Ulrike Pfreundt

With a tagline, ‘Reporting that seeks to empower’, EnAct addresses two social issues: high levels of energy poverty and low levels of energy literacy. A journalistic project that aims to build understanding of energy, EnAct sees its first challenge of finding ways to ‘engage’ the public in a technical and…

Quantum computers require robust quantum states, but these states are extremely fragile and hard to find. Bo Peng’s research addresses this challenge by finding alternative quasiparticles with robust quantum states using computer simulations. He proposes that atomic vibrations (phonons) can perform quantum operations.

Current technologies from silicon chips to computer memory to mobile phone displays are all derived from the fundamental quantum properties of materials. Creating novel materials and manipulating their electronic arrangements is the key to harnessing quantum properties at a macro-level for revolutionary technological advances. Suchitra Sebastian, an experimental condensed matter…

It is a “climate-smart agriculture” concept that includes ecological sanitation to increase agricultural productivity, reduce GHG emissions, and address public health issues in Ethiopia. Tags: Circular Economy, Climate change, Education, Energy, Environment & Nature, Food & Agriculture, Future /green cities, Renewable energies.

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…

Hong Kong has faced many challenges since its return to Chinese rule in 1997. Intensified neoliberalism has worsened the city’s socio-economic and spatial inequities and integration with China has brought political changes. Working with other professionals, NGOs, district councillors and place champions, this project encourages community members to collaborate in…

Understand and study the protein corona on our nanoparticle system, and come with methods to control both the formation and the content of the corona = turn the problem into our advantage! Tags: Bio-Tech, Med-Tech.

How Exoplanet Research is Scouting for Earth 2.0 More than 2000 years ago, the question whether we are alone in the universe was first asked. Today, we live in a time, when for the first time in history, we have the tools to answer it. Lisa Kaltenegger’s multi-awarded research focuses…

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

Over the last decade, we have witnessed technological leaps of a magnitude that exceeds our wildest dreams. In the life sciences, the discovery of the CRISPR-Cas gene editing tool has opened up possibilities for research and novel applications that inspire hope but also pose existential questions: which technologies should we…