Falling Walls Falling Walls Science Summit 2023

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…

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…

PRESENTED BY Luca Stevanato NOMINATED BY University of Padova Tags: Ag Tech, Earth Observation, Water Sensing

Intergroup empathy plays an important role in mitigating conflicts that cause the suffering of millions of people worldwide. Unfortunately, people often fail to experience empathy toward outgroup members. We created a hybrid art – science model that is shown to successfully raise the level of intergroup empathy. Our projects are…

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…

Our curriculum and science engagements make learning science a fun, hands-on and relevant experience for 3 – 14 year olds. These are offered all-year round through our science clubs running both inside and outside schools. We also train young scientists to be great science communicators through our fellowship program. During…

My project is to transform the grass from the malagasy savanna in Fianarantsoa to Bio briquettes. Tags: Climate change, Environment & Nature, Renewable energies.

The nominating institution Monash on the project: Lying at the intersection between art, science and blindness, Tandori’s exhibitions use interactive sculptures to engage and inspire audiences of all ages and abilities. Her breakthrough is making art and science exhibitions inclusive, accessible and available to everyone globally. Tags: Artificial Intelligence, Discrimination,…

We are building an AI Researcher to help us leverage our exponentially growing scientific knowledge. Iris.ai is an almost 6-year-old European startup, founded with a double bottom line – for profit and for positive global impact. We want every scientist and innovator in the world to have all knowledge they…

LYBOTICS is an active force in the field of robotics and STEM education, empowering more than 500 high-school students and 60 mentors from +10 cities across Libya. The initiative combines “learning by doing” and “having fun” while supporting the teams to build competition robots from scratch. LYBOTICS inspires young people…

How Deep Learning Can Give Birth to General Artificial Intelligence From chessbots to chatbots and from search algorithms to industrial assembly machines – humanity has arrived at the age of machine intelligence; or at least machine work, if we take seriously a definition of intelligence as “the abilities to learn…

The nominating institute Innoplexus on the breakthrough: Bhardwaj’s breakthrough Curia taps into the data ocean of the world’s largest research graph in life sciences. The app provides the latest information on cancer treatments, clinical trials and experts. Enabled by various AI technologies that scan, extract and structure data from billions…

To overcome the inconvenience of finding lost items on campus, Marianne Chang proposes the use of a lost and found app to geotag the found items. Simple, convenient, and smart!

Using the XFEL at SLAC, we are constructing a compact X-ray laser oscillator that will open exciting new research opportunities in quantum optics, materials science, and ultra-precision metrology. Tags: Energy, Quantum Technologies.

Using silver and natural plant polyphenols (the molecules behind hard-to-remove wine stains), JJ Richardson creates antimicrobial coatings that stick to any surface and neutralize viruses, bacteria, and fungi. Richardson’s universally adherent antimicrobial coatings can be sprayed on by non-experts in the home or hospital, are so thin you can’t see…

SprinD is a front-runner organization in Europe with a completely new approach to breakthrough innovation. I does not rely on peer-review-based identification and selcetion processes. Rather it aims at recruiting forward-looking innovation managers to select research and innovation projects which are both research-intensive and application-oriented. Rafael Laguna will be able…

Due to factors such as ageing populations, increasing comorbidities and late or erroneous diagnoses, millions of people globally are impacted (with an upward tendency) by illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease and Depression. While prevention and early diagnosis are crucial to improving the wellbeing of patients, new medications and therapies need…

The nominating institution Japan Science and Technology Agency on the breakthrough: Quantum information technologies are expected to bring scientific and social benefits that will change the world. Prof. Oiwa in Osaka University is conducting a JST project to develop a Poincaré interface using quantum dots as hardware for realizing long…

Mental Health: Do we Need a New Super Science? Falling Walls Circle Tables are lending the spotlight to world-leading scientists, science strategists and policy-makers from academia, business and politics discuss how we can apply science, research and innovation to get the world moving again. While stigma around mental health may…

Unlocking the Mysteries of the Cell – Falling Walls Circle Round Table 2023 In this roundtable discussion a multidisciplinary group of experts will share their perspectives on how collaborations using state-of-the-art genomic, open science, and imaging technologies are providing new insights into human biology and how these fundamental discoveries will…

Ulrike Malmendier: Breaking the Wall to Inflation – Falling Walls Science Summit 2023 Inflation, especially when experienced at high or unpredictable rates, gives rise to several significant economic issues. Firstly, it erodes the purchasing power of consumers, leading to a decrease in the overall standard of living. Fixed-income earners, such…

As a result of the strong economic growth in many African countries, the continent has a growing demand for young professionals, particularly in mathematics, IT and engineering, in order to ensure rapid and stable economic, social and political development. Yet, only six per cent of post-secondary aged Africans are enrolled…

Instagram is one of the most used social media platforms where people post the positive side of life and breathtaking photos, this makes it perfect for science! Mitocondria.cc is all about sharing the amazing facts of the universe and the way science is part of our everyday life. Our non-scientific…

Nominated by: BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt Presented by: Anne Lamp

The nominating institution ORNL on the breakthrough: Mass production of protective equipment and testing supplies is critical to an effective pandemic response that saves lives by minimizing the spread of COVID-19. Dr. Lonnie Love is leading a team at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to create scientifically proven solutions that can…

The innovation is the paradigm shift from conventional thought of content or knowledge transfer in higher education to designing learning from the mobile student experience. To do this, we had to reimagine the learning experience from a mobile student lens. We reimagined learning and learning design from a mobile learning…

