitz said there was “a lot of richness” in Labour’s agenda and that “they’re pushing on a lot of things, moving in the right direction on health, education, enhancing security and promoting investment”. However, he also called for a “stronger competition policy” and declared that there is “no ethical or economic argument” for taxing wealth at a lower rate than income. “I don’t see why you should give favourable treatment to a billionaire earning capital gains,” he said, “so he can buy another yacht.”

Joseph Stiglitz has spent more than half a century watching people make the same fundamental mistake. Born near the end of the Second World War in Gary, Indiana, he was an early critic of the laissez-faire economic theories that took hold in the West in the second half of the 20th century, led by Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek. In 1970, Friedman had written a paper – that he summarised in an essay in the New York Times – that declared that business had only one “social responsibility”: to increase profits and maximise shareholder value. The paper was so influential that its central tenet, the idea of fiduciary duty, became part of corporate governance laws around the world.

Stiglitz was then in his mid-twenties, and as a fellow of the Hoover Institute at Stanford University (he jokes that he was a “diversity appointment” to the right-wing institute) he had opportunities to debate these ideas with Friedman himself. His own work showed the opposite conclusion, that stock market value maximalisation could not be achieved except at the expense of wider society. He demanded Friedman show him the flaws in his proofs: “He couldn’t disprove it, he couldn’t explain where my argument was wrong… and 55 years later, nobody’s disproven that result.” Friedman himself would later admit, in one of his final interviews in 2002, that his belief in the self-regulating market had been disproved by Russia’s descent into kleptocracy. “I was wrong,” he concluded. “Joe was right.”

But by then, people were already ignoring more of Stiglitz’s warnings. Reagan and Thatcher had committed fully to the “market fundamentalism” of neoliberalism (Thatcher kept a copy of Hayek’s The Constitution of Liberty in her handbag) as the source of economic growth . In 1992, Stiglitz wrote a paper which warned that turning mortgages into tradable securities, as had then begun to happen, would lead to a situation in which no one – neither the banks selling the mortgages, nor the brokers bundling them into bonds and trading them – would have an incentive to make sure the applicants could really afford them. In 1993, he joined Bill Clinton’s council of economic advisers, before becoming its chair in 1995, where he warned against the growing appetite for deregulating the financial sector. “Remember,” he told Clinton, “it was the Great Depression that led to regulation.”

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During the first Clinton administration he was “able to stave off” those in the Treasury, such as the head of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan, who believed it was important to regulate financial markets as lightly as possible. But in 1997 he left to become chief economist at the World Bank, where he saw similar movements in other countries. “You could see that rapid expansion of credit in an under-regulated financial system is a recipe for financial crisis,” he told me. The growth this credit seemed to provide was too tempting, however, and the derivatives market boomed.

The crash that arrived in 2008 – caused by banks and brokers handing out cheap credit without stopping to ask if it was affordable – was for Stiglitz “the apex of neoliberalism”, the ultimate demonstration of the misapprehension that had guided Western economics . “It showed that financial liberalisation had failed even in the citadel of capitalism.”

Now 81, Joseph Stiglitz carries a walking stick but he still talks with a restless energy, smiling often. We roam the ground floor of his Westminster hotel, searching for a spot free from the muzak that is piped from the ceiling in every room; nowhere, it seems, is safe, and the staff aren’t allowed to turn it off. In a small way this seems to represent what we’ve met to discuss: freedom.

The great delusion of neoliberalism, Stiglitz argues, is that it was never really liberal at all. This is the central point of his new book, The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society . It is published 80 years after Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom , which argued that there was no political freedom without free trade, free markets, free enterprise. History has shown us that Hayek was wrong, Stiglitz told me. “Where we see populism and nationalist authoritarianism, it’s not in the countries where government has done too much, like Scandinavia, but in countries where it’s done too little – like the United States.” 

Today’s strange and contradictory new politics , in which left and right seem to have dissolved into a mass of issues and grievances, could be said to stem from the same fact: that in deregulating markets, liberalising trade and privatising public infrastructure, neoliberal governments created freedom for some people, but not without taking it away from others. The more freedom banks had to make money, or companies had to choose how and where they operated, the less choice others had about the kind of job they could have or the life they could afford. More than once during our conversation Stiglitz quotes Isaiah Berlin: “Freedom for the wolves has often meant death to the sheep.” 

His critics argue that deregulated capitalism and free trade have elevated hundreds of millions of people from extreme poverty. Stiglitz said this fails to imagine the counterfactual: the economic growth we could have had from greater regulation, greater state investment in education and public health. “Growth is much slower in the era of neoliberalism. So not only did it lead to more inequality, and increased concentration of market power, it didn’t even deliver on the one narrow, materialistic objective of GDP.” 

Instead, neoliberalism has given us a market-power economy, driven not by competition but by anti-competitive behaviour. The recipe for success in this world is not to make a better product that inspires demand, but to persuade investors that you will be able to form a monopoly in which demand is irrelevant. Companies such as Amazon and Uber can go for a decade without making a profit, so long as they “scale” to the point where their market power is unopposed. In the case of Twitter, Elon Musk was obviously going to be terrible at running the social platform. By last summer the company had, by Musk’s own admission, lost around half of its advertising revenue – but the lack of a real alternative keeps his asset valuable. As Warren Buffett said, the trick to buying a good company is to pick one so well defended from the market that “your idiot nephew could run it”. 

This economy of misdirection has serious consequences for economic growth, but worse still is what it means for the culture and politics that depend on it. “Our very economic system shapes preferences and beliefs,” Stiglitz writes in The Road to Freedom , and the brutal individualism – the “unfailingly dismal view of human nature” that is supposed by neoliberal economics – has “misshaped our society and the people in it”. The “neoliberal axioms on universal selfishness and greed”, he writes, have “created large numbers of people who are well described by those axioms”.

At their head is the ultimate idiot nephew, Donald Trump , a monster from the 1980s, a grotesque cartoon of what a successful businessman might look like. Trump is the beneficiary of neoliberalism because he offers to return the economic freedoms it took away. His voters would not describe the loss of their “opportunity set” in the same terms as an economist like Stiglitz, but they know they’ve been had. Callous libertarianism and a contempt for the rule of law have become attractive to people whose freedoms have been stolen from under their noses. Neoliberalism, Stiglitz writes, has put us “on the road to 21st-century fascism”.

All the same, Joseph Stiglitz remains an optimist. Economics has a lot to answer for, but it is now taught in a very different way. No course is taught without focus on “externalities” such as pollution and climate change. In contrast to the “strong populism” in the United States there are “strong progressive movements”.

“A lot will depend on the outcome of the election, not only for the United States, but for the world,” he told me, but he lives in hope that Joe Biden will win. “And that means things will get better. But it’s not a sure thing.”

[See also: The rise of WhatsApp government ]

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