Berlin, 21 September 2021. The Falling Walls Foundation announced its shortlist in categories Science Engagement (Falling Walls Engage) and Science Start-Ups (Falling Walls Venture). Shortlisted participants will pitch their ideas live during the Falling Walls Science Summit 2021. One winner from each category will return to the stage on 9 November, the anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, for the prestigious “Science Breakthrough of the Year”.
STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) skill-building among underrepresented and marginalized communities and inclusive education were central to the winning projects in the Falling Walls Engage category. The shortlisted Falling Walls Venture start-ups presented solutions in digital health and disease diagnostics, novel sustainability practices, industrial-scale quantum computing, innovative analytics software and telecommunication and 3D printing technologies.
Shortlisted candidates will pitch their ideas live during the Falling Walls Science Summit 2021. All pitches will be broadcast via free livestream on the homepage of the Falling Walls Foundation. The jury chaired by Stefan von Holtzbrinck (Holtzbrinck Publishing Group) and Melanie Smallman (University College London) will select one winner from each category, who will claim the “Science Breakthrough of the Year” title.
In the category Falling Walls Engage, the Advisory Board reviewed a total of 189 applications from 80 countries. The selected 20 winners were chosen on the criteria of impact, approach, and transferability of their science engagement initiatives. The list of winning ideas included a citizen science project for ground water monitoring, an educational radio show to promote infant vaccination, art workshops for mental health awareness, a novel concept integrating science and languages, mobile STEM stations travelling between communities, a state-of art application merging videogames and science trivia and others.
The Falling Walls Venture jury received 102 submissions from 29 countries and chose 25 start-up ideas. Among the winning projects were point-of-need medical testing, microbial set that recycles fossil-based plastics, analytics software for infrastructure investment in developing countries, sustainable production solutions using algae, ink made of captured carbon dioxide, all-round quantum computing service and a software detecting early-stage deep vein thrombosis, number one cause of preventable hospitals deaths.
About the Falling Walls Science Summit
Falling Walls Science Summit is a leading international, interdisciplinary and intersectoral forum for scientific breakthroughs and science dialogue between global science leaders and society. The event takes place every year from 7–9 November in Berlin, commemorating the fall of the Berlin Wall. With formats Falling Walls Pitches (7 Nov), Falling Walls Circle (8 Nov) and Falling Walls Science Breakthroughs of the Year (9 Nov), the Falling Walls Science Summit is the leading forum for global science leaders from academia, business, politics, the media, and civil society to debate the potential of scientific breakthroughs to solve grand challenges and shape a sustainable future. The Falling Walls Science Summit is organized by the charitable Falling Walls Foundation. More: www.falling-walls.com
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