Theme: Empowerment

TEDxUniversityofEdinburgh is back in 2018 with its yearly flagship conference. The aim of TEDxUoE is to bring together bright minds to give talks that are idea-focused, and on a wide range of subjects, to foster learning, inspiration and wonder – and provoke conversations that matter.

Given the abundance of daunting news from many parts of the world we receive these days, it seems easy to fall trap to a sense of helplessness. At TEDxUoE we want to fight this feeling of discouragement. That's why this year the theme of our conference is 'Empowerment'.

In this full-day conference, our locally-sourced speakers will navigate diverse topics to show us why we can be hopeful about the future we share, and they will spread their ideas to empower us in our everyday personal life. Talks will cover various fields of knowledge from multilingualism to video games, from eating habits to breakthrough scientific discoveries achieved here at The University of Edinburgh!

Lunch included. Speakers line-up coming soon.

The conference will officially start at 10AM. Registration starts from 9AM onwards.

McEwan Hall
Teviot Place
Edinburgh, Edinburgh, City of, EH8 9AG
United Kingdom

Angela Maxwel

American solo adventurer

Angela is an American solo adventurer who has been traversing the world on foot for over three years, covering 17,000 kilometres across three continents and through 10 countries. She is an advocate for slow travel and female empowerment.

Euan Doidge

PhD in Inorganic Chemistry

Euan completed his undergraduate studies with a Master of Chemistry degree at the University of Edinburgh, pursued a PhD in Inorganic Chemistry at the university, and has recently been awarded a Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy. Euan investigates the use of solvent extraction for metal recovery, and has studied a variety of metals across the periodic table. From mining nickel from rocks, to recycling gold from waste electronics, his research aims to develop and better understand chemical separation processes for more efficient and environmentally friendly metal production.

Jade Saab

Editor at Reformermag.com

Jade Saab is a Lebanese/Canadian writer and political theorist based in Toronto. His writings cover topics of Liberalism, governance, and Marxism with occasional forays into current affairs. An editor at Reformermag.com, he is currently writing his first book – Finding Left.

Jamie Ramsay

British solo endurance adventurer

Jamie is an British solo endurance adventurer who has covered over 22,000km in 22 different countries over the last 3 years. His focus is not firsts or records but pushing personal boundaries and discovering new places.

Louise Gray

Freelance writer

Louise is a freelance writer based in Scotland. She is passionate about environmental issues, increasingly focusing her writing on how individuals can make a difference through the choices they make, such as the food they eat.

Mandan Kazzazi

PhD candidate in bioarchaeology

Seyedeh Mandan Kazzazi is a PhD candidate in bioarchaeology at the University of Edinburgh, School of History, Classics, and Archaeology. She received a master's degree in skeletal and dental bioarchaeology from University College London. Her PhD focuses on development of dental metric standards for sex estimation in Iranian populations. She has widely published in the fields of human biology, virtual anthropology, and dental anthropology.

Manel Quiros

Professional Photographer

Manel is a Spanish photographer from Barcelona based in the United Kingdom since 2010. He was recognised and awarded 32 times in 2017. His dedication to documentary photography has been developed in several countries all over the world. Manel documents social issues and marginalised communities in need, raising their voices to the world. His personal choice and what inspires his work is to promote a collective conscience.

Ruby Wlaschin

2nd year International Relations student

Ruby is a 2nd year International Relations student from St. Paul, Minnesota. During her time at the University of Edinburgh, she has discovered her passion for the environment and geophysical processes. Her academic work focuses on the intersectionality between International Relations, politics, the environment, queer theory and feminism. Through trial and error, emotional labour and a lot of metaphorical thinking, she has come up with a bit of an unconventional idea about managing personal crisis.

Ruth Foster

4th-year Religious Studies student

Ruth is a 4th-year Religious Studies student at the University of Edinburgh, originally from Northern Ireland. Her aim in life is to try and make the world a little bit better by promoting dialogue and understanding across divided societies. This aim has brought Ruth from enacting policy change through representing the youth of the UK at the G20 in China to working for youth NGOs in Jerusalem - and now the TEDxUniversityofEdinburgh stage. Ruth currently serves as Vice President of Edinburgh RAG and President of Edinburgh University Pathways for Peace, balancing her desire to use her free time to practically engage in social change alongside her studies on the relationship between religion, politics, and conflict.

Zara Brownless

MSc student in cognitive science

Zara Brownless is a winner of BBC One’s BAFTA-winning Young Apprentice, University of Oxford graduate and long-standing national speaker. Prior to commencing an MSc in cognitive science at the University of Edinburgh, she was an entrepreneurial filmmaker, book editor, and ambassador. Her talks have tackled everything from whether feminism has served its purpose, to the fusion of academia and enterprise.