One of the world’s leading innovation programs for young people has brought its expert mentoring insights and techniques for aspiring change-makers to the youth of Qatar – through a special session organized by Qatar Foundation’s Pre-University Education Gifted & Talented Program.

The Knowledge Society is a 10-month program for high school students that gives young people a grounding in key issues shaping the world – from climate change to AI – and develops their mindsets and real-world skills so they are equipped to think about and address them.

Hosted in Academyati – a progressive school under Qatar Foundation’s (QF) Pre-University Education (PUE) – and in collaboration with PUE’s Gifted & Talented Program, The Knowledge Society presented a session for students and parents across Qatar to open their minds to how they can cultivate the intellectual tools to solve big problems and help to shape the future.

Sara Al-Hajri, Director of Student Affairs and Community Engagement within QF’s PUE, said: “Introducing The Knowledge Society to our Gifted and Talented community and to students across Qatar is a natural extension of our belief that learning should be dynamic, relevant, and connected to the real world. It’s a powerful example of how QF, and its Pre-University Education, continue to lead in reimagining education beyond traditional boundaries.” 

She added that opportunities such as The Knowledge Society session are a chance to engage students who are “curious, driven, and passionate” about STEAM – Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics – topics in new ways.

The session reflects QF’s commitment to developing and adopting customized approaches to education that prepare students for the challenges of today and tomorrow, including through Academyati, a QF school which combines innovative teaching methods with values-based learning to foster personal growth and moral development as well as academic excellence.

“Sessions such as this are exactly what we mean when we talk about enriched learning,” said Elizabeth Kennedy, Director of Academyati. “It’s a chance to go beyond the curriculum, spark interest, and plant seeds that can grow into future pursuits. We’re proud to be a space where these opportunities can happen. “This session is another way that we demonstrate how learning doesn’t pause at the end of the school day,”.

“Whether it’s through innovation, camps, or student-led discovery, Academyati is building a culture where every learner is inspired to further. At Academyati, we believe in connecting our learners with leading experts to ignite curiosity and stretch their sense of what’s possible – we see our role not only as educators, but as bridge-builders, connecting students with people, ideas, and experiences that expand the world.

“Hosting The Knowledge Society session is aligned with this – bringing the world closer to our students and making high-level mentorship accessible at an early age.”

Pranav Menon, Program Director with The Knowledge Society, who led the session, encouraged participants to think about “what you imagine yourself doing by 2035 – and not in the sense of what job you want to be doing”, so they can gain a better understanding of how they envisage the future, and their own future.

“The Knowledge Society is about enabling every single person to ask themselves ‘what do I want to make happen in the world?’” he said. “It was built because we believe more young people need the tools that allow them to do great things.

“Our philosophy is to be a human accelerator for young people – one that doesn’t just teach them about technology, but about mindsets and networks. We start by exposing them to things like blockchain, gene editing, AI, and quantum computing, and open up the world of what emerging technology makes possible.

“We then home in on a person’s particular field of interest, and they make it their focus for the 10 months of the program. At the end, they pioneer a new idea, giving them a breadth of knowledge and a depth of expertise – such as by thinking about: what would happen if two technologies were combined?

“They build projects to learn about where they have an actionable curiosity; they spend time delving very deeply into real-world problems like cancer, energy storage, and climate change, so they really understand the problem; and then we have the ‘moonshot’ – if you had the ability to think big about a problem, what would you do? It’s like an operating system for how you think about the world.”

Applications to The Knowledge Society online program are now open for those aged 13-17. For more information and to apply, visit tks.world/apply-now