Falling Walls Falling Walls Science Summit 2022

Quantum Computing arguably presents the biggest shift in computer science since its inception. After 25 years of fundamental theoretical and experimental research, the top leaders in the field worldwide have committed themselves to the development of quantum computers as a real technology, solving real computational problems. The panelists of this…

Rewriting Social Sciences: How humanity’s destiny can be framed by shared heritages through oceanic connections How can we think of the world as composed of categories derived from particular spaces and lifeworlds, rather than a space with categories seen as universal? How do we move beyond contingent formations, like nations…

This interdisciplinary project links social neuroscience, cognitive psychology, robotics, AI and philosophy with potential for high societal impact. The project examines how the human brain processes social signals exhibited by artificial agents, such as humanoid robots, in order to improve robot design for human-robot interaction in general, and their acceptance…

How Gender Balance Can Transform the Global Economy “Forget China, India and the internet: economic growth is driven by women”, the Economist wrote in 2006 in an article titled A guide to womenomics. Over the past 10 years, the importance of gender equality to promote development, innovation and economic growth…

How a new Technology in the field of Optoelectronics is changing the Future of Data The ever-increasing amount of data raises an important question: How can information be transmitted at high speed yet at low cost? The current technology, based on copper wires, is reaching its ceiling due to the…

In this Falling Walls Breakthrough Conversation with Frank Niederländer, digital participants had the chance to discuss and ask questions. The interview series provided an intense personal atmosphere, in which high-level guests, speakers and panelists of the Falling Walls Science Summit 2021 focused on their individual research, career paths and experiences.…

Walls are back in vogue around the world, from Mexico to Hungary, Austria, and Greece. This is a paradox of history as physical and conceptual walls are being torn down unceasingly, driven by technology, business, and people’s quest for a better future. Political elites and large parts of the electorate…

At Kvark Science Show, science meets entertainment and collaborates to create an event never before seen in Europe. The main goal of the show was branding knowledge as a superpower thus making STEAM more interesting and intriguing to students, children, and adults. During the show, two performers displayed and explained…

Our project focuses on inspiring people into science and technology through astronomy. We take our 12 inch computerised telescope and 8meter portable planetarium to schools and public places in an effort to inspire, engage and empower the next generation of African scientists. We invite kids for a lesson under the…

Breaking the Wall of Technology Valuation; making it objective, accessible & affordable. OxValue.AI aims to break the wall of technology valuation, unblock the bottleneck of technology transfer by creating a groundbreaking theoretical framework and a novel methodological method of technology valuation based on bigdata, econometric and machine learning techniques. An…

The nominating institution University of Zurich on the breakthrough: Neuromorphic and quantum computers will revolutionize the way we perform calculations. Both concepts require new hardware foundations, creating a demand for quantum materials with exotic properties. In particular, systems with topological effects — described using tools from the name-bearing field of…

Nominated by: BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt Presented by: Dr. Tobias Engelmeier

The nominating institution EPFL on the breakthrough: eM+ works on tangible & intangible heritage and archival materials from Asia, Australasia and Europe using computer science and human-computer interaction techniques to alter cultural data into advanced ultra-high-resolution visualizations. It brings novel digital imaging technology into museums in association with cultural and…

Nominated by: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Presented by: Dr. Théau Peronnin

We use machine learning to explore quantitative raw material data. Our algorithm delivers process information at unprecedented level of detail, which allows for improving production sustainability.   Tags: Artificial Intelligence, Circular Economy, Digitalisation, Energy, Engineering, Environment & Nature, Future /green cities, Renewable energies.

A bionic leg prosthesis that allows you to “feel” touch and move like a real leg will change the lives of millions of amputees. Making bionic leg and hand to be more bionic . Tags: Bio-Tech, Engineering, Biomedical engineering.

Chamikara Liyanage proposes using small proteins hiding inside prostate cancer cells as novel therapeutic agents that can overcome treatment resistance.

