Facts and Figures 166 international top-class speakers +++ 9 Nobel laureates +++ 400 scholarships +++ 65 international Labs +++ 46 international science-based start-ups +++ more than 1.000.000 video streams +++ more than 50 hours free-to-watch video footage Falling Walls is a unique international platform for leaders from the worlds of science, business, politics, the arts and society. It was initiated on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall. Inspired by this world-changing event on 9 November 1989, the question of every Falling Walls gathering is: Which walls will fall next? Falling Walls fosters discussion on research and innovation and promotes the latest scientific findings among a broad audience from all parts of society. The Falling Walls Foundation, a charity, is generously supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Helmholtz Association, the Robert Bosch Stiftung, the Berlin Senate and numerous other acclaimed academic institutions, foundations, companies, non-governmental organisations and prominent individuals.
FALLING WALLS CONFERENCE 2009-2015 The Falling Walls Conference (9 November, 9 am 7 pm) is at the heart of the Falling Walls days in Berlin and was held for the first time in 2009. On one day, 20 world-class researchers from all disciplines and parts of the world each showcase the breakthroughs they are working on in 15-minute talks. Among the speakers are Nobel laureates, artists, heads of states and governments. The conference attracts an audience from over 80 nations and is covered by the media globally. It is considered to be one of the foremost places of high-level exchange between science, business and other sectors of society. Topics covered Archaeology Architecture Art Artificial Intelligence Anthropology Astronomy Big Data Biocomplexity Biology Biotechnology Chemistry Computer Sciences Culture Economy Education Electronics Energy Energy and Pollution Energy Supply Engineering Environment Famine Gender Economics Genetics Governance Health History Human Rights And many more... Immunology Journalism Law Limited Resources Literature Management Marine Sciences Materials Sciences Mathematics Medicine Nanotechnology National History Neuroengineering Neuroscience Nutrition Palaeontology Philosophy Physics Politics Poverty Psychology Religion Robotics Security Social Inequality Sociology Super Materials Agriculture
Guests More than 3.700 guests from more than 80 countries have attended the Falling Walls Conferences in the past six years, among them over 400 young academics who received free access by scholarships. Video Archive More than 50 hours 3.000 minutes of free-to-watch video footage, watched by more than 1.000.000 people on Youtube and Vimeo. 166 international top-class speakers between 2009-2015 Andrea Accomazzo, European Space Agency Speaker 2015 Anastasia Ailamaki, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Breaking the Wall of Data Deluge Jutta Allmendinger, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin Host Adah Almutairi, UC San Diego Breaking the Wall of Medical Imprecision June Andrews, University of Stirling Speaker 2015 Alain Aspect, Institut d Optique, Palaiseau Breaking the Wall of Quantum Weirdness David Awschalom, University of California Breaking the Wall of Traditional Electronics Benjamin R. Barber, CUNY Breaking the Wall of the Nation-State Through Interdependent Cities Andreas Barner, Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft Host Nick Barton, Institute of Science and Technology Vienna Breaking the Wall that Limits Evolution Yanis Ben Amor, The Earth Institute/Columbia University Breaking the Wall of Tropical Diseases Bruce A. Beutler, University of Texas Southwestern Speaker 2015 Jagdish N. Bhagwati, Columbia University Breaking the Wall of Extreme Poverty Jean-Michel Borys, EPODE Breaking the Wall of Childhood Obesity Monique Breteler, DZNE/Harvard Breaking the Wall of Brain Degeneration Denis Broun, Unitaid Breaking the Wall of Inaccessible Drugs Michel Brunet, Collège de France Breaking the