Recommended Sessions
Save the dates for the spotlights of our programme and join us when some of the world’s best researchers and brightest minds present their scientific breakthroughs and outstanding projects.
DAILY HIGHLIGHTS SHOW
1 – 10 November 2020, digital
Falling Walls
The best in 15 minutes. Every day from 13.00 to 13.15 Berlin Time we provide you with a compilation of the daily highlights from all events and briefly present to you what you should not miss.
Falling Walls WINNERS SESSIONS
4 – 8 November 2020, digital
Falling Walls
Each day will be dedicated to two different categories ranging from life sciences to social sciences and humanities and digital education, to recognise and discuss the ten winners in each category. Meet the over 600 Science Breakthroughs of the Year Finalists here. The 10 winners in each category were identified by our distinguished juries. In each category, one Breakthrough of the Year will be selected by the corresponding jury. You can find an overview of our entire jury here.
Falling Walls GRAND FINALE: The Breakthroughs of the Year
9 November 2020, digital
Falling Walls
On 9 November 2020, the anniversary of the historic fall of the Berlin Wall, the ten Falling Walls Breakthroughs of the Year will be made public and the people and institutions who made them possible will be honoured in a live digital session.
Falling Walls CIRCLE TABLES
1 – 8 November 2020, digital
Falling Walls
In a series of virtual expert panels, follow world-leading scientists, science strategists and policy-makers from academia, business and politics discuss how we can apply science, research and innovation to get the world moving again, lending the spotlight to breakthrough discussions to cutting-edge research and development.
EUROPEAN QUANTUM WEEK – OPENING EVENT
2 November 2020, digital
European Quantum Flagship
In the frame of the Berlin Science Week the European Quantum Flagship is hosting a week full of Quantum – the European Quantum Week. In this opening session you can join keynotes and a round table with high level representatives from the European Commission, the Quantum Flagship, the German Ministry of Education and Research, representatives from Quantum Industry and Research as well as international Partners.
WHO TO TRUST ON COVID-19? WHEN SCIENCE GETS “DIRTY” IN THE POLITICAL MUD
2 November 2020, digital
PERITIA, ALLEA – All European Academies
The COVID-19 pandemic has become a real-time test for trust in expertise. Since the beginning of the crisis, scientific experts have been in the centre of public attention; some as independent voices, others as direct advisers to politicians; often in uncomfortable positions and perhaps too frequently contradicting each other. Join experts like Prof. Maria Baghramian, Professor of American Philosophy & PERITIA Lead Investigator and Prof. Bobby Duffy, Director of The Policy Institute at King’s College London, in an open roundtable discussion to shed light on the different strategies used to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic across Europe and their consequences.
STARTING UP SCIENCE: FROM LAB TO THERAPY
2 November 2020, digital
Boehringer Ingelheim Stiftung
How can ideas spawned by curiosity-driven research bring about new treatment options? How do science-based start-ups succeed in the US and in Germany? Speaking live from Yale University, 2020 Heinrich Wieland Prize laureate Craig M. Crews discusses his experiences with scientists from Germany. The chemist and professor at Yale University is a pioneer in the field of controlled protein degradation. Be there and join in the discussion!
HOW MUCH HOME OFFICE CAN SCIENCE TAKE? (DE)
2 November 2020, digital
Berlin Research 50
The pandemic has been an exceptional situation for everyone. All but essential laboratory activities were temporarily suspended, a number of childcare centers and schools had to close, and lots of work was – and is still being – done remotely at home. But how much social distancing can science – which requires constant discussion and exchange – take? Join the discussion with Jutta Allmendinger, President of the WZB Berlin Social Science Center; Thomas Sommer, Scientific Director of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine; Michael Hintermüller, Director of the Weierstrass Institute for Applied Analysis and Stochastics; and Ulrich Panne, President of Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing.
