This year, we're excited to introduce: “A BYTE of Innovation: Student Impact Projects and Speeches” for the first time! To encourage students to engage personally with the conference theme, we invite them to develop their own AI projects and submit them for a chance to present and discuss their work with fellow young innovators in the United Nations General Assembly Hall.

Students should create projects that use Artificial Intelligence to accelerate positive change in their communities. The Student Impact Project should harness AI to drive meaningful, positive change at the school, local, national, or global level. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• Designing an AI-powered language learning app for younger children.
• Using AI to analyze and address environmental challenges in your local area.
• Creating AI-assisted artwork or a series of short films exploring a social issue.

You have the option to work individually or in small groups. Those who develop and implement the most innovative projects will have the opportunity to present them at the United Nations General Assembly in front of more than 600 international students. The projects that are not selected to be presented at the UN will be featured on the UNIS-UN website and recognized for their impact.

We encourage participants to document their journey with photos and videos, reflect deeply on their impact, and push creative boundaries. This is your chance to use AI to spark real change and inspire others to do the same!

After completion of Conference Registration: Advisors will receive an application form to share with students to apply for the Student Impact Project. Students will be asked to submit a 3-minute video outlining their project, explaining how they used AI in creating positive change in their communities, and describing how they would present this project at the UNGA. From these submissions, we will select the most impactful and interesting projects. These projects will be presented live by the student creators during the conference at the UN.  Videos can be submitted to info@unis-un.org  School advisors must be copied on the email.

The deadline to apply and submit your 3-minute video outlining your A BYTE of Innovation Impact Project is January 24th, 2025.

Visiting school students will have the opportunity to participate in a student debate on an AI-related motion. Two students will argue in favor of the motion, while two will argue against it. Students interested in participating must submit a three-minute video explaining their interest in debating and provide evidence supporting or opposing the motion.

After completion of Conference Registration: Advisors will receive an application form for students  to apply for the debate. The form will include information such as the debate motion, a brief description of the topic with guiding considerations, and a section for submitting the three-minute video. Students interested in participating should submit a three (3) minute video demonstrating their debate skills. The video should be submitted to info@unis-un.org  before January 24, 2025.  Students should copy their advisor when submitting their videos.  The four strongest candidates will be selected to debate at the United Nations General Assembly in front of more than 600 international students!

The deadline to apply for the Student Debate is January 24th, 2025.

The Cultural Showcase offers a unique opportunity to promote cultural appreciation among students from around the world attending the conference. This is your chance to share a tradition, ritual, song, dance, or any aspect of your country’s heritage. 

After completion of Conference Registration: Advisors will receive a form to indicate your school’s participation, type of performance and  any items needed for your performance, such as microphones, chairs, or speakers.

The deadline to apply to perform at the Cultural Showcase is February 20th, 2025.

Our workshops, hosted by UNIS student organizations, allow visiting students to deepen their understanding of this year's conference topic. Each workshop will explore and discuss a different facet of Artificial Intelligence and then include an interactive portion. Students will participate in two workshops held at UNIS.

After completion of  Conference Registration: Advisors will receive a form with choices and descriptions of  all available workshops.  Together with your advisor, please indicate first, second, and third choices for participation.

For this upcoming UNIS-UN conference, we are looking forward to including articles and multimedia created by students from visiting schools in the working paper. We want your contributions to make this year’s conference better than ever before! 

The working paper is a roughly 50-page physical memento of the conference and an online document that contains articles, infographics, and multimedia pieces related to the subtopics of the conference.

• Articles are short (800-1000 words) research papers relating to a specific conference subtopic. Please note that these articles are solely research-based and do not involve any opinion-making or in-depth analysis; these articles aim to share research findings with conference participants to ensure that the conference is as informative as possible
• Multimedia elements include: poems, artwork (digital or a clear image of painting/drawing/sculpture/etc), photographs, animation, short film, or any other creative media

For this working paper, each subtopic relates to Artificial Intelligence. This year’s subtopics and guiding questions can be found here: Subtopics and Guiding Questions

Writing an article or creating a media piece for UNIS-UN allows you to take part in another facet of the conference, having your work published in a physical paper for all of the conference guests to see. It is also an opportunity to become more informed about the world around you. Additionally, students who are selected to contribute to the working paper will be assigned an editor from UNIS, presenting another occasion for students from visiting schools and UNIS to connect and interact.

Please keep in mind that not all articles or multimedia can be chosen to be published in the physical working paper. However, articles and media that are not included in the physical working paper will be published on the UNIS-UN website. 

For reference, here is a digital copy of a previous working paper: 2023-24 Working Paper

After completion of Conference Registration: a form will be shared with visiting school advisors to share with students so they can submit their articles or multimedia pieces that relate to a specific AI subtopic.

The deadline for Visiting Schools to submit their articles or media for the Working Paper is January 24th, 2025.
 

No. Registration for the conference is done on a group basis. Invitations will be sent to your school or advisor, who will then coordinate the individual student attendees

Yes. You must be affiliated with one of the invited schools or reach out to our organizing committee at info@unis-un.org to request your school participation.

The conference this year is in person. No online options will be available. 

Please visit this year’s conference page for the latest updates on registration. If you do not see a link to register yet, it is not open for this year. Please stay tuned!

Schedule is currently being created! Stay tuned for more information.

Business casual attire is required. Please avoid wearing jeans, sneakers, caps, and hoodies. You will be in the presence of Ambassadors and other world leaders, so it is important to dress appropriately. For more details, please refer to our code of conduct dress code.

Airport style security, but you can keep on your shoes. Please don’t bring a large bag or backpack. No outside food or beverages will be allowed in and water bottles must be empty. You will be issued a pass to gain entry to the UN, if you loose this pass you won’t be able to participate in the conference. Please make sure to abide to the rules so that passing through security is fast and efficient.

Our speaker’s committee has been working on speaker selection for the past year, and by the time you are reading this, our speakers are more than likely already selected.

 No.  The working paper has been written prior to the conference by UNIS students. You can submit an article for consideration and there is the potential for your article to be shared on our website or during discussion groups or during the debates.

Get involved.  Find out what your local, state and federal government is doing and see what you can do to help.