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Join the Movement of Minds Shaping the Future: NICON 2026

If Ayn Rand's philosophy resonates with you and you're seeking meaningful connections within a thriving international intellectual community, this is your moment. The New Intellectuals Conference (NICON),  the leading annual forum for European Objectivists, returns this September 15–18 in beautiful Porto, Portugal.
Sep 15-18, 2026
Porto, Portugal
Get Tickets Now

About NICON

NICON goes beyond a traditional conference: it is a catalyst for ideas that matter. Drawing inspiration from Rand's For the New Intellectual, it gathers forward-thinking individuals from around Europe and beyond who are passionate about reason, individualism, and liberty, and committed to driving meaningful intellectual and cultural transformation.

  • Engage with distinguished scholars and thought leaders, including Johan Norberg, Stephen Hicks, Richard Salsman and Robert Tracinski.
  • Immerse yourself in compelling lectures, meaningful discussions, and interactive sessions that explore the enduring relevance of Objectivism in the modern world.
  • Connect with a vibrant international network of students, leaders, and advocates spanning Europe and beyond.
  • Experience the rich culture and timeless beauty of Porto, a city where centuries of heritage inspire fresh ideas.
  • Discover how you can play a vital role in advancing a freer, more rational society.

Since its inaugural edition in 2022, NICON has welcomed hundreds of participants from around the world to remarkable cities, including Prague, Belgrade, Budapest, and Tbilisi. Each year, the conference serves as the cornerstone of the John Galt School alumni network, offering a dedicated space for collaboration, personal growth, and shared inspiration.

Whether you are a curious student, an emerging intellectual, or a seasoned advocate of Ayn Rand's philosophy, NICON offers an exceptional opportunity to learn, connect, and lead.

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Be part of NICON 2026 — and join the new intellectuals shaping the future.

When: September 15-18, 2026

Where: Holiday Inn - Gaia, 220 R. Diogo Macedo, Porto, Portugal

Secure your spot today by purchasing a ticket or supporting the event through sponsorship.