The YES! – Young Economic Summit is an annual pupils’ competition on current challenges from economics and society under the patronage of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. In the YES!, school teams of grades 10 to 12 work together with researchers from renowned economic institutes and universities.…

Nominated by: Hebrew University, Yissum – the technology transfer company of Hebrew University Presented by: Kristina Trahtman

Professor Berk leads a multidisciplinary institute developing innovative psychiatric medications and therapies. Recognising biochemical evidence for reduced oxidative defenses in psychiatric disorders, Berk and others predicted treatment potential for oxidative modulators. His team led the first RCTs demonstrating that N-acetyl cysteine, an inexpensive, safe antioxidant supplement, improved depression and negative…

How Fluorescence Microscopy Can Now Provide Images on The Nanoscale „What if we could use a microscope to look at living cells and be able to see not only their shapes, but every single detail inside of them – down to the individual molecules?“ Some 25 years ago, scientists would…

Infira is incorporating technology into rice seeds. The growth strategy consists in developing prototypes of different crops by coordinating the strategies of R&D, IP, regulation and market.

PRESENTED BY Tatiana Stella NOMINATED BY The University of Milano-Bicocca Tags: Contamination, Microbiology, Biological Reclamation

The incubator will provide the needed temperature continuously, reduce Sudden Infant Death Syndrome(SIDs), and malaria. It will send information wirelessly to the Pediatrician or Doctor. Tags: Digital Health, Digitalisation, Engineering, Med-Tech.

Uniteca is an online education system and digital library that helps students to achieve academic success. What makes it innovative is the fact that it is an app where it is possible to find several explainers available to give an explanation on a given subject, also giving the benefit of…

Carried out over 10 years by artist-economist duo Chow and Lin, The Poverty Line visually documents the type and amount of food a person living by the poverty line can buy per day in different case-study Countries. The photographic study is based on data analysis and socio-economic research on lowest-income…

The engagement project was conducted in Kilifi County along the coast of Kenya. The study involved 19 SCD patients and 15 parents. We conducted 4 focus group discussions and 7 home visits where in-depth interviews were conducted. From the activities emerging themes were then evaluated and this was used by…

The nominating institution Deakin University on the breakthrough: Macreadie and Blue Carbon Lab are taking urgent action to combat climate change. They use innovative nature-based solutions as long-term carbon storage to reduce atmospheric CO2. Mangroves, seagrass, and saltmarsh, collectively known as Blue Carbon ecosystems, are globally highly degraded, but offer…

The main purposes of the project is the communication of scientific principle: to spark interest in science and break widely spread stereotypes in Armenia about the role of science and scientists. In addition to providing information about natural sciences, technologies and thematic materials, the project’s aim is to encourage critical…

CSSI is a multidisciplinary community intersecting big data with new computational techniques. CSSI research helps uncover fundamental principles underlying the success and/or failure of innovation through the use of AI and large datasets. This research is impacting our understanding of global innovation in a way that will foster even more…

Sherwood Lollar brings together hydrogeology and isotope geochemistry to challenge understandings of the role of water in planetary subsurfaces. Her work explores the physical and chemical controls on subsurface architecture by tracking the fate of carbon-bearing fluids and gases in ancient fracture waters in the Earth’s crust. Her project on…

Dilip Menon was talking about creating a paracolonial framework that goes beyond the nation state, and that looks at the ways in which humanity’s destiny is framed by shared heritages through oceanic connections. In a time of global warming, the rising waters, and vast human migrations, we need a politics…

Tatjana Geukens will set up a program for metastatic breast cancer patients to donate liquid and tissue samples rapidly after death for extensive molecular profiling and the generation of tumour models.

How the Tropical Laboratory Initiative is increasing Access to Healthcare in Low Resource Countries Tropical Diseases were defined in the 1970s by international organisations such as the World Health Organization as those infectious ailments like malaria, tuberculosis, HIV and Ebola that disproportionately affect poor and marginalised populations in the developing…

Medical Adhesive Revolution has developed a new technology which can seal internal and external wounds. We have developed the only known product capable of both functioning as a hemostat and as a sealant inside the body. To be used by surgeons, it seals wounds and stops bleeding within seconds. As…

The structural change in the Rhenish mining area is of outstanding importance to the region, its neighbouring conurbations, and the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Its intended transformation towards becoming a source for carbon-neutral energy, sites for closed resource cycles, and new attractive residential, work and leisure opportunities serve as…

The key to understanding the interplay between cancer and the immune system is quantifying the spatial biology and co-expression patterns of critical cell types. We used lessons from astronomy (Sloan Digital Sky Survey) to efficiently map tumor pathology tissues with high-fidelity, single-cell resolution using multispectral microscopy. The resultant AstroPath platform…

With increasing erratic rainfall patterns, droughts, overuse of irrigation water, degraded soils & non-productive soils, Daniela Inführ suggests using biohydrogel to protect plants from droughts and save 40% of irrigation water.

EAFIT Children’s University is an informal education and Science Engagement program that was designed to bring academia and research closer to other audiences and to encourage curiosity, create active learning experiences, promote intellectual enjoyment, and foster critical thinking in children. The program proposes to deal with scientific concepts in an…

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.

The nominating institution Empa about the breakthrough: Controlling the spread of COVID-19 is an urgent global challenge. Airborne respiratory droplets play a significant role in human-to-human transmission. Jing’s group quantifies the infection risk of COVID-19 by various transmission routes. He then develops highly accurate sensors for fast detection in the…