‘PHOTOGRAPHY AND SCIENCE‘. TALK WITH HERLINDE KOELBL AND LORRAINE JENIFER DASTON (DE)
2 November 2020, digital
Berlin Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften
The internationally renowned photographer Herlinde Koelbl traveled the world to ask some of the most renowned scientists one question: Why to study science? 60 bright minds – including some academy members – give a review of progress that is currently being made in the vast spectrum of natural science, providing a unique insight into science. Visit the exhibition and use the unique opportunity to meet Herlinde Koelbl on 2 Nov.
SERIES ‘REMEMBER, RESEARCH, REPROCESS’ (DE)
3 – 6 November 2020, digital
Humboldt-Universität Berlin
In a series of four events the HU Berlin is focusing on the topic of ‘Remember, Research, Reprocess’. With the exhibition “Srebrenica by Sven Ellerbrock” as starting point, you will get to know Bosian students in Berlin and how they are shaped by their traumas of their grandparents and parents; experts will discuss how the corona crisis is a possible turning point in society and what law, politics, art and science can contribute to cope with a social trauma of this magnitude; one panel will raise the questions about the power of symbols in society, politics and science and how to deal with them today; and last but not least they invite you into a discussion about our duty and opportunities to process our own past – what is the point of opening history, which taboos would rather remain?
MOBILE HEALTH APPLICATIONS: CURSE OR BLESSING? (DE)
4 November 2020, digital
Universität Zürich, Charité Universitätmedizin Berlin
Mobile health applications are a fast-developing and expanding field in health care that have become an indispensable part of daily life, yet are they safe, effective, and do they interfere or support doctor-patient relationships? For a wise use of mobile health applications, innovation and risk identification have to go hand in hand to guide a successful implementation that serves society as a whole. Join the panel discussion and associated workshops which will address these topics.
QUEEN’S LECTURE BY EMILY SHUCKBURGH ON CLIMATE CHANGE
4 November 2020, hybrid
Technische Universität Berlin, British Council, British Embassy
The Queen’s Lecture has been taking place with some interruptions since 1965 when The Queen gave it as a gift to the City of Berlin during her State Visit. Every year a British scientist talks about a prominent topic. Join this year’s Queen’s Lecture “A Blueprint for a Green Future” with Dr. Emily Shuckburgh. She is a mathematician and climate scientist and director at Cambridge Zero.
‘MEET THE PRIZE WINNER’ WITH THE MAX PLANCK-HUMBOLDT RESEARCH AWARD WINNER 2020
4 November 2020, digital
Max Planck Society, Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung
The Max Planck-Humboldt Research Award is endowed with 1.5 million euros and is aimed at scientists with outstanding future potential. This year’s award winner Roberto Bonasio has decoded the genome of the ant species Harpegnathos saltator, found in India, so that it can be used as a model organism to study the effects of epigenetic changes. Adult Harpegnathos workers have the rare ability among ants to transition into so-called pseudo-queens. If you want to know more about Roberto Bonasio and his work – join the live stream and ask your questions!
EUROPEAN SCIENCE DIPLOMACY: SCIENCE, POLITICS, SOCIETY – SHAPING THE FUTURE TOGETHER (DE)
5 November 2020, digital
Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF); Auswärtiges Amt (AA)
COVID-19 is demonstrating once again that not national egoism and isolation, but international solidarity and cooperation offer the more promising path. Evidence-based policymaking has a crucial role to play here. The aim of the European Science Diplomacy event is to highlight the importance of European cooperation between scientists, policymakers and members of civil society in overcoming global challenges such as pandemics, climate change and migration. Join the debate with 30 experts who will discuss how cooperation can be organised to the benefit of all parties, where specific action is required and what lessons for the future we can learn from experiences in a European context.
