Falling Walls Falling Walls Science Summit 2022

Information is to society as air is to a living organism. We have come a long way to embrace nature protection, conservation, and resource management in our pursuit of environmental quality. A similar comprehensive framework to ensure the quality of our information environment is however missing. My work builds on…

Treating cancer with bacteria A robotic system for automated inventory management, a high-resolution 3D printer, a waterless body bath, a blood testing platform for prostate cancer, a project for breeding insects and a sensor for fresh food: What do these inventions have in common? For once, they are just a…

Nominated by: Peter Leibinger, TRUMPF Presented by: Michael Förtsch

Our project focuses on inspiring people into science and technology through astronomy. We take our 12 inch computerised telescope and 8meter portable planetarium to schools and public places in an effort to inspire, engage and empower the next generation of African scientists. We invite kids for a lesson under the…

“Tianjic” is the the world’s first brain-inspired hybrid computing chip that bridges computer-science-oriented and neuroscience-oriented approaches. It not only accommodates computer-science-oriented machine learning algorithms and neuroscience-oriented models, but also supports cross computing paradigm modelling. With one chip, a bicycle performs real-time object detection, tracking, voice recognition, obstacle avoidance, auto balance…

The invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army on February 24, 2022 marked a turning point in contemporary history. The ongoing war has negatively impacted scientific initiatives in the Ukraine, since many Ukrainian scientists were unable to continue their research or had to flee the country. This session aims to…

Nominated by: Hebrew University, Yissum – the technology transfer company of Hebrew University Presented by: Kristina Trahtman

How a Nanotech Toolbox Can Revolutionise Medicine and Energy Storage The sheet of paper this text is printed on is about 100,000 nanometers thick and one hair on your head is about 50,000 nanometers wide. In our everyday experience, these are some of the smallest objects we are able to…

We are building an AI Researcher to help us leverage our exponentially growing scientific knowledge. Iris.ai is an almost 6-year-old European startup, founded with a double bottom line – for profit and for positive global impact. We want every scientist and innovator in the world to have all knowledge they…

EAFIT Children’s University is an informal education and Science Engagement program that was designed to bring academia and research closer to other audiences and to encourage curiosity, create active learning experiences, promote intellectual enjoyment, and foster critical thinking in children. The program proposes to deal with scientific concepts in an…

The nominating institution FMP on the breakthrough: Christian Hackenberger has pioneered contributions to the development of protein-based therapeutics, based on the chemical modification and cellular delivery of antibodies to target cancer and viral infections. Highlights include the engineering of an inhibitor against human and avian influenza, and safer next-gen antibody…

The nominating institution AIT on the breakthrough: The presented bi-modal sensing device allows for the first time simultanously to distinguish between mass-uptake and electrical surface changes at biological binding events. Until now, antibody and antigen interactions and the docking of bacteria or virus to tissue in the human body was…

The nominating institution Austrian Academy of Sciences on the breakthrough: Cachexia is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in various cancers, chronic inflammation and infections. But our understanding of it is limited, especially infection-associated cachexia (IAC). In the present paper, Bergthaler and his colleagues describe a model of reversible…

Nominated by: TU Darmstadt Presented by: Markus Hessinger

Particle accelerators are often thought of as large, expensive facilities or instruments. Typically, these machines have a variety of uses from fundamental science and medical applications to manufacturing semiconductors. How can particle accelerators be reinvented and downsized by the use of advanced nano fabrication and laser technologies? Additionally, what significance…

Prof. Dr. med. Tobias Moser is a neuroscientist and otolaryngologist at the Göttingen Campus in Germany. He heads the Institute for Auditory Neuroscience at the University Medical Center Göttingen and leads research groups at the German Primate Center and the Max-Planck-Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences. His main areas of research are…

Bayer Kimlu Science Fellowship has the aims to shape the next generation of STEM leaders in Latin America. Each year we select 40 young people (age 14-18) to be part in a 10 days STEM-leadership science camp in which their develop their science competences and leadership skills. After this, they’re…

Rhys Pirie won first place at the Falling Walls Lab Finale 2019 with his pitch on Breaking the Wall of Broken Glass. Rhys convinced the jury in three minutes by presenting a low-cost process which turns ‘waste’ glass into high-value products such as detergents, tyres, and even toothpaste.

