IQS Talks
IQS Talks is a lecture series organised by IQS that brings together faculty from leading international universities and shares their contributions with the university community and society at large.
The programme is structured around different cycles developed in collaboration with specific academic institutions, such as Cambridge or Harvard. Each of these cycles focuses on a particular field of knowledge and comprises several sessions delivered by experts in their area.
Through these lectures, topics such as sustainability, economics and human behaviour are explored from different academic perspectives, combining research and public engagement. The programme offers lectures, conversations and debates open to the public, with free registration.
On this page you can watch the videos of sessions that have already taken place, as well as find information about each cycle and its speakers. Details of new cycles will also be published shortly.
IQS – Harvard Talks (2025–2026)
Economics, Behaviour and Society
The IQS Harvard Talks cycle has featured faculty from Harvard University addressing topics related to economics, human behaviour and social relations. The sessions have explored questions such as the labour market and inequality, moral decision-making and cooperation in complex societies, drawing on the research of speakers including Claudia Goldin, 2023 Nobel Prize winner in Economics, and Joshua Greene, a specialist in moral neuroscience. Among its speakers are leading figures such as Claudia Goldin, 2023 Nobel Prize winner in Economics, and Joshua Greene, a world authority on moral neuroscience.
Harvard Talks
Claudia Goldin | Conversations with Claudia Goldin
Claudia Goldin is the Henry Lee Professor of Economics at Harvard University and winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Economics for her work on women’s outcomes in the labour market. As a distinguished economic historian, her research has shaped the global debate on gender, work and inequality. In this session, she took part in a roundtable with an open Q&A to explore the forces that continue to generate gaps and opportunities in today’s labour markets.
Harvard Talks
Prof. Joshua Greene | Engineering Cooperation: Strategies for Building Inclusive Democracies
Joshua Greene is a Harvard scholar whose work bridges experimental psychology, neuroscience and moral philosophy. A pioneer in moral neuroscience, his research examines how human beings make ethical decisions, the roots of moral disagreement and the conditions that make cooperation possible in divided societies.
Harvard Talks
Prof. Mina Cikar | Reference dependence in coalitions. How do we know to which groups we belong? How do we assign others to groups?
Mina Cikara is Professor of Psychology at Harvard and Director of the Harvard Intergroup Neuroscience Lab. Her research explores how the mind changes when social perception shifts from “you and I” to “us and them”, and how group membership can inhibit empathy, fuel dehumanisation and drive conflict and discrimination.
Harvard Talks
Prof. Amy Edmondson | Right Kind of Wrong: Embracing Smart Failure to Innovate
Amy C. Edmondson is the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School and the world’s top-ranked management thinker according to Thinkers50. A pioneer of the concept of psychological safety, she has demonstrated how teams perform better when people feel free to speak up and take risks. Her book Right Kind of Wrong makes the case for embracing intelligent failure as the foundation of learning and growth.
IQS – Cambridge Talks (2024–2025)
Engineering, Sustainability and Global Development
The IQS Cambridge Talks cycle has featured faculty from the University of Cambridge addressing various aspects of sustainability. The sessions have explored questions such as the development of sustainable infrastructure, the economics of biodiversity and the impact of climate policies, drawing on the contributions of speakers including Peter Guthrie, a specialist in engineering for sustainable development, and Partha Dasgupta, a leading figure in environmental economics.
Cambridge Talks
Prof. Peter Guthrie | Delivering Sustainable Infrastructure – The Challenge of the Paradox
Peter Guthrie is Professor of Engineering for Sustainable Development at the University of Cambridge, with a specialism in climate resilience applied to infrastructure. His career includes major projects such as the London 2012 Olympic Games, Crossrail and Phase 4 of the Eden Project, alongside international work in Nigeria, Ethiopia and the United States. In this inaugural lecture, he explored the paradoxes of building truly sustainable infrastructure.
Cambridge Talks
Prof. Partha Dasgupta | Economic Possibilities in the Anthropocene
Sir Partha Dasgupta is the Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Cambridge and one of the most decorated scholars worldwide in the field of ecological economics. As lead author of the influential Dasgupta Review on the economics of biodiversity, he brings unparallelled expertise to the intersection of economics and sustainability.
Cambridge Talks
Prof. Michael Pollitt | The Brussels Effect and Global Climate Policy: How the EU Can Help and Hinder Effective Decarbonisation
Michael Pollitt is Professor of Business Economics at Cambridge Judge Business School and a leading expert in industrial economics and energy policy. In this session, he examined the role of the EU in shaping global climate policy, and how its regulatory influence can both accelerate and complicate the path towards effective decarbonisation.
Cambridge Talks
Prof. Maria Abreu | The Geography of Discontent: How to Address the Challenge of Left-Behind Places
Maria Abreu is a distinguished economic geographer at the University of Cambridge, whose research focuses on regional inequalities, innovation and labour mobility. She has advised institutions including the European Commission and the World Bank. In this lecture, she examined the discontent felt in regions that have been left behind by globalisation and the policies that may help to close these divides.