Want to participate in the big debate? PSIA is calling on students to support and take part in the sixth edition of the Youth & Leaders Summit, to be held online, on 18-19-20 January 2021. Close to 100 students will be selected to participate under five positions: speaker, greeter, co-chair, journalist, community manager. The deadline to apply is indicated below.

Taking advantage of the online format, we are more than ever determined to maximize the engagement of our student community and enhance the debate with leaders. To do so, a Student Advisory Group was created to reflect on the organization of the Summit and to help ensure the event is designed to favour student involvement. The five following positions are the fruit of this collaborative work.

General information

Eligibility: all PSIA students are welcome to apply (first year, gap year, second year, exchange students). Degree-seeking students will be given priority.

Number of applications: students may apply to 1 or 2 positions. Students who apply for 2 positions should rank them by order of preference. 

Application form: a streamlined application form allows you to apply for 2 positions at once. The form consists of two parts: 1/ general information (contact info, CV); 2/ specific position information (two sections are required – see details below). 

Summit registration: independently of this application process and its results, all PSIA students will be able to register to attend the Summit. Registrations will open in January.

Student Speaker

Description: At this year’s Youth and Leaders Summit, a new and exciting format is being introduced to allow student speakers to be full and equal members of the panel discussions alongside leaders. In each panel there will be one student who will conduct a speech of three minutes (the same amount of time that is allotted to leaders), and have the opportunity to answer questions raised by the audience. This approach will enable PSIA students, who represent the next generation of global actors, to engage with and challenge today’s leading international affairs personalities on an equal footing. Applicants for the student speaker positions are encouraged to tell us how they will bring unique, innovative, and bold issues to foster thought-provoking discussions. If they so wish, applicants may work with other students (i.e. in teams) to share ideas and collaboratively formulate a speech; however, a single spokesperson will ultimately need to represent the group as student speaker. As far as possible, student speakers’ will receive some support and feedback from selected PSIA faculty members in advance to help maximize their impact at the event. This is an opportunity to make your voice heard on today’s most pressing issues in global affairs.

Availability: availability is mandatory the week prior to the Summit (11-15 January) for coaching. During the event, availability is mandatory for the day of the chosen panel discussion.  

Selection process: up to 9 positions are made available (1 per panel). The selection is organized as a two-step process. The first step includes the submission of two written sections (see below). The deadline is extended to Thursday 17 December. For students selected after the first round, the second step will require the submission of a short video. Deadline will be 3 January. Final selection will be announced by 8 January. 

Application form: In the form, two written sections are required. 1/ Motivation section (1000 caracters): please tell us why you apply to this position. 2/ Position-specific section (2000 caracters): please submit an executive summary of your proposed pich, explaining your knowledge and research on the topic of the chosen panel. 

Student Greeter and Assistant Moderator

Description: Each panel will feature a Student Greeter and Assistant Moderator. As Greeter, s/he will briefly introduce the topic of the panel and the speakers (2-3 minutes). As Assistant Moderator, s/he will help during the Q&A session by feeding a diverse selection of questions from the audience to the moderator. This will allow PSIA Students to directly engage with the speakers and take a central role in the running of the Youth and Leaders Summit.

Availability: availability is mandatory the week prior to the Summit (11-15 January) for coaching. During the event, availability is mandatory for the day of the chosen panel discussion.

Selection process: 9 positions are made available. The selection is organized as a two-step process. The first step includes the submission of two written sections (see below). The deadline is extended to 3 January. For students selected after the first round, the second step will require the submission of a short video. Deadline will be 6 January. Final selection will be announced by 8 January. 

Application form: In the form, two written sections are required. 1/ Motivation section (1000 caracters): please tell us why you apply to this position. 2/ Position-specific section (1000 caracters): please answer the following questions: Why do you want to introduce this session? What would you do to make it effective? What relevant experience would you bring to the role?

Student Co-chair

Description: This year’s edition will feature a brand new series of breakout sessions immediately after each panel discussion. These one-hour virtual spaces of dialogue aim to allow a limited number of students to have an improved occasion to interact with our speakers. To improve the experience, 2 co-chairs will lead each session. Their role will jointly coordinate with the speaker, to structure the session, defining in detail how the discussion will be conducted and on which topics (e.g. academic and/or professionally oriented ones). In doing so, the co-chairs will have freedom in structuring the breakout sessions, according to the speaker and YLS team, in what they believe would be the most effective and engaging way (e.g. asking the speaker to provide inspiring materials in advance,…). The session’s co-chairs will be a point of reference for both their group of students and the YLS team, thus both determination, precision and accountability are requested. However, this unique opportunity will offer to the two co-chairs of each breakout session, a rare opportunity to engage directly with our hosted leaders.

Availability: availability is mandatory the week prior to the Summit (11-15 January) for briefing and advanced preparation. During the event, availability is mandatory for the day of the chosen panel discussion.

Selection process: a minimum of 54 positions are made available. The selection is a one-step process. The application includes the submission of one written section and one video clip (see below). The deadline is extended to 3 January. Final selection will be announced by 8 January.

Application form: In the form, two written sections are required. 1/ Motivation section (1000 caracters): please tell us why you apply to this position. 2/ Position-specific section: please prepare a 2-minute video, upload it to your Sciences Po drive and share the link with us. In your video, please answer the following questions: How would you structure the session and why? What could you do to help engage as many students as possible? What relevant experience would you bring to the role? 

Note: as indicated, access to breakout sessions with leaders will be granted to a small group of students. The processes to participate as a co-chair and to attend as a student are different. Information about the latter will be released later in December.

Student Journalist

Description: Student journalists will attend the virtual panel discussions and write the executive summary of the event. This will also include writing the panel’s summaries, highlights and best quotes of every panel discussion assigned. Their work will be published on the official website of the Youth and Leaders Summit and their availability required for the editing after the summit.

Availability: availability is required two days prior to the Summit (14-15 January) for briefing. During the event, availability is mandatory for the full three days (18-19-20 January).  

Selection process: a minimum of 3 positions are made available. The selection is a one-step process. The application includes the submission of two written sections (see below). The deadline is extended to 3 January. Final selection will be announced by 8 January.

Application form: In the form, two written sections are required. 1/ Motivation section (1000 caracters): please tell us why you apply to this position. 2/ Position-specific section (2000 caracters): In the style of a journalist, tell us why your writing is effective and engaging? What relevant experience would you bring to the role?

Student Community Managers

Description: The student community manager will have a key role in promoting this year’s YLS summit presence on the social networks. It will be all the more essential as this edition will be entirely existing online. Student community managers will be in charge of the communication strategy around the event. They will handle live tweets and posts on social media during the event in order to announce a panel, present a guest speaker, a student speaker, etc.  

Availability: availability is required two days prior to the Summit (14-15 January) for briefing. During the event, availability is mandatory for the full three days (18-19-20 January).

Selection process: a minimum of 3 positions are made available. The selection is a one-step process. The application includes the submission of two written sections (see below). The deadline is extended to 3 January. Final selection will be announced by 8 January.

Application form: In the form, two written sections are required. 1/ Motivation section (1000 caracters): please tell us why you apply to this position. 2/ Position-specific section (2000 caracters): How would you promote YLS 2021 to engage as many students as possible? What relevant experience would you bring to the role?

Apply Now!

Please fill in the online application form before Thursday 17 December at 23:59pm CET (for Student Speaker position) or before Sunday 3 January at 23:59pm CET (for all other positions).

For any questions, please contact: psia.events@sciencespo.fr

More information on the Youth & Leaders Summit 2021 (program overview, guest speakers)