The University of Luxembourg will host the first “TEDx University of Luxembourg” event on Friday 26 October on Belval campus; the umbrella theme for this event is “Ideas 4.0”.

The event brings on stage two natural scientists, two social scientists, a musician, two medical doctors, a journalist, a manager, a FinTech expert, an entrepreneur, an education expert and a student. All outstanding speakers, they will share how they succeed—by will, philosophy and capacity—to embrace innovation and critical thinking, enriching our vision of the future. The talks will be interleaved with performances of three artist teams who will surprise the audience with traditional and modern ways of expression.

A TEDx talk is more and less than a conference talk”, said Prof. Jan Lagerwall, Professor in soft matter physics at the University and license holder for this TEDx event. “It is less in the sense that it is shorter, typically just about 10 minutes, it is more in terms of what the audience takes away from the talk. Although our speakers are true experts in their fields, they will address a very broad audience, making complex messages understandable and relevant to everyone.

In 2013, Prof. Lagerwall already organised the TEDxSNUSuwon event at his previous institution in South Korea. This was a great experience and the event received much positive feedback, encouraging him to organise a new TEDx event, this time at University of Luxembourg.

True to the University’s international character, speakers and artists come from — or work in —    various countries and cultures, making this event a melting pot of ideas and cultures. All talks will be given in English.

Umbrella theme Ideas 4.0

Industry 4.0 is the fourth industrial revolution. It foresees a network of interconnected processes and smart factories of communicating and autonomous units that learn and evolve to work better. We play with this label in formulating our event theme, Ideas 4.0. It draws on the interconnectedness, autonomy and overall revolutionary character of Industry 4.0, but applied to humankind and to human culture. By sharing their thoughts and experiences, the speakers will offer the possibility to connect to untold stories, bettering how we look at life and at the opportunities it offers.

Practical information

The TEDx University of Luxembourg event is organised by a team of University staff, PhD candidates and master students. Tickets will be available starting in September, only via the website www.tedxuniversityofluxembourg.com. A live online broadcast will be available for the whole event.
 
TED was founded in 1984. The acronym stands for technology, entertainment and design, although conferences today incorporate a large variety of topics and fields. The TED conference is held annually in the United States. In the spirit of “Ideas Worth Sharing”, TED created a program called TEDx where x means “independently organized”. TEDx talks last a maximum of 18 minutes.