Junior Scholars Symposium

Our inaugural Junior Scholars Symposium was an opportunity for Gifted and Talented pupils from years 9 and 10 to meet and discuss topical issues. The Symposium, which took place in Great School on 6 June, focused on how the world will look in 20 years’ time.

Forty pupils from four local secondary schools joined our 20 academic award holders for a day of lively debate about what will be different and what our concerns will be as a society in 2043.

Alongside guest speakers with backgrounds in health, environmental science, geography, and equality & diversity were three pupils who were selected to present their thoughts on the topic. The lecture topics were varied and gave students a chance to think about the bigger picture of how things might change.

Marisa Amato (Sankey’s House 2006–2008) is a Consultant at Technopolis Group in the Health and Life Sciences Team. Following her time at Lancing College, she completed an Undergraduate Degree in Biochemistry at Imperial College London, a Master’s Degree in Genetic Manipulations and Molecular Cell Biology at the University of Sussex and a PhD in Clinical Neuroscience and Molecular Genetics at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School.

In her talk entitled The Future of Our Health, Marisa discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic has awakened policy makers into thinking more about the future and what our health and healthcare system will be like. She framed her lecture around a few main sub-themes: Will we be healthier? Will there be another pandemic? Will we live forever? Is AI going to take over our healthcare? Is our personal data on health becoming a mandatory part of healthcare and how do we keep it safe?

The basis of her talk was to explore what has happened in the past 20 years that has put us in our current position and from there look towards, what she believes, is the trajectory for the Black diaspora. She analysed experiences from Black people who lived through the 20 years before us, and opinions from the Black people of our future. She also discussed what can be done to help better the lives of everyone, especially those of a minority group.

Keeran Gwillian-Beeharee (Gibbs’ House 2000–2005) has worked in sustainable finance for over a decade. Today, he works at Moody’s Corporation where he leads ESG outreach and engagement efforts – helping financial institutions to identify, measure and manage sustainability risks and opportunities.

Keeran’s talk, The World in 2043 – Faster, Hotter and More Fractious, focused on how environmental and social macro-trends are already shaping the way we will live and work in 2043. He engaged the pupils with discussion topics on climate change, biodiversity, new technologies and more.

In the final talk of the day, Dr Bustin lectured on What Will Our Cities Look Like in 20 Years’ Time? We are living in an increasingly urban world, and cities find themselves facing the brunt of many of the planet’s greatest challenges such as climate change, unsustainable resource use, natural hazards and increasing social inequalities. Dr Bustin’s talk explored not only how and why cities are changing to respond to some of these challenges, but also how geographers are making sense of cities in new ways.

Our thanks go out to all those involved in making the day so special, including our fantastic Catering Team who put on a beautiful BBQ lunch in the Upper Quad. Thank you to Durrington High School, Worthing High School, Sir Robert Woodard Academy and Blatchington Mill School for joining us. We hope this will become an annual event.