Meeting of minds as Nobel Prize laureates and youth discuss global well-being in Singapore

Published: 29 Jun 2022

Rising global temperatures, global pandemics, war in Europe, intensifying geopolitical tensions in Asia and the Middle East, acute food shortages, systemic poverty, resource scarcity and gender inequality.

These are the endemic, globe-spanning issues that 60 students (in the ages from 15 to 35 years old) from Singapore, along with counterparts from the Asia-Pacific region, will be invited to think deeply about during discussions with Nobel Prize laureates and international experts.

The Dialogue will consider six broad areas, in the context of ongoing global crises: Education, Climate Change, Health, Happiness as well as Economic and Digital Wellbeing. These are areas that the youth of today are concerned about, and this unique event will provide opportunities for them to engage with some of the world’s foremost thinkers.

Held in Singapore on 13 September 2022, the Singapore edition of the Nobel Prize Dialogue brings together Nobel Prize laureates, local and international experts, as well as students, providing a rare opportunity to bridge the gap between generations, with students and youth from all over Asia in inter-generational conversations with global thought leaders to explore how mistakes of the past can be avoided and how best to promote humanity’s well-being.

The discussions will culminate in a one-day gathering at the Nobel Prize Dialogue, where youth and Nobel Prize laureates as well as local and international thought leaders, who come from disciplines that range from economics to climate science gather to share, review and crystalise ideas and suggestions that could help deal with the most critical problems facing the world today.

Mr Teo Chee Hean, Singapore’s Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security will grace the opening ceremony as the Guest-of-Honour. The Dialogue will take on a hybrid format, combining a “live” in-person event of about 500 participants with a virtual component where the public may register to view the Dialogue online.

Organised by the Nobel Prize Outreach and Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine), in partnership with the Asian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA) Singapore, the discussions and one-day plenary that make up the Nobel Prize Dialogue Singapore will be held under the theme, ‘The Future We Want Together’. While the Nobel Prize Outreach has held similar events in the Asia-Pacific region, this is the first Nobel Prize Dialogue that will be held in Southeast Asia.

To date, the following Nobel Prize laureates have confirmed their participation:

Steven Chu, physics laureate 1997;
Angus Deaton, economic sciences laureate 2015;
Esther Duflo, economic sciences laureate 2019;
Serge Haroche, physics laureate 2012;
May-Britt Moser, medicine laureate 2014;
Paul Romer, economic sciences laureate 2018;
George Smoot, physics laureate 2006;
Kailash Satyarthi, peace laureate 2014.

Please visit the official Nobel Prize Dialogue page here to find out more about the event, and register your interest!

Read more in the press release here.