Falling Walls Falling Walls Science Summit 2023

The nominating institution Forschungszentrum Jülich on the breakthrough: With quantum computing we face the beginning of a paradigm shift in computer science and scientific computing, which can considerably change science, industry, economy and our every-day life. The demonstration of quantum supremacy, which required a sufficiently large quantum processor with a…

The nominating institution UZH on the breakthrough: Human reproduction developed from a matter of chance to a matter of choice to a matter of design. Latest developments suggest that CRISPR technology will usher in a new era of technologically mediated reproduction. The work examines the interrelation and interaction between normative…

Global warming and climate change increase the level of GHG (green house gases). Emad Alobiadoon’s solution is to use metal organic frameworks (MOFs). MOFs have the ability to capture and convert the emission into useful materials such as chemicals and less harmful gas.

The nominating institution Creative Destruction Lab on the breakthrough: CDL operates 9 sites located in top-tier institutions that translate regional excellence in research and innovation into entrepreneurial and commercial success. The CDL program employs an objectives-based mentoring process to enhance the performance of technical founders who learn from the insights…

In this Falling Walls Breakthrough Conversation with Georg Schütte, 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.…

Retinal prostheses hold the potential to revert blindness in profoundly blind people. However, devices should provide visual perception at high resolution and, most importantly, over a wide visual angle to be valuable in everyday activities. To solve this technological challenge, we have developed and validated a photovoltaic wide-field retinal implant…

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 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…

In the current age of life sciences, we have come to invent better and better drugs that are increasingly efficient in relieving pain and treating diseases. Despite this positive trend, the world continuously faces serious medicine shortages and in many parts of the world drugs and painkillers may either be…

We compared the characteristics of complicated and uncomplicated pediatric liver transplant recipients. We found a parameter in the early postoperative period that could predict complications.   Tags: Med-Tech, Health Sciences.

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.

PRESENTED BY Norbert Witz NOMINATED BY University of Stuttgart Tags: Semiconductors, Laser Engineering

Quantum theory is one of the two revolutions in modern day physics. However, its underlying root is still very much a mystery. Here we revisit the Stern-Gerlach Experiment, a paradigm of quantum theory, and by using modern technology have managed to shed new light on this fundamental spin quantization experiment.…

The Children Math-Art Exhibits were started by Experience Workshop and Nelson Mandela University in South Africa. The goal is that children themselves actively explore new sources of maths and art education through transdisciplinary artworks, which express various connections between mathematics and arts. Any child could submit artworks for the open…

Hydrogen is the most abundant chemical substance in the universe. In this regard it is almost the exact opposite of fossil fuels, which are incredibly rare and hard to extract. So wouldn’t it be great if we could swap fossil fuels for renewable sources such as hydrogen? This Falling Walls…

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…

UTAS’s mission is “A place where we do things for Tasmania and from Tasmania”. Its strategy and implementation are geared to improve life for Tasmanians in six areas: Educational Attainment, Health, Economic Performance, Social Inclusion, Cultural Participation, and Environmental Sustainability. It deploys outcome indicators to measure and manage progress in…

Nominated by: JST – Japan Science and Technology Agency Presented by: Amane Kimura

In a project funded by the Federal Foreign Office, our students designed a collection of board games. Each game transforms a different aspect of politics into a board game. All board games are available as Print-and-Play PDF versions, all source files are available under a Creative Commons license, for easy…

The nominating institute Weizmann Institute of Science on the project: Currently, there is not a single treatment available for Alzheimer’s disease. Schwartz’s breakthrough therapy harnesses the power of the immune system to protect and repair the brain. It’s expected to provide the first disease-modifying treatment in Alzheimer’s and dementia. Her…

Creating a fibrous and conductive cathode from a mix of copper, phosphorus, and sulfur served as a catalyst, dramatically speeding up oxygen’s reaction with water. This insight produced batteries that could be charged and discharged quickly and had high capacity, 460 watt-hours per kilogram (compared with about 75 Wh/kg for…

Tigran Ambartsumov is developing technology for intensifying the process of germinating seeds of agricultural crops, increasing the yield of crops and minimizing yield loss during drought years.

Mygrants is the most used educational platform by applicants and holders of a status in Italy. Migrants represent 3,5% of the world population and produce more than 10% of the GDP. Lack of evidence (identity, background, work experiences, languages mastery, credit history) leads to a lack of access to key…

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.

McDade developed and validated a method for quantifying SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies in finger stick dried blood spot samples. This approach allows people to self-collect samples from home, and then mail them to the lab for analysis. McDade’s scientific aim and public health goal is to expand understanding of predictors of…

New functional magnetic materials are in high demand, both for nano-technology, information storage and for green energy conversion in wind-mills and wave power generators. The recent increase in the cost of rare-earth elements, a key component in permanent magnets, call for new rare-earth free compounds. By means of data-filtering methods…

Achieving easy, affordable, effective, and efficient access to mental health care services for everyone around the world. Tags: Covid-19, Mental Health.

