The Falling Walls Lab is celebrating its 5th anniversary and is calling out for innovative solutions to meet the social challenges of our time
Young talented researchers and professionals can still apply for the Falling Walls Lab Finale in Berlin latest by 15 September. At the Berlin Lab on 8 November the next generation of innovators will have the chance to present their idea in three minutes.
Berlin, 20 August 2015. Since its premiere in 2011, the Falling Walls Lab has developed into a world-renowned platform for young scientists. Over the last five years, more than 800 researchers from all disciplines have presented their innovative work at Falling Walls Labs all over the world. “The Falling Walls Lab shows the creativity with which young people are working on new solutions to the pressing problems of our future. The quality and diversity of the presentations is impressive”, says Professor Jürgen Mlynek, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Falling Walls Foundation and President of the Helmholtz Association.
On 8 November 2015, 100 creative minds will once again rise to the challenge of convincing a top-class jury of their work in just three minutes. Applications are open to bachelor and master students, doctoral students, post-docs, entrepreneurs and young professionals from around the world who completed their academic degree no longer than five years ago.
Dr Martin Sonnenschein, Managing Director Central Europe at A.T. Kearney and founding partner of the Falling Walls Lab, emphasises the uniqueness of the format: “The young talents not only get the opportunity to present their ideas to a select interdisciplinary audience, but also to connect with innovators from around the world and, in doing so, receive valuable inspiration for the development of their projects.”
During the Falling Walls Lab Berlin on 8 November a total of 100 participants will be selected to present their ideas in front of a prestigious jury from science and industry under the direction of Professor Carl-Henrik Heldin, chairman of the Nobel Foundation. The top three will be named the “Falling Walls Lab Young Innovators of the Year 2015” by the jury. They will also receive a cash prize and will present their 3-minute talks as speakers at the international scientific Falling Walls Conference the next day in front of around 600 guests. An A.T. Kearney scholarship will allow all of the 100 scientists selected to attend the Falling Walls Conference on 9 November. This year’s speakers at the Conference include the French immune biologist Emmanuelle Charpentier, neuroscientist and founder of the start-up Google DeepMind Demis Hassabis, as well as three Nobel Laureates.
About Falling Walls Lab
The aim of the Falling Walls Lab is to promote scientific and entrepreneurial vision and to initiate and foster exchanges across disciplines between young scientists and young professionals. In the lead-up to the Lab Finale in Berlin, 36 qualifying events in 29 countries are taking place in 2015. These include events at Yale University, the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Saudi Arabia) and the University of Groningen (Netherlands). The Falling Walls Lab is organised by the Falling Walls Foundation, supported by the international management consultancy A.T. Kearney (Founding Partner) and Festo AG & Co KG (Global Partner).
Applications can be submitted online at http://www.falling-walls.com/lab/apply until 15 September 2015. Further information on the Falling Walls Lab and a short trailer of last year’s Lab can be found at http://www.falling-walls.com/lab.
About the Falling Walls Foundation
The Falling Walls Foundation is a non-profit organisation that fosters the discussion on research and innovation and promotes the latest scientific findings among a broad audience from all parts of society. It organises the Falling Walls Conference, a unique international gathering of leaders from science, business, politics and the arts. Each year on 9 November, 20 of the world’s leading scientists present their current breakthrough research in 15 minutes each. The Falling Walls Foundation is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Helmholtz Association, the Robert Bosch Stiftung, the Berlin Senate for Economics, Technology and Research and numerous other acclaimed academic institutions, foundations, and companies. Further information can be found at www.falling-walls.com.
About A.T. Kearney
A.T. Kearney is one of the world’s leading management consultancies for top management and advises globally operating corporations, leading medium-sized businesses and public institutions. With strategic vision and operational implementation excellence, the consulting firm supports its clients in transforming their business and organization. In doing so, A.T. Kearney focuses on growth and innovation, technology and sustainability, and on optimizing company performance through complexity management in global production and supply chains. A.T. Kearney was founded in Chicago in 1926. In 1964 the first office outside the United States opened in Dusseldorf. Today, A.T. Kearney employs approximately 3,500 people in over 40 countries around the world. The company’s client consulting has been climate neutral since 2010. More information can be found at www.atkearney.com.
About Festo
Festo is a leading world-wide supplier of automation technology. As a globally-oriented and independent family company with its headquarters in Esslingen, Germany, it has become the performance leader in its industry over the last 50 years, thanks to its innovations and problem-solving competence in all aspects of pneumatics as well as its unique range of industrial training and education programs. Today, the company with 16,700 employees world-wide provides pneumatic and electric drive technology for factory and process automation as well as cutting-edge training solutions. Further information can be found at www.festo.com.
Press contact
Lucie Menz
Press and Communication
Falling Walls Foundation gGmbH
Chausseestraße 8e
D-10115 Berlin
Phone: +49 30 609 88 39 74
lucie.menz@falling-walls.com