Michaela Vojníková argues that bioceramic scaffolds can be prepared by using a freeze-casting method. This allows people to prepare pores appropriate for nerve guidance with a length of more than 3 cm and from a biocompatible material.

Amanar aims to empower and inspire the Sahrawi refugee community through the wonders of the Universe. Special attention is given to teachers, children and the youth, to strengthen their resilience and make them feel part of a global community. The project facilitates the development of scientific skills and critical thinking,…

We currently run science and engineering engagements (workshops and school talks) in UK schools with the support of some of the best professional street-dancers in the UK. They are delivered in both primary and secondary schools. Our schools talks focus on careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), and…

Public trust and involvement in science plays a central role in addressing global challenges, achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, and contributing to the overall wellbeing of society. This Falling Walls Circle Round Table debates how we can use Co-Creative Approaches to foster Science Engagement initiatives that aim to…

Nominated by: University of California, Berkeley Presented by: Dr. Alan Cowen

Superheroes against Superbugs (SaS) initiative partners with young children to raise awareness of antibiotic resistance (ABR; a subset of Antimicrobial resistance or AMR) to promote community dialogue and action. The program uses Grassroots comics, a simple, cost-effective engagement tool that enables children, irrespective of their artistic skills, to develop their…

In the 20th Century, the Bose-Einstein Condensation (BEC) was observed in atom gases at the temperatures close to the absolute zero (Nobel Prize in Physics 2001). Then, Kavokin and co-authors have predicted and experimentally demonstrated BEC of light-matter quasiparticles, exciton-polaritons, at the room temperature. This major breakthrough in condensed matter…

In the struggle against global warming, 15 October 2016 marks a historic date – the closing of the Kigali Agreement on reducing extremely powerful hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) pollutants over the next decades. An amendment to the Montréal Protocol of 1987, the Kigali Agreement was agreed upon by more than 140 nations…

To use a system that can be very well controlled in the lab (cold atoms) to emulate the dynamics of another system (molecules) which are difficult to predict. Despite of being at the basis of our lives, most problems dealing with molecules are hard to solve even with supercomputers. In…

He is an antibiotics researcher who not only promises new antibiotics, but also to make existing antibiotics more efficient. The potential should be peer reviewed. Not particularly novel in its methods, all the big ones use ‘AI’ to find new molecules. Standard problems of antimicrobiotical research apply to his team…

The nominating institution Fraunhofer ISE on the breakthrough: Standard solar cells can only convert light of a limited wavelength range optimally while other regions of the sun’s spectrum are not or poorly used. This is mainly influenced by the electronic bandgap of the absorber material. Therefore, the conversion efficiency of…

How Climate Science Calls For Radical Changes in Energy Policy On the long and winding road to more sustainable energy and climate policies, the year 2015 saw several unexpected and positive developments – the largest fossil fuel divestment campaign in history reached its peak and led to trillions of dollars…

Set the saponin extraction method, formulate the biofungicide product, evaluate its effectiveness against phytopathogen in different crops. Tags: Bio-Tech, Circular Economy, Environment & Nature, Food & Agriculture.

The nominating institution Leibniz Universität Hannover on the breakthrough: Current patient-specific simulation workflows based on CT or MRI rely on the intervention of specially trained analysts. The associated cost and response times, however, are incompatible with tight budgets and urgent decision-making in clinical practice. This project re-thinks accurate physiology-based computational…

Our group periodically visits those schools of Armenia that are far from Yerevan and these schools do not have a physics laboratory so that children can do different experiments and understand the lessons well. In our practice, there was such a case that one student, seeing us and our experiments,…

How to Debunk Myths About the Public Sector and Achieve More Inclusive Growth  How many times do we hear that to increase innovation and competitiveness, we need more market and less state? This commonplace position ignores history: the IT, biotech, nanotech and emerging ‘green’ revolutions have all been initiated by a courageous…

Dang Huyen Chau of the TU Dresden was the jury’s choice and the overall 1st place winner of the global Falling Walls Lab Finale 2016. Dang presented her research on recycling oil-rich coffee grounds in order to offer an alternative biofuel.