Whether we’re analysing a pandemic, calculating people’s life expectancy, organizing health insurance, collecting patient responses to new therapies or whether we’re just making an appointment in a doctor’s office: Our health is closely connected to data. But how can we properly use this trove of data in order to develop…

PRESENTED BY Maksym Plakhotnyuk NOMINATED BY University of Illinois Chicago Tags: Additive Manufacturing, 3D Printing, Micro Devices, Nano Devices, Deep Tech , Atomic Layer Processing

MYRIAD engaged young people, schools and families with the shrouded mystery of the teenage mind. Using a hybrid of approaches from inspiration to collaboration right through to a digital campaign, people got to step inside and explore an inflatable brain, to design research and ask the questions that are most…

The convergence of cell biology and genetic engineering is creating fundamental new ways to impact disease. Capitalizing on these technological breakthroughs, BlueRock are advancing novel cell+gene platform to develop, manufacture, and deliver an entirely new generation of authentic and engineered cell therapies, across neurology, cardiology and immunology. Lead program is…

As a scientist, getting a research grant often feels like an odyssey. It involves a lot of red tape and can take years to be approved. While it is a nuisance to all researchers, the process is especially frustrating for environmental scientists, who rely on grants to perform their research…

Julia Leduc, co-founder and CEO of Anymate Me, explains why her start up Anymate me is the future of Video Production for academic and corporate training. Anymate Me is a science-oriented deep tech start-up based in Germany. Our mission is to revolutionize linear, costly and time-consuming video production and editing…

Maja Kokot designs, synthesizes, and characterizes novel bacterial topoisomerase inhibitors (NBTIs) with broad antibacterial spectrum activity.

Mai-Thi’s presentation, “Breaking the Wall of the Human Cell”, focused on the latest breakthroughs in cancer research: Nano transporters breaking through the outer walls of cells in order to efficiently channel medical agents to the inside. As it attacks only cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed, this method will…

As well as employing established schemes like analysis of sex-disaggregated data, mentoring and trainings to stop the leaky pipeline, the project developed innovative strategies to challenge traditional structures and ways of thinking in marine sciences. Some examples are a new tool for the incorporation of gender perspectives into research content,…

Nominated by: Khashayar Razghandi, Matters of Activity Excellence Cluster, Humboldt University of Berlin Presented by: José Villatoro

ImBlaze enables schools to offer equitable access to social capital & real world learning at scale. ImBlaze is an EdTech platform built by Big Picture Learning, with the mission of disrupting traditional secondary education to allow for the adoption of real world learning as a core part of school. ImBlaze…

PRESENTED BY Yuval Gilad NOMINATED BY Yeda Research & Development Co. Ltd. Tags: Edible Insects, Insect Market, Alternative Proteins, Ag Tech, Black Soldier Fly

The BLCKB Brain Dictionary project is an AI Model that is using neuromarketing data to reconstruct what subjects perceive based on their brain activity captured by EEG.   Tags: Artificial Intelligence, Bio-Tech, Neuroscience.

Dr. Ijjas’ new cyclic theory shows that the observed properties of the universe are best explained by replacing the “big bang” with a “big bounce” – a smooth transition from contraction to expansion. Combining diverse tools from mathematical and numerical relativity, astronomy, and high energy physics, she further showed that,…

This project investigates clashing territorial views in the Pan-Amazon region in the South West of Colombia and offers new aesthetic tools via Media, capable of opening new avenues for knowledge exchange, dialogue and inter-existence. Through participatory research and socially engaged art, this project explores the potential of an ethics of…

Nominated by: Evonik Venture Capital GmbH Presented by: Omer Blaier

Together with Finnish amateur photographers, Prof. Palmroth and her team discovered a new type of aurora, named the dunes. The dunes present a new opportunity to investigate ignorosphere, a layer of upper atmosphere that is notoriously difficult to observe. The team published a high impact paper linking the dunes to…

Restoring Planetary Health with Science and Collaboration? The role of research and applying scientific discovery have proved to be fundamental to both human and planetary health. In many cases, solutions are at hand, but their development and subsequent application must be accelerated to turn evidence into action. This session will…

Corona Immunitas brought together all swiss public health institutes in an unprecedented way. Fundraising attracted public & private supporters that share the goal of providing high-quality evidence for decision-makers in the current pandemic. Key pillars are a culture of trust, aligned goals, an OS policy, professional governance & project management.

