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UNSOMNIA: What keeps you up at night?

To launch UNSW’s Grand Challenges Program, 12 leading thinkers will tackle some of the most pressing issues facing humanity in a fast-paced program of thought-provoking presentations.

Published on the 16 Nov 2016 by UNSW Media

Media contact

Denise Knight
UNSW Media Office
0405 207 685
d.knight@unsw.edu.au

Find out what keeps 12 of Australia’s leading thinkers up at night when they take on the Grand Challenges at UNSW.

UNSW’s inaugural UNSOMNIA event on Thursday, 1 December, will tackle some of the most pressing global issues in a fast-paced program of thought-provoking presentations.

Topics include climate change and refugees, the future of robots and artificial intelligence, fragile democracies, disaster recovery and risk reduction and technology for mental health.

Speakers: Rob Brooks, Bingquin Li, Toni Erskine, Rosalind Dixon, Richard Buckland, Matthew England, Toby Walsh, Alison Ritter, David Sanderson, Richard Holden, Jane McAdam and Helen Christensen.

UNSW Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Jacobs will officially launch the program and discuss the future of the 21st Century university.

“UNSOMNIA marks the launch of UNSW’s Grand Challenges Program, which is designed to define and lead open, informed public debate about the biggest challenges of our time – and the potential solutions,” says Grand Challenges Academic Lead, Scientia Professor Rob Brooks.

Professor Brooks is working with academics at UNSW as well as other Australian and international experts to curate a year-round program of activities addressing up to six Grand Challenges at a time, with themes announced over the next two years. Grand Challenges already underway are on Climate Change, led by Scientia Professor Matthew England, and Refugees and Migrants, led by Scientia Professor Jane McAdam. The Grand Challenge on Inequality has recently been announced.

*UNSW + Omnia (latin: all, everything) = UNSOMNIA. A sleeplessness that combines a concern for the future and a compulsion to work hard to create a better future. 

Event detailsWhat: Program launch of UNSW’s Grand Challenges        When: Thursday, 1 December, 2016 Session 1: 3.30–5pm; Grand Challenges Lab: 5–6pm, Session 2: 6–7.30pmWhere: Leighton Hall, Scientia, UNSW, see map

More information: The full line-up and speaker bios are available at the UNSOMNIA website.Watch: Video teasers are also available.