During a MCO webinar on May 4th, 2023, MCO launched a Students Essay Competition open to registered students from any university and any country, with the theme How might students exercise more influence in enabling their universities to make a more effective?

The Magna Charta Universitatum, both in its 1988 and 2020 versions, recognizes the important role that students play in universities. As part of its effort to enhance student involvement in higher education, the Magna Charta Observatory (MCO) has included student representatives on its governing council.

To further this goal, the MCO is collaborating with the Global Students Forum and the European Students’ Union in this essay competition for students. The competition aims to gather fresh insights from students on how they can exert greater influence in enabling their universities to make a more impactful contribution to society.

The MCO hopes to share the ideas and perspectives gained from the competition with universities to promote positive societal outcomes and enhance student involvement. The competition will offer five prizes in form of an all expenses paid participation in the MCO’s 2023 Anniversary Conference, to be held from October 23-25 2023 in Lodz, Poland. Winners will have the opportunity to present their essays and participate in discussions with an international audience.

The essays can be submitted until June 12th, 2023, and  the winners announced on July 28th, 2023.