UNSOMNIA 2024: How do we equip ourselves to face the future?

Join us for a collection of short talks that explores how we might adapt to our ever-changing world.

UNSOMNIA, an initiative of the UNSW Centre for Ideas, offers academics, researchers and PhD students a chance to refine their presentation skills and develop a 10-minute talk about their area of expertise. 

Over two nights in October, UNSOMNIA participants will present their take on how to equip ourselves to face a daunting future as we confront massive disruptions in health, technology and the world in which we live. They will explore how we might not just survive, but thrive in this time of uncertainty.

The participants have worked with mentors over the past six months to hone their speech writing and performance skills. The program culminates in live events on campus where participants showcase their ideas. The series of short talks is designed to help academics at all levels build their profiles and platforms as public intellectuals.

The UNSOMNIA 2024 talks

Above & Beyond
2 October, 6.30–7.30pm

This series of talks will cover the future of accessible health, our brain’s secret superpowers, the future of Australia’s relationship with China, the latest in cutting-edge blood research, and how we’re going to negotiate laws in space.

• Professor Michael Kidd | UNSW and the Future of Australian Health Care
• Dr Michelle Chase | Making Space Law in the Twenty-First Century
• Dr Genevra Hart | Dopamine Habits
• Dr Sebastian Sequoiah-Grayson | Australia and Asia: Working Together for a Prosperous Future
• Associate Professor Kate Poole | How Can We Better Prepare Our Astronauts For Space Travel?

Where are we heading?
9 October, 6.30–7.45pm

This series of talks will cover how to recover from disasters, the power of friendship, the secrets of quantum computing, how AI will change the shape of our cities, the growing importance of cyber security and why we should be returning Ancestral Remains to their rightful owners.

• Dr Kate Brady | Disasters are Awful: What Comes After Doesn’t Have To Be
• Dr Leah Lui-Chivizhe | Why Ancestors Can’t Stay in Museums 
• Nevena Krups | The Hidden Power of Friendship
• Keshavi Charde | A Journey Through the World of Quantum Mechanics
• Matt O'Kane | Cyber Education: Progress or Peril?
• Dr Arian Prabowo | AI and Urban Progress

Find out more about UNSOMNIA 2024 and register to attend.