Falling Walls Conference

BERLIN SCIENCE WEEK event

Falling Walls Conference

The Falling Walls Conference is an annual global gathering of forward thinking individuals from 80 countries organised by the Falling Walls Foundation. Each year on 9 November – the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall – 20 of the world’s leading scientists are invited to Berlin to present their current breakthrough research. The aim of the Conference is to:

– identify trends, opportunities and solutions for global challenges and discover international breakthrough research.
– connect outstanding researchers from different disciplines and support the interdisciplinary exchange of ideas internationally.
– build bridges between business, politics, academia and the arts.
– promote the latest scientific findings among a broader audience.
– inspire people to break down walls in science and society.

In 15-minute-talks, researchers from all disciplines present their work in front of 700 international guests. During the breaks, the Falling Walls Forum becomes the place for high-level Q&A where the audience can ask questions and engage in discussions. A new peer-learning platform, Falling Walls Connect, gives the audience the opportunity to contribute their knowledge and expertise to fellow participants.

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PROGRAMME 2018

9.00 am Morning Greetings Sebastian Turner Founder, Falling Walls Foundation

• SESSION ONE 9.20 am
  LEILA TAKAYAMA University of California, Santa Cruz HUMAN-ROBOT INTERACTION
  STEVE EVANS University of Cambridge INDUSTRIAL SUSTAINABILITY
  PAOLA ARLOTTA Harvard University NEUROSCIENCE & STEM CELLS
  BRIAN BEHLENDORF Hyperledger BLOCKCHAIN
• SESSION TWO 11.20 am
  Official Welcome Anja Karliczek German Federal Minister of Education and Research The Winners of the Falling Walls Lab for emerging academics and professionals
  VEENA SAHAJWALLA UNSW Australia ADVANCED RECYCLING
  KEVIN ESVELT MIT Media Lab GENETIC ENGINEERING
  DANIELA SCHILLER Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai MEMORY RECONSOLIDATION
• SESSION THREE 2.00 pm
  Opening of the Afternoon Sessions Jürgen Mlynek Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Falling Walls Foundation Falling Walls Circle Discussion on the Human Genius in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
  GERARDO CEBALLOS Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México BIODIVERSITY
  STEFANIA MILAN University of Amsterdam BIG DATA POLITICS
  JAN ZIELONKA University of Oxford ILLIBERAL POLITICS
  ONUR GÜNTÜRKÜN Ruhr University Bochum BIOPSYCHOLOGY
• SESSION FOUR 4.45 pm
  The Winner of Falling Walls Venture for science based start-ups
  AVI LOEB Harvard University SPACE EXPLORATION
  NICOLA SPALDIN ETH Zurich MATERIALS SCIENCE
  BERNHARD SCHÖLKOPF Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
  TERRY HUGHES ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies CORAL REEF ECOLOGY

The Conference is broadcasted online via free livestream. All presentations are available in the Falling Walls Library.

further information regarding the event can be found at the
Falling Walls Website

FALLING WALLS 2012 - Berlin Conference on Future Breakthroughs in Science and Society. credits: Jansch

Falling Walls 2014 Berlin, Radialsystem