By intensively pursuing the transfer of knowledge and technology into business and society, TUDA has become a dynamic start-up university with a strong innovative and entrepreneurial culture. HIGHEST focuses its innovation management process on: coaching, consulting, educating innovative, entrepreneurial PERSONALITIES development of RESEARCH FINDINGS, via validation up to innovative market…

It is a totally novel and proprietary method of visualization, using specifically created paper coatings and manipulating the animals in such a way that their thought process, strategy and corresponding movements are documented on the paper, thereby also capturing time in a stand-still picture of artistic quality. The artistic contribution…

The nominating institution Max-Planck-Institute on the breakthrough: I led an interdisciplinary team of computer and behavioral scientists, to study how humans think about the ethics of Artificial Intelligence. We designed a game, the Moral Machine, in which people decide what a self-driving car should do when it is faced with…

Emerging telerobotics concepts enable AI for universal assistance robots, as big data is gathered beyond lab walls. This way, robots learn new skills and increase failure tolerance during operation.   Tags: Artificial Intelligence, Climate change, Covid-19, Digital Health, Engineering, Food & Agriculture, Resilience, Robotic, Space & the Universe.

In this Falling Walls Breakthrough Conversation, digital participants had the chance to engage in a live conversation with Laura Hassink. She talked about her role as Managing Director for STM Journals at Elsevier and the current challenges and developments in academic publishing. The interview series provided an intimate personal atmosphere,…

The nominating institution EPFL on the breakthrough: Safe and affordable housing and infrastructure are key to sustainable global development and rely on construction materials such as cement. Cement production is responsible for ~8% of global CO2 emission. Limestone calcined clay cement (LC3) allows up to 50% reduction of CO2 emission…

PRESENTED BY Jacob Bossaer NOMINATED BY BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt Tags: Drinking Water, Global Water Challenges, Water Scarcity, Water Crisis, Water 4 All, Sustainability, Water Management

Aquí Nos Cuidamos is a project of the nonprofit Ciencia Puerto Rico (CienciaPR) that promotes COVID-19 prevention and the well-being of vulnerable and marginalized communities in Puerto Rico through a culturally relevant multimedia education, community engagement, science and solidarity. To read the speech in Spanish, please click here. / Para leer el…

Our cities are heating up nearly twice as fast as the global average. By 2050, the urban population exposed to extreme temperatures is estimated to increase by 800%. This growth will yield a corresponding momentous increase in energy demand for cooling. Meanwhile, our prevailing cooling technology contributes to a warming globe, exacerbating…

Through this citizen science and educational project, we have involved over 400 people in the preservation of freshwater environments in Argentina. Citizens can participate through our mobile app or our website in helping monitor freshwater habitats, or they can use and build educational resources to use in schools linked to…

Each of us has moments from our past that we wish we could recall as clearly as when they happened, or unpleasant memories we would rather erase. But for those who have experienced truly traumatic events their memories can be a lifelong painful and debilitating burden. A revolution in the…

PRESENTED BY Christoph Hantschk NOMINATED BY BMW Foundation, Herbert Quandt Tags: Planting trees, Collecting plastic waste, Sustainable, Organic Cotton, Tote bag, Plastic Free

A collaboration with psychologist Professor Richard Wiseman (University of Hertfordshire) that aimed to create a new type of magic-based science engagement video. The story of the Apollo Moon landings was illustrated with visual sleight-of-hand magic performed with specially printed playing cards. The video attracted over a hundred thousand views on…