Purchase TicketsInquiries

Featured Speakers

Stephen R. C. Hicks, Ph.D., is a Professor of Philosophy and Senior Scholar at the Atlas Society. He is the author of Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault, Nietzsche and the Nazis, Entrepreneurial Living, Liberalism Pro and Con, and Eight Philosophies of Education. He has published in Business Ethics Quarterly, Review of Metaphysics, and The Wall Street Journal. His writings have been translated into twenty languages. He has been Visiting Professor of Business Ethics at Georgetown University (Washington, DC), Visiting Professor at the University of Kasimir the Great (Poland), Visiting Fellow at Harris Manchester College (Oxford University), and Visiting Professor at Jagiellonian University (Poland).
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Johan Norberg
Keynote Speaker
Johan Norberg is a Swedish author, documentary filmmaker, and historian of ideas who has lectured across the globe on the virtues of open societies, free markets, and globalization. He has published more than twenty books, including In Defense of Global Capitalism, Progress: Ten Reasons to Look Forward to the Future, Open: The Story of Human Progress, and The Capitalist Manifesto, which was awarded the Hayek Book Prize in 2025. His latest book, Peak Human, was shortlisted as one of the best summer reads of 2025 by the Financial Times, the Economist, and the New Statesman. He is an honorary member of several prestigious institutes and a senior fellow at the Cato Institute.
Stephen R. C. Hicks, Ph.D., is a Professor of Philosophy and Senior Scholar at the Atlas Society. He is the author of Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault, Nietzsche and the Nazis, Entrepreneurial Living, Liberalism Pro and Con, and Eight Philosophies of Education. He has published in Business Ethics Quarterly, Review of Metaphysics, and The Wall Street Journal. His writings have been translated into twenty languages. He has been Visiting Professor of Business Ethics at Georgetown University (Washington, DC), Visiting Professor at the University of Kasimir the Great (Poland), Visiting Fellow at Harris Manchester College (Oxford University), and Visiting Professor at Jagiellonian University (Poland).
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Stephen Hicks Ph.D.
Keynote Speaker
Stephen R.C. Hicks is Senior Scholar at The Atlas Society. He has been Professor of Philosophy at Rockford University, Illinois, Visiting Professor of Business Ethics at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., Visiting Professor at Jagiellonian University, Poland, Visiting Fellow at the Social Philosophy & Policy Center in Bowling Green, Ohio, Visiting Fellow at Harris Manchester College at Oxford University in England, Senior Fellow at The Objectivist Center in New York, and Visiting Professor at the University of Kasimir the Great, Poland. His writings have been translated into twenty languages. In 2010, he won his university's Excellence in Teaching Award.
Stephen R. C. Hicks, Ph.D., is a Professor of Philosophy and Senior Scholar at the Atlas Society. He is the author of Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault, Nietzsche and the Nazis, Entrepreneurial Living, Liberalism Pro and Con, and Eight Philosophies of Education. He has published in Business Ethics Quarterly, Review of Metaphysics, and The Wall Street Journal. His writings have been translated into twenty languages. He has been Visiting Professor of Business Ethics at Georgetown University (Washington, DC), Visiting Professor at the University of Kasimir the Great (Poland), Visiting Fellow at Harris Manchester College (Oxford University), and Visiting Professor at Jagiellonian University (Poland).
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Dr. Richard Salsman
Keynote Speaker
Dr. Salsman is a senior scholar at The Atlas Society, a senior fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research, and founder and president of InterMarket Forecasting, Inc. For a dozen years (2015–26) he was an assistant professor of political economy at Duke University. In the 1980s and 1990s he was a banker at the Bank of New York and Citibank and an economist at Wainwright Economics, Inc. Dr. Salsman has authored five books: Breaking the Banks: Central Banking Problems and Free Banking Solutions (1990), The Collapse of Deposit Insurance and the Case for Abolition (1993), Gold and Liberty (1995), The Political Economy of Public Debt: Three Centuries of Theory and Evidence (2017), and Where Have all the Capitalists Gone?: Essays in Moral Political Economy (2021). He is the author of a dozen chapters and scores of articles. His work has appeared in the Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy, Reason Papers, The Independent Review, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Sun, Forbes, the Financial Post, the Intellectual Activist, and The Objective Standard. Dr. Salsman earned his B.A. in law and economics from Bowdoin College (1981), his M.A. in economics from New York University (1988), and his Ph.D. in political economy from Duke University (2012).
Stephen R. C. Hicks, Ph.D., is a Professor of Philosophy and Senior Scholar at the Atlas Society. He is the author of Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault, Nietzsche and the Nazis, Entrepreneurial Living, Liberalism Pro and Con, and Eight Philosophies of Education. He has published in Business Ethics Quarterly, Review of Metaphysics, and The Wall Street Journal. His writings have been translated into twenty languages. He has been Visiting Professor of Business Ethics at Georgetown University (Washington, DC), Visiting Professor at the University of Kasimir the Great (Poland), Visiting Fellow at Harris Manchester College (Oxford University), and Visiting Professor at Jagiellonian University (Poland).
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Robert Tracinski
Keynote Speaker
Robert Tracinski is a senior fellow at The Atlas Society. He has been a writer, speaker, podcast host, and commentator for more than 30 years, discussing politics, philosophy, history, and occasionally music. He is the author of So Who Is John Galt Anyway? A Reader's Guide to Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, What Went Right? An Objectivist Theory of History, and Dictator From Day One: How Donald Trump Is Overthrowing the Constitution and How to Fight Back. His next book is The Prophet of Causation, an overview of Ayn Rand's philosophy.
Stephen R. C. Hicks, Ph.D., is a Professor of Philosophy and Senior Scholar at the Atlas Society. He is the author of Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault, Nietzsche and the Nazis, Entrepreneurial Living, Liberalism Pro and Con, and Eight Philosophies of Education. He has published in Business Ethics Quarterly, Review of Metaphysics, and The Wall Street Journal. His writings have been translated into twenty languages. He has been Visiting Professor of Business Ethics at Georgetown University (Washington, DC), Visiting Professor at the University of Kasimir the Great (Poland), Visiting Fellow at Harris Manchester College (Oxford University), and Visiting Professor at Jagiellonian University (Poland).
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Leopold Ajami
Keynote Speaker
You have great ideas. But what you think and what others hear are completely different. With time, you find yourself saying the same thing that everybody else is saying. Leopold Ajami is a global speaker who has trained and coached executives in 15+ countries to become unforgettable speakers, influential leaders, and voices worth following. The leaders he worked with had everything: the expertise, the vision, the results. What Leopold gave them was a way to uncover unique stories and philosophies that make other people want to follow them. As one of the few trainers in the world certified by the godfather of influence, Dr. Robert Cialdini, Leopold has brought the science of persuasion and communication into boardrooms at Google, Meta, Apple, IKEA, HSBC, and many more. He's the founder of Novel Philosophy Academy, co-founder of Pixel Debates, and co-author of the #1 Amazon bestseller How to Hear Yes More Often. Leopold believes everyone has a message worth sharing. Few have the courage to become it.
Stephen R. C. Hicks, Ph.D., is a Professor of Philosophy and Senior Scholar at the Atlas Society. He is the author of Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault, Nietzsche and the Nazis, Entrepreneurial Living, Liberalism Pro and Con, and Eight Philosophies of Education. He has published in Business Ethics Quarterly, Review of Metaphysics, and The Wall Street Journal. His writings have been translated into twenty languages. He has been Visiting Professor of Business Ethics at Georgetown University (Washington, DC), Visiting Professor at the University of Kasimir the Great (Poland), Visiting Fellow at Harris Manchester College (Oxford University), and Visiting Professor at Jagiellonian University (Poland).
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Martin Hooss
Keynote Speaker
Martin Hooss is an international scholar and lecturer currently based in Southeast Asia. He holds two master degrees, one in English Literature and Classical Philology from Trier University, Trier, and another in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from CEVRO Institute, Prague. Since 2021, Martin has worked for several Objectivist and libertarian organizations. An avid traveler, he has extensively lectured throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Martin's research interests include practical philosophy, virtue ethics, and American constitutionalism. He considers Friedrich Nietzsche, Hermann Hesse, and Ayn Rand as the three thinkers who have influenced him the most
Stephen R. C. Hicks, Ph.D., is a Professor of Philosophy and Senior Scholar at the Atlas Society. He is the author of Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault, Nietzsche and the Nazis, Entrepreneurial Living, Liberalism Pro and Con, and Eight Philosophies of Education. He has published in Business Ethics Quarterly, Review of Metaphysics, and The Wall Street Journal. His writings have been translated into twenty languages. He has been Visiting Professor of Business Ethics at Georgetown University (Washington, DC), Visiting Professor at the University of Kasimir the Great (Poland), Visiting Fellow at Harris Manchester College (Oxford University), and Visiting Professor at Jagiellonian University (Poland).
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Petar Čekerevac
Keynote Speaker
Petar Čekerevac is a Senior Fellow at Atlas Network, where he is helping build the Project on Decentralized Technology and Freedom to Innovate. Previously, he led strategic partnerships and fundraising at Libertarian Club - Libek, a think-tank in Serbia, and helped build the Talas media outlet. Petar also advises companies enabling governance innovation and faster development of frontier technologies such as special jurisdictions, Bitcoin, longevity biotech, and technologies protecting individual sovereignty.
Stephen R. C. Hicks, Ph.D., is a Professor of Philosophy and Senior Scholar at the Atlas Society. He is the author of Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault, Nietzsche and the Nazis, Entrepreneurial Living, Liberalism Pro and Con, and Eight Philosophies of Education. He has published in Business Ethics Quarterly, Review of Metaphysics, and The Wall Street Journal. His writings have been translated into twenty languages. He has been Visiting Professor of Business Ethics at Georgetown University (Washington, DC), Visiting Professor at the University of Kasimir the Great (Poland), Visiting Fellow at Harris Manchester College (Oxford University), and Visiting Professor at Jagiellonian University (Poland).
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Admir Čavalić
Keynote Speaker
dr. sc. Admir Čavalić is an economist, university lecturer, and Member of Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He holds a PhD in Economics and focuses his research on economic liberalism, institutional economics, labor markets, and economic policy. Admir founded Multi, the first free-market think tank in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Through Multi, he has organized numerous John Galt Schools across the country. He is the author of several books and academic papers, including the monograph Corporate Social Responsibility: Strategic Partnerships between Companies and Civil Society Organizations and the book Islam and the Free Market. In his academic and public work, he focuses on reforms that strengthen the market economy, entrepreneurship, financial freedom, and the institutional development of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As a Member of Parliament, he actively works on legislative initiatives related to the financial sector, the digital economy, and economic reforms. He is also engaged in international academic and policy networks and participates in research and educational projects that promote a free society, economic development, and decentralization.