The research focuses on phenomenal optical properties of new emerging group IV-V two dimensional materials for advanced high-speed optoelectronic and telecommunication applications. Tags: Optical Communication (Photonics & Optoelectronics).

Astrophysics: How space exploration can answer one of the most pressing questions of all time There is no planet in our solar system quite as fascinating as Mars. For centuries, the red planet has fascinated scientists and the public alike, ultimately leading to one question: Has there ever been life…

Our transport system needs to be transformed due to its devastating effects on the environment and the climate. But this change needs to be discussed also within its wider social repercussions. Fiscal instruments and targeted policies can contribute to a mobility transformation that not only addresses the ecological challenges but…

Amalia Sitti Khayyira creates added-value natural products that possess medicine-like effects. Her current product is fermented palm sugar that can reduce postprandial blood glucose in people with diabetes.

Navonmesh Prasar sets the standard for S.T.E.A.M. learning (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) through innovation in education pedagogy. Navonmesh Prasar Foundation is registered as a section-8 (a non-profit organization) under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India. We maintain an objective of improving the quality of education in…

Nominated by: Marius Rosenberg, RWTH Aachen University Presented by: Sebastian Waters

Arludo aims to increase science interest and improve data literacy for students of all genders, ages, and socioeconomic backgrounds. We create mobile apps & digital programs that allow students anywhere to become scientists. By using our apps, students from around the world can work together to collect science data as…

PRESENTED BY Adan Ramirez Sanchez NOMINATED BY AXEL – The Energy accelerator by Fokus.energie e.V. Tags: Solar Panels, Microalgae, Sustainability, Clean Tech, Space Technology

The nominating institution University of Manitoba on the breakthrough: Environmental DNA is a non-invasive way to sample organisms. It’s revolutionizing biodiversity monitoring in the Canadian Arctic. The Stetefeld lab, in partnership with the Kivalliq Inuit Association, extracts eDNA from environmental samples without having to isolate the target organisms. Tags: Artificial…

The nominating institution Harvard Medical School on the project: If there is a worse disease than ALS, you should hope never to see it. Relentlessly progressive and 100% fatal, it has no treatment. By means of a clever genetic screen, the nominee and his colleagues identified a gene that, when…

Donna Strickland is one of the recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physics 2018 for developing chirped pulse amplification-which is the current state-of-the-art technique used by most of the highest-power lasers in the world. In her talk, Strickland was talking about the relevance of lasers, the relationship between light and…

Dr. Sabrina Badir from ETH Zurich was the jury’s choice and winner of the Falling Walls Lab 2015 with the development of a reliable and easy-to-use device that allows the risk of premature birth to be recognized in time so that appropriate treatments can be started promptly.

ImBlaze enables schools to offer equitable access to social capital & real world learning at scale. ImBlaze is an EdTech platform built by Big Picture Learning, with the mission of disrupting traditional secondary education to allow for the adoption of real world learning as a core part of school. ImBlaze…

A key driver for all scientific research is humanity’s natural instinct for exploration. We are driven to go where no one has gone before, discover what no one has found, and study what has never been seen. Scientists follow this exploratory instinct in all kinds of directions, whether it’s space,…

“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…

AgriBox is an AgriTech hardware and software solution using best practices and promising technologies (IoT, AI, satellite imagery) which allow smallholder farmers to access cheap precision agriculture.

By capitalizing on low-cost local wool produced by herders, Oyungerel Munkhbat is able to produce affordable air purification filters as efficient as the HEPA filter, preventing air pollution-related diseases.

McDonald is a visual artist working in painting, drawing, film and sound. Her works explore the origins of life on the planet and the information held within plant life. In ‘A space and time outside,’ she investigates Herbarium plant specimens brought back from the 1825 Franklin Arctic Expedition to explore germination and the potential…

“Critically Extant” is a project that explores just how little we know about the natural world by testing the limits of the data openly available to us. To achieve this, AI algorithms were trained on millions of open source images of nature and some ten thousand species. The resulting models…

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…

In this Falling Walls Breakthrough Conversation, digital participants had the chance to engage in a live conversation with Shankar Balasubramanian. He talked about his role as Herchel Smith Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, his pioneering work on genome sequencing and the practical implications of his research.…

The nominating institution Nanyang Technological University on the breakthrough: Significant progress has been made in developing bioinspired sensors and actuators based on synthetic materials, although there remains a critical need to incorporate cost-effective and ecofriendly materials. Naturally abundant pollen grains were used as a material template to produce a paper-like…

FOREST is the performative outcome of a National Science Foundation funded project aimed at enhancing trust between humans and robots through sound and gesture. As part of the project, Gil Weinberg and his team trained a deep learning network to generate emotion carrying sounds to accompany robotic gestures during human-robot…