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By Beth Gormley, UCD College of Business, PR and Communications Manager

UCD Quinn School final year student of Business and Law Amy Finnegan represented the University in the second cohort of the Future Nobel Laureates Scholarship Program in Stockholm, Sweden, which took place from December 6-10.

The interdisciplinary programme combines an online project-based module, an international field study in Sweden, and attendance at the 2022 Nobel Week Dialogue. It is dedicated to bringing together a select group of students from diverse backgrounds as future leaders from all over the world, similarly committed to the principles of dialogue and addressing global challenges, for a shared, expansive and prestigious student experience. 

“I can honestly say I have learned so much. The experience was life-changing,” said Amy, who is a Belfast native and one of only 12 students who were selected worldwide.

“The week revolves around Nobel Week and we were fortunate enough to attend the Nobel Dialogues,” Amy continued. “This is an event that stimulates discussion between the world’s leading scientists, Nobel Prize laureates, policy makers and the general public. The theme this year was “The Future of Life”. I was inspired by not only the speakers, but also the 11 other students who participated in the programme and the cohort from the 2021 programme.”

The group studied intercultural communication as well as a global issue that was of concern to the cohort. Collaborating virtually for the autumn trimester, the students finally met in Sweden for Nobel Week in early December.

Amy holds strong beliefs on protecting the environment, which inspire her to take personal responsibility in living a more sustainable life. “I am passionate about my views on this topic and encourage discussions around sustainability in order to educate and inform people about the environmental risks we as a society are facing,” said Amy.

Amy joined with students from Australia and the US to present on the topic of Energy and Fast Fashion.   

“Each person had a unique background coming from different cultures, religions and academic disciplines, which created rich conversations and enhanced our presentation,” commented Amy.

“This is a group of individuals who a few weeks ago did not know each other, who has each taken on the challenge to work together across disciplines and borders, move out of all comfort zones, while still navigating home curricula and timelines, and mobilised to share and contribute to each other's experience and to work together to build paths of possibility and imperative,” said Director of UCD Quinn School Maeve Houlihan. 

“I was extremely proud to attend the final team presentations from Sweden this morning and inspired and uplifted as I listened to three very thoughtful, articulate and impassioned teams come together to set out their projects on global challenges, including Amy’s excellent work with Alex and Wai, on energy and fast fashion.”

“Amy is strongly interested in ways of tackling the challenges of fast fashion, and has a distinctive personal biography having grown up in Belfast, and has been part of many cross community initiatives as a young person,” continued Dr Houlihan. “We were extremely proud to nominate Amy as the UCD Lochlann Quinn School of Business Nobel Dialogue Scholar for 2022/23."

About the programme

This is the second year of this high-impact student scholarship programme—a product of a collaborative partnership between EF College Study and The Forum, in partnership with the Nobel Prize Museum and UCD Quinn School. The programme included an online, project-based course led by Dr David Wick (Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey) with support from Dr Darla K. Deardorff (AIEA International Higher Education). Forum Senior Director for Research & Publication Amelia Dietrich, PhD, served as a co-leader of the program. UCD is a member of the Forum on Education Abroad for more than ten years, and participates extensively in Forum conferences and leadership. 

UCD Quinn School of Business serves as School of Record for this international programme and as the School who introduced the programme, it brings the opportunity to students to share learnings with the wider community.

Nominees participate in a 5-credit level 3 module, “Lessons from Nobel: Intercultural Leadership for Global Challenges”, focused on collaborative, communicative and changemaker skills. Class meetings throughout the autumn prepare students for travel to Sweden to attend the Nobel Week Dialogue. 

“Seeing the effect of our Scholars collaborating together in this way is a testament to how truly powerful and important transnational educational opportunities are. I feel sure that each person's path will be a little different now, and I hope deservedly a little more confident, galvanised and connected, because of the experiences of this week and term,” concluded Director Houlihan.

“This experience would not have been possible without EF Education First EF College Study Nobel Prize Museum UCD Lochlann Quinn School of Business and the faculty on the programme,” concluded Amy. “I am extremely grateful to have been part of such an experience.”