Essay Competition
FTL invites submissions to its annual essay competition
The competition is open to all students in Year 12. To enter, please submit an original 1,500 word essay on one of the questions below by 15 February 2027. Shortlisted students and their parents will be invited to a free prizegiving event on 22 March, hosted by the Department of Philosophy, Logic, and Scientific Method at the London School of Economics. Authors of the top three essays will receive automatic entry to FTL 2027, a cash prize, and a scholarship to help them take up their place.
First Prize: £1000 scholarship & £100 cash
Second Prize: £750 scholarship & £75 cash
Third Prize: £250 scholarship & £50 cash
Essay Questions
Trust
1. Should governments or companies hold the keys to user encryption?
2. Are conspiracy theories a rational response to democratic failure?
3. Is “AI alignment” a conceptually coherent goal?
Justice
4. Is there a right to migrate?
5. Who, if anyone, should compensate the losers of the green transition?
6. Should younger generations continue to pay for an ageing population?
Power
7. Is it still sensible to hope for a “liberal international order”?
8. When does economic coercion become an act of war?
9. Is it time to treat corporations like geopolitical powers?
Planet
10. Is AI extinction risk a valid threat or just more marketing hype?
11. Should governments pursue solar geoengineering?
12. How far beyond the earth's atmosphere might our environmental obligations extend?
Competition Now Open!
Submit your entry using the button below. The competition will close on 15 February 2027.
Further information