To end poverty & joblessness through software development. Utilization of technology for development  TakenoLAB is an ICT Academy and Tech Hub, providing its communities with a wide range of technological platforms on which they can learn and practice software development. The introduction of online jobs is also allowing people to…

“Fermenting Futures” explores the significance of yeast biotechnology from a cultural, ethical and aesthetic perspective, engaging audiences in the history and future of this under-recognised field and its potential to offer environmental solutions. The art installation explores and physically contains a CRISPR modified Pichia pastoris yeast that is simultaneously able…

HOW A REACTIVE SYSTEMS APPROACH MAY LEAD TO FULL DYNAMIC MODELS OF MULTICELLULAR ORGANISMS One-day experiments on living beings will be, to a large extent, substi-tuted by interactive simulations on computers. A decade ago, computer scientist David Harel, winner of the Israel Prize, the ACM Software System Award, the Emet…

PRESENTED BY Yuval Gilad NOMINATED BY Yeda Research & Development Co. Ltd. Tags: Edible Insects, Insect Market, Alternative Proteins, Ag Tech, Black Soldier Fly

The nominating institution DWIH SAO PAULO on the breakthrough: The German language is known for long words with many consonants. This makes many learners consider German an impossible language to learn let alone pronounce. How can we use our mobile phone to overcome the challenges of learning German? Through the…

Our project’s achievements strongly suggest that LDH has a high potential for treating mine wastewater since its application may contribute significantly to reduce energy, cost and save landfills.   Tags: Environment & Nature, Green Tech, Environment science, Water treatment, Chemistry.

Salah El Sadi wants to provide clean water for irrigation by using unique biofilters to purify water from nitrates and other contaminants without using any chemical additives or energy.

The nominating institute EPFL on the breakthrough: Reward-based learning underlies important aspects of human and animal behavior, and recent advances reveal detailed understanding of the underlying neuronal mechanisms in mice. Precise optical and electrophysiological measurements, optogenetic perturbations and computational analyses uncover fundamental mechanisms of brain function during simple forms of…

Our new detector records the full position-momentum phase space for all electrons scattered through a sample, and ptychographic reconstruction algorithms solve the samples atomic structure. Our algorithms inversely solve for the multiple scattering of the electron beam and overcome the lens aberrations. For the first time, the resolution is set…

LabEscape is a non-profit outreach activity whose goal is to show that science can be accessible, relevant, beautiful and fun, via a unique science-based escape room experience. Agents must solve a series of jaw-dropping puzzles based on various physics phenomena – objects will literally disappear before their eyes! – though…

SMASHfestUK is an inclusive ‘hyerlocal’ science and arts festival for young people and families that was founded to engage underserved/under-represented audiences with STEAM. All activities – ranging from comedy and immersive theatre to interactive game and hands-on experiments – are predicated on an overarching semi-immersive story about an impending disaster…

Klemens presented his work on “Breaking the Wall of Infection Diagnostics”. He revolutionised infection diagnostics with a simple yet impressive idea on detecting bacteria in blood. He developed an innovative way for specific and rapid pathogen concentration to fundamentally change sensitive and automated pathogen detection at a very low cost.

An estimated 2 billion people consume insects worldwide, and yet the appeal – and commercial availability – of this foodstock remains very limited, especially in the West. With more than 2,000 edible insect species on this planet, packed with high-quality protein, amino acids, vitamins, calcium, zinc, iron, oils, antioxidants and…

Mai-Thi’s presentation, “Breaking the Wall of the Human Cell”, focused on the latest breakthroughs in cancer research: Nano transporters breaking through the outer walls of cells in order to efficiently channel medical agents to the inside. As it attacks only cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed, this method will…

Together with Finnish amateur photographers, Prof. Palmroth and her team discovered a new type of aurora, named the dunes. The dunes present a new opportunity to investigate ignorosphere, a layer of upper atmosphere that is notoriously difficult to observe. The team published a high impact paper linking the dunes to…