Calendrier de la conférence

**Horaire complet à déterminer et sujet à modification**
Monday,
september 15th
18 h 00 à 20 h 00
Inscription et réception de bienvenue
7:00pm - 11:00pm
Welcome Reception
VENDREDI 6 juiN
9 h 00 à 16 h 00
Sessions principales, sessions en petits groupes et sessions de réseautage
18 h 00 à 20 h 00
Dîner et discours liminaire
8:00pm - 10:00pm
Speaker Dinner (Invite Only)
Samedi 7 juiN
9 h 00 à 16 h 00
Sessions principales, sessions en petits groupes et sessions de réseautage
18 h 00 à 20 h 00
Réception de clôture
8:00pm - 12:00am
Closing Party
Thursday, September 18th
7:00am - 9:00am
Breakfast
9:00am - 10:30am
Hotel Check-Out
10:30am - 12:00pm
Closing Remarks, Certificates & Group Photo
Achetez vos billets dès maintenantInformations sur le parrainage

Ticket information

Scholarship
Recipient Ticket

$50
Your ticket purchase includes:
  • Admission to the Conference on September 16, 17, and 18
  • Travel and accommodation covered
  • Coffee breaks
  • Lunch on September 16 and 17
  • Opening welcome reception
  • Closing party
  • A gift bag from Atlas Society International
Purchase Tickets

Standard ticket

$150
Your ticket purchase includes:
  • Admission to the Conference on September 16, 17, and 18
  • Coffee breaks
  • Lunch on September 16 and 17
  • Opening welcome reception
  • Closing party
  • A gift bag from Atlas Society International
Purchase Tickets

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