Wall Around the Secrets of Our Origins Michael Bruter, LSE London School of Economics Breaking the Wall of the Polling Booth Rebecca Cassidy, Goldsmiths University of London Breaking the Wall of Gambling Philip Campbell, Nature Publishing Group Host Dipesh Chakrabarty, University of Chicago Breaking the Wall of "Two Cultures Emmanuelle Charpentier, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research Speaker 2015 Aaron Chiechanover, Technion Israel Institute of Technology Breaking the Wall of Diseases David Chipperfield, Chipperfield Architects Keynote Opening Paul Chirik, Princeton University Breaking the Wall of Sustainable Chemistry Awa Marie Coll Seck, Minister of Health of the Republic of Senegal Breaking the Wall of Child Mortality Dalton Conley, New York University Breaking the Wall of Nature and Nurture Frederick Cooper, New York University Breaking the Wall of National History Joseph F. Coughlin, MIT Age Lab Breaking the Wall of Living Longer, Better Sadie Creese, University of Oxford Speaker 2015 Robert Darnton, Harvard University Breaking the Wall of Inaccessible Knowledge Ingrid Daubechies, Duke University Breaking the Wall of Computer Stupidity Karl Deisseroth, Stanford University Breaking the Wall to Neuroengineering Helmut Dosch, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron Breaking the Wall of Quantum Cinema Matthias Driess, Technische Universität Berlin Breaking the Wall of Limited Resources Wolfgang Eberhardt, Helmholtz Centre Berlin Breaking the Wall of Energy and Pollution Ottmar Edenhofer, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research Speaker 2015 Olafur Eliasson, Universität der Künste Berlin Breaking the Wall to the Future Jill Farrant, University of Cape Town Breaking the Wall of Famine Roland Fletcher, University of Sydney Breaking the Wall Around Vulnerable Megacities Elvira Fortunato, Universidade Nova de Lisboa Breaking the Wall to a New Age of Electronics Stephen Friend, Sage Bionetworks Breaking the Wall to Cooperative Medicine Anita Goel, Nanobiosym Breaking the Wall of the Centralised Healthcare Infrastructure Paradigm Diane Griffin, National Academy of Sciences Host Nilüfer Göle, Ećole des hautes e tudes en sciences sociales (EHESS), Paris Speaker 2015 Detlef Günther, ETH Zürich Breaking the Wall of Timing Our History Doug Guthrie, The George Washington University Breaking the Wall of Efficient Innovation
Yael Hanein, Tel Aviv University Breaking the Wall of Blindness David Harel, The Weizmann Institute of Science Breaking the Wall of Biocomplexity Demis Hassabis, Google DeepMind Speaker 2015 Dirk Helbing, ETH Zürich Speaker 2015 John-Dylan Haynes, Charité Berlin Breaking the Wall of the Human Mind Stefan W. Hell, MPI for Biophysical Chemistry Breaking the Wall of Resolution in Light Microscopy Peter Herzig, Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel Breaking the Wall of the Dark Side of the Oceans Rolf-Dieter Heuer, CERN Breaking the Wall of the Hidden Universe Part I (2009) & part II (2013) Arjen Y. Hoekstra, University of Twente Speaker 2015 Jules A. Hoffmann, Université de Strasbourg Breaking the Wall of Infections Norbert Holtkamp, ITER Breaking the Wall of Fusion Olga Holtz, Berkeley/Technische Universität Berlin Breaking the Wall of Complexity Stefan von Holtzbrinck, Holtzbrinck Publishing Group Host Wolfgang Holzgreve, Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin Breaking the Wall in Global Maternal/Child Health Robert E. Horn, Stanford University Breaking the Wall of Organisational Ignorance Wang Hui, Tsinghua University China Breaking the Wall of Social Divide Reinhard F. Hüttl, acatech German Academy of Science and Engineering Host Ichiro Inasaki, Chubu University/Keio University Breaking the Wall of Manufacturing Harold James, Princeton University Breaking the Wall of Finance Naila Kabeer, London School of Economics Speaker 2015 Mary Kaldor, London School of Economics Breaking the Wall of War Lisa Kaltenegger, Cornell University Breaking the Wall to Thousands of New Worlds Aaron Kaplan, FunkFeuer