‘IT’S COMPLICATED…‘ EUROPE FACING CULTURAL MEMORIES AND NATIONALIST SENTIMENTS
5 November 2020, digital
ALLEA – All European Academies, The Conversation UK
Joep Leerssen, 2020 Laureate of the ALLEA Madame de Staël Prize for Cultural Values and cultural historian, who is one of the most remarkable figures in the critical analysis of ethnic and cultural stereotyping, will offer insights into image shifts and trends of European identities. This webinar will explore how “feelgood nationalism” is still an important part of consumer culture, and as such forms an unobtrusive but pervasive presence in our everyday lives without which we cannot understand the contemporary forces of xenophobia and illiberal anticosmopolitism.
REZO & RANGA YOGESHWAR: THE POWER OF INFLUENCER (DE)
5 November 2020, digital
Futurium
More than 17 million people clicked to view the 55-minute video in which Rezo sharply criticised one of Germany’s major political parties and its climate policy. Now he’s back with a video about journalism. Rezo (musician, entertainer, columnist and web video producer) will be talking about his new work and the power of influencer with science journalist and physicist Ranga Yogeshwar.
A CARBON-FREE FUEL: HYDROGEN CAN.
6 November 2020, digital
National Research Council Canada
Hydrogen is a versatile carbon-free chemical fuel that could serve as an energy vector in many industries. This event will feature a panel of Canadian and German experts from industry, government, and academia who will speak on the promise of a hydrogen-powered low-carbon future. Following the panel discussion, a hydrogen Science Slam contest will feature early-career researchers and entrepreneurs showcasing their cutting-edge hydrogen technologies. Tune-in to learn all about hydrogen, how it is produced, transported, and used, and why it could be the low-carbon replacement for fossil fuels as we transition to a renewable future.
POLITICAL TALK: PAVING THE QUANTUM WAY
6 November 2020, digital
Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Ferdinand-Braun-Institut, Leibniz-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik, Quantum Flagship
How can the government support companies as well as scientific institutions with developing Quantum Technologies? What are the present and future strategies of the BMBF and European Commission in this area? Join the debate with Anja Karliczek, German Federal Minister of Education and Research, and further experts, who will discuss these and related questions.
COSMOLOGY AND MATHEMATICS
6 November 2020, digital
French Embassy in Germany
We often hear that according to General Relativity, our spacetime is curved. But we often miss the deep meaning of this statement: it implies that in every point, there is an invisible field, a bit like the electromagnetic field, but playing a different role: this field can dilate space and time! This concept is not that difficult to understand if, like Einstein, we accept to change completely our intuition concerning the nature of gravity. After a brief introduction by Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, President of the European Research Council, Prof. Dr. Julien Lesgourgues will do his best to explain these concepts in the most possible intuitive and accessible way.
EXPERIENCING OUR DIGITAL WALL – TAUCHEN SIE EIN IN DIE FAMILIENSAMMLUNGEN DES JÜDISCHEN MUSEUMS BERLIN (DE)
9 November 2020, physical
Jüdisches Museum Berlin
The Jewish Museum Berlin is opening its new core exhibition in the Libeskind building after more than two and a half years of reconstruction. The interactive media installation ‘Family Albums’ presents the new heart of the collection: the historical legacy of German Jews from all over the world, which has been gathered over the past twenty years. Visitors can explore the life stories of several generations by delving into the more than 500 documents and photographs, everyday items, and works of art from the bequests of ten families. Participants of the Berlin Science Week are invited to search through the interactive digital wall and partake in a talk with experts and witnesses who created this exhibition.
MAX PLANCK LECTURE: EXPLORING THE UNIVERSE WITH GRAVITATIONAL WAVES
10 November 2020, digital
Max Planck Gesellschaft
The first detection of gravitational waves produced by the collision of two black holes provided spectacular proof of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity and was a milestone for astrophysics. In this lecture Alessandra Buonanno, director of the “Astrophysical and Cosmological Relativity” Department at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, will discuss how novel astronomical messengers are already unveiling distinctive and puzzling properties of the most extraordinary astrophysical objects in the universe: black holes and neutron stars. In the next decades, those sounds of silent will provide us with the unique and wondrous opportunity of listening (or peering back) to the very earliest moments of the universe, shedding light on its origin.