Future Fields

Nominated by: Markus Wanko, ISTA – Institute of Science and Technology Austria Presented by: Harold de Vladar

Brian Nosek, Executive Director of the Center for Open Science (COS), is increasing openness, integrity, and reproducibility of research by challenging and changing the research culture to accelerate expansion of knowledge and discovery of solutions. COS provides infrastructure to make all research available regardless of outcome, catalyzes grassroots efforts to…

The story of capitalism is one of the most eurocentric stories we still tell, and one that is still deeply compromised by the ideological struggles of the Cold War. My project aims to globalize the 600 years of capitalism’s history, and to look at it from an actor-centric perspective that…

Teamwork coordinated by Justyna Olko breaks down walls between academia and local communities, combining multidisciplinary, decolonising research with participatory activities that promote language revitalization and ethnic minority empowerment. These endeavours have shown that the use of local heritage languages improves health and well-being and protects against historical trauma, fostering ‘communities…

The production and ongoing stage performance of three original science plays viz. “The Square of a Sonnet” – which explores the history and science of black holes, “The Trial of Abdus Salam” – on the life and times of the first Muslim Nobel Laureate in Science and “The DNA of…

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.

Nouf AlJabri of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology was awarded 3rd place at the global Falling Walls Lab Finale 2016. Nouf presented a method by which plastic can be converted into a fuel that produces fewer greenhouse gases. This is achieved by means of multi-metallic catalysts with…

Nanotechnology is a promising therapeutic tool, but present implementations suffer from poor efficacy. My team and I are developing ultrasound-based micro/nanorobots with precise navigation capabilities that can overcome major limitations of existing nanodrugs. Ultrasound is safe, noninvasive, penetrates tissue, and is widely used in medicine, thus ultrasound-based propulsion will provide…

Convergence creates development opportunities for researchers, artists, and teachers. It builds capacity for student research mentorships across disparate fields and develops educational resources through a two-semester course, catalogues, lectures, websites, and public events. Convergence reaches out through a variety of media formats including blogs, videos, movies, and audio recordings and…

In this Falling Walls Breakthrough Conversation, digital participants had the chance to engage in a live conversation with Sheila Jasanoff. She talked about her role as Pforzheimer Professor of Science and Technology Studies at the Harvard Kennedy School, the ethics of genome editing and the importance of doing interdisciplinary research.…