FREE NET Austria Breaking the Wall of Internet Censorship Stefan Kaufmann, Max Planck Institute Berlin Breaking the Wall of Unequally Distributed Diseases Michel Kazatchkine, UN Special Envoy for HIV/Aids in Eastern Europe and Central Asia Host Wolfgang Ketterle, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Speaker 2015 Robert P. Kirshner, Harvard University Breaking the Wall of Cosmic Acceleration Matthias Kleiner, DFG German Research Foundation Host Joachim Knebel, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Breaking the Wall of High Level Nuclear Waste Gerhard Knies, Desertec Foundation Breaking the Wall of the Fossil Age Christof Koch, Allen Institute for Brain Science Breaking the Wall to Understanding Consciousness Nina Kraus, Northwestern University Speaker 2015 Ferenc Krausz, Max Planck Institute Munich Breaking the Wall of Microscopic Motion Wilhelm Krull, Volkswagen Foundation Host Sabine Kunst, Universität Potsdam/DAAD German Academic Exchange Service Host Jean-Luc Lehners, Max Planck Institute Potsdam Breaking the Wall of the Beginning of Time Thomas Lengauer, Max Planck Institute Saarbrücken Breaking the Wall of Viral Drug Resistance Nathan S. Lewis, Caltech Breaking the Wall of the Global Energy Challenge Daniel Libeskind, Architect, Studio Daniel Libeskind Breaking the Wall of Convention Alejandro Litovsky, Earth Security Initiative Breaking the Wall of Ecological Risk Julie Livingston, Rutgers University Breaking the Wall of Pain Joanne Liu, Médecins Sans Frontières Speaker 2015 Sharon Macdonald, University of York /Humbold-Universität zu Berlin Speaker 2015 Wolfgang Marquardt, German Council of Science and Humanities Host Karl Ulrich Mayer, Leibniz Association Host Mariana Mazzucato, University of Sussex Breaking the Wall to a State of Innovation Rachael McDermott, Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics Breaking the Wall to Control Fusion Power Karlheinz Meier, Universität Heidelberg/ Human Brain Project Breaking the Wall of Traditional Computing Angela Merkel, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Breaking the Walls of the 21st Century Jürgen Mlynek, Helmholtz Association Host Christoph Möllers, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Breaking down the Breakthroughs Per Møller, University of Copenhagen Breaking the Wall of Bad Taste Richard Morris, The Wellcome Trust Breaking the Wall of Research Funding Glenn Warren Most, University of Chicago Breaking the Wall around Ancient Greece Klaus Robert Müller, Technische Universität Breaking the Wall between Mind & Machine Amélie Mummendey, Einstein Foundation Berlin/Friedrich Schiller University Jena Host Alina Mungiu-Pippidi, Hertie School of Governance Breaking the Wall of Corruption Philip D. Murphy, U.S. Ambassador to Germany Keynote Miguel Nicolelis, Duke University Breaking the Wall of Neurological Disorder Daniel G. Nocera, Harvard University Breaking the Wall to Personalised Energy Helga Nowotny, ERC European Research Council Host Sir Paul Nurse, Royal Society Host Liu Olin, China International Capital Corporation Limited Breaking the Wall of Global Debt Kõji Omi, The Science and Technology in Society forum Kyoto The Message from Kyoto Onora O Neill, British Equality and Human Rights Commission Breaking the Wall of Hyper-Regulation Svante Pääbo, MPI for Evolutionary Anthropology Breaking the Wall of the Neandertal Genome Mark Pagel, University of Reading Breaking the Wall of Collective Stupidity Manfred Prenzel, Technische Universität München Breaking the Wall of Mindless Schools Nicola Pugno, Università di Trento Breaking the Wall of Super Materials Shalini Randeria, University of Zürich Breaking the Wall of Privatisation of the Commons Stephanie Reich, Freie Universität Berlin Give Me a Break Michael M. Resch, HLRS Universität Stuttgart Breaking the Wall of Reality
Alan Rusbridger, The Guardian Breaking the Wall to True Press Freedom Tomás Saraceno, Artist, Studio Saraceno Breaking the Wall Between Earth and Sky Saskia Sassen, Columbia University Speaker 2015 Annette Schavan, Former German Federal Minister of Education and Research Official Opening Ina Schieferdecker, Fraunhofer FOKUS Breaking the Wall of Uninformed Cities Robert Schlögl, Humboldt Universität/Technische Universität Berlin Breaking the Wall of Energy Supply Brian P. Schmidt, Australian National University Speaker 2015 Sabine Schmidtke, Freie Universität Berlin Breaking the Wall of Religious Public Opinion Martin E. Schwab, University of Zürich Breaking the Wall of Paraplegia Michal Schwartz, Weizmann Institute of Science Breaking the Wall Between Body and Mind Suchitra Sebastian, University of Cambridge Breaking the Wall of Energy Loss Peter Seeberger, Max Planck Institute Potsdam Breaking the Wall of Expensive Vaccines Dan Shechtman, Technion Israel Institute of Technology Breaking the Wall To a Start-Up Nation Salil Shetty, Amnesty International Breaking the Wall of Human Rights Violations Tania Singer, Max Planck Institute Leipzig Breaking the Wall Between People Dennis J. Snower, University of Kiel Host Zahava Solomon, Tel Aviv University Breaking the Wall of Mass Trauma Luc Steels, Universitat Pompeu Fabra Barcelona Breaking the Wall to Living Robots Tricia Striano, City University of New York Breaking the Wall of Infant Development Philippe Taquet, Académie des Sciences Host Eckhard Thiel, Charité Berlin Breaking the Wall of HIV Suzanne Topalian, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Breaking the Wall of Cancer s Defense Stefan Treue, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research Breaking the Wall of Sensory Overload Franz-Josef Ulm, MIT Breaking the Wall of Concrete Pollution Daniël Vanmaekelbergh, Universiteit Utrecht Breaking the Wall of Seeing Atoms and Molecules Hal R. Varian, Google Inc. Breaking the Wall of Economic Uncertainty Cédric Villani, Université de Lyon Breaking the Walls between Economics, Physics and Geometry Sophia Vinogradov, University of California, San Francisco Breaking the Wall of Psychiatric Hospitals Stewart Wallis, The New Economics Foundation London Breaking the Wall of Misleading National Indicators Sir Mark Walport, Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government Keynote Waceke Wanjohi, Kenyatta University Nairobi Breaking the Wall of Food Insecurity Johanna Wanka, German Federal Minister of Education and Research Official Opening Elke U. Weber, Columbia Business School Breaking the Wall of Resistance to Change Ai Weiwei, Artist, Studio Ai Weiwei, Beijing Breaking the Wall to the Arts Wendelin Werner, École Normale Supérieure/Université Paris-Sud Breaking the Wall of Randomness Thomas Wiegand, Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute Berlin Breaking The Wall of the Flat World of TV Katja Windt, Jacobs University Bremen Breaking the Wall of Unpunctuality Christian Wulff, Former President of the Federal Republic of Germany Keynote Jackie Y. Ying, Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, Singapore Speaker 2015 Muhammad Yunus, Yunus Centre, Grameen Bank, Nobel Peace Laureate Breaking the Wall of Poverty Cornelia Yzer, Berlin Senator for Economics, Technology and Research Host Daniel Zajfman, Weizmann Institute of Science Breaking the Wall between Science and Society Anton Zeilinger, University of Vienna Breaking the Wall of Illusion Lev Zelenyi, Russian Academy of Sciences Host Thierry Zomahoun, AIMS Next Einstein Initiative Breaking the Wall to Untapped Genius FALLING WALLS LAB 2011-2015 The Falling Walls Lab is a forum for outstanding young academics and professionals from all over the world and awards the title Falling Walls Young Innovator of the Year. 100 scholars per year are invited to present their work to a distinguished jury of high-ranking representatives from science and business - in three minutes each. Throughout the year, international Falling Walls Labs are organized all over the globe. The winners of each international Falling Walls Lab qualify for the Falling Walls Lab Finale in Berlin.
International participants 1.000 international young talents have participated in Falling Walