Robert Schlögl

HOW OPEN DATA MAKES URBAN LIFE SMARTER The idea of sustainable urban planning is usually connected to images of green areas, efficient public transportation and futuristic buildings. But it is the information and telecommunications infrastructure that determines the city’s ability to face the many challenges of creating a livable, prosperous…

The nominating institution EPFL on the breakthrough: Safe and affordable housing and infrastructure are key to sustainable global development and rely on construction materials such as cement. Cement production is responsible for ~8% of global CO2 emission. Limestone calcined clay cement (LC3) allows up to 50% reduction of CO2 emission…

A new class of adaptive and biomimetic neuronal platforms has been developed for the first time by direct coupling of biological neuronal cells with a neuromorphic chip. Despite standard neuroelectronic interfaces, the biohybrid synapse formed between the living and artificial neuronal systems is capable of interacting, keeping active memory of…

In this Falling Walls Breakthrough Conversation, digital participants had the chance to engage in a live conversation with Ting Xu. She talked about her role as Professor of Chemistry and Materials Science and Engineering at Berkeley University, her groundbreaking work on accelerating biodegradation of plastics and her hopes for the…

In cities, dragonflies are susceptible to falling into ecological traps of polarized light. Claudia Patricia Mamani Medina argues that we can help their conservation by detecting and camouflaging potential ecological traps in urban elements.

Harshada Kshirsagar is addressing the alarming rise in sexual assault in India, exacerbated by the Covid crisis, by proposing innovative briefs designed to resist sexual assault and prevent rapes by causing delays. The focus is on providing protection for women aged 18-30, aiming to tackle the urgent need to combat…

With senseBox one can build, create and easily code stationary or mobile devices equipped with sensors for environmental phenomena like temperature, air quality or light pollution. The devices are connected to the internet and submit the measurements to the IoT-platform openSenseMap. The project is a breakthrough because it empowers children,…

WISAARKHU aims to provide diversity, a collection, of perspectives on a chosen theme related to Mathematics. It is for inspiring, for creating awareness, for sharing experiences, for communicating, for connecting, for reflecting, creating collaborations, creating a more human way to teach that respect the authenticity of each human being and…

Science in dance’ is a 60′ long format designed to promote science-people interaction through dance. The audience is introduced by a storyteller to the science underlying the dance. The choreographer starts the casting randomly picking-up performers from the public; then she/he teaches them easy-to-learn movements and set up basic scenography…

HOW BREAKTHROUGH TECHNOLOGY ALLOWS NUTRITIOUS GLUTEN-FREE ALTERNATIVES A gluten-free diet is often the only treatment for sufferers of gluten-related disorders like coeliac disease — a condition where eating gluten causes the immune system to turn against the body. Michelle Colgrave leads the Food and Agricultural Proteomics teams at Edith Cowan…