Masterclasses – programme

Discovering new ways to diagnose, treat and repair diseases of the heart Your heart is precious. It needs protecting. Globally, one death every 1.5 seconds is caused by a heart disease. How can we address one of the world’s biggest killers? Smoking, alcohol, family history, diabetes, and high blood pressure are all risk factors making…

Applying to Oxford, Cambridge and other competitive UK universities As part of this Masterclass on studying at the highest level in the UK, our partners from Greene’s College, Oxford will present an introduction to applying to Oxford, Cambridge and other competitive UK universities; this will be followed by an extensive question and answer session. The…

Studying in the UK from A to Z - a student perspective Many students often explore university fairs and university websites to gain insights into studying in the UK. However, there's no better source of firsthand information about student life than hearing it directly from a student. This is why we (Anouk and Laura) started…

Migration to the EU: how to coordinate Member State action? In the last years asylum applications in the EU have drastically increased. For some time, Member States have been open about their struggle to cope with increasing arrivals of migrants. But how exactly does the EU asylum system work? And why is it currently in…

Revealing the invisible dynamics of infectious diseases It’s usually easy to tell when you’re sick – after all, sneezes and coughs can be quite loud. But could you pinpoint the exact moment when you were infected by the virus or bacteria responsible for those symptoms? Was it on the bus Monday morning? At a party…

Artificial Intelligence: hype or opportunity? There is lots of excitement about Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the moment as well as plenty of anxiety. But how much of this is hype? As future contributors and leaders/practitioners, what can you practically do to make the best use of AI and other digital technologies in key areas such…

Conflict Management in Theory and Practice: Who? How? What challenges? Violent conflict has increased over the last decade and is set to continue with climate change, mass displacement and other challenges on the rise. Today we can count more than 110 armed conflicts across the world, from the Middle East, Africa to Asia, Latin America and…

Where Does Fake News Leave Democracy? 'Fake news' and misinformation circulate widely on social media, and many suspect that this led to the rise of Trump, the Brexit vote, Russian support for the war in Ukraine, and so on. At the same time, we know that people don't just automatically believe what they see and…

Are cartels bad for the economy? And what can we do about it? The word ‘cartel’ refers to (forbidden) conduct that unfairly restricts competition, for example by agreeing to fix prices, allocate markets, adjust shipments in collusion with other business entities. Cartels are often referred to as a “cancer to the market economy” since they…

Exploitation: What is it? Is it wrong? And what should we do about it? Professor Ferguson introduces the concept of exploitation in the context of these three debates about what exploitation is, whether it is wrong, and what can be done about it. The masterclass includes discussion of the pros and cons of the various…

Applying to Oxford, Cambridge and other competitive U.K. universities Our partners from Greene’s College, Oxford present an introduction to applying to competitive U.K. universities with an extensive question and answer session at the end. The session covers: A brief introduction to the UCAS application process; What competitive universities are looking for in successful candidates; Suggested…

Artificial Intelligence & YouTube: a toolkit What makes people stop and watch video advertisements on YouTube? What do impactful advertisements on YouTube have in common? Using video creative data and machine learning, Google’s Global Creative Works team studied 17 000 videos advertisements worldwide to define a set of YouTube best practices which are proven to work effectively for…

Spirit of the Swamps: Sustainable development through interdisciplinary research with a case study on the Wetlands of Amazonian Peru In the last fifteen years scientists have shown that there is a huge amount of carbon locked up in the peaty soils of wetlands in western Amazonia. This talk introduces the ways in which that discovery…

Europe—Connected? The Challenges of the Communications Revolution We live in a networked age, in a world bound together by the internet, social media, smartphones, trains, planes and (soon-to-be driverless) cars. How did we get here? Have these innovations brought us closer together, or pushed us further apart? What is the place of the individual, society,…

Evolving An interview with Stephanie Studer, US Senior Digital Editor with The Economist conducted by Clémence Rebora, student at Kings College London and British Section alumna. Stephanie talks about her privileged standpoint on the evolution of print and digital journalism, her experience as a foreign correspondent in Asia, and the importance of fixers and behind-the-scenes…

Power Mix and Economics for Energy Transition The key objective of this masterclass is to share fundamental insights on energy generation technologies alongside market trends and needs. How do we generate energy? What is the role of energy engineers in the energy sector? Why is our economy tied to energy? What are the current energy…

Agriculture and Climate Change: from villain to hero Agriculture is both the largest user of land and our largest engineered ecosystem. Agriculture – the way we clear land, modify landscape, treat our soils, grow our food, manage the growing environment, rear farm animals, use agro-chemicals, etc. – has a negative impact on our climate. New…

Social Inequalities in Health This interactive masterclass will first show that social conditions are related to health, this phenomenon being widespread across countries and over time. These health inequalities are unjust, avoidable, and persistent. We observed them develop in real-time during the pandemic. Participants will be asked to engage with why they think poverty, social…

Paying for our planet’s survival: who should foot the bill for decarbonization and how? Climate change is an existential peril. In order to avoid the catastrophic effects of climate change, we urgently need to reduce our emissions from greenhouse gases. This requires nothing short of a complete transformation of the way our societies produce and…

Energy transition for sustainable power mix Professor Morsili has management, strategy, and experience from his work in the energy industry. He started his career as a power plant design engineer, then a project director for new power plant projects in Latin Amercia, Russia, Middle East and France. In 2021, he took the lead within EDF…

Careers in cyber and cyber security Annick O’Brien, Chief Operating Officer of CybSafe gave a comprehensive presentation on careers in cyber security and working in cyber. Annick is a qualified UK solicitor, (England and Wales, Ireland); certified compliance officer (ACOI) and certified Cyber Risk Officer. She is a senior compliance lawyer with strong track record…

Applying to Oxford, Cambridge and other competitive U.K. universities Our partners from Greene’s College, Oxford presented an introduction to applying to competitive U.K. universities with an extensive question and answer session at the end. The session covered: A brief introduction to the UCAS application process; What competitive universities are looking for in successful candidates; Suggested…

Combatting Climate Change — where do we go next? Ever wondered what more you could do for the planet, other than switching off the lights, and avoiding buying plastic? Do you have a passion for the environment, perhaps studying life sciences, politics, technology, and wish to act against climate change? Perhaps you’re considering studying Sustainable…

Brace! Brace! Using business, finance & management skills to lead an airline during a pandemic! James Westgarth is currently Senior Director, Procurement at The Lufthansa Group. In this role, he has oversight of the external spend of the Group (2019: €22 billion). James recently led the initiative to secure supply chain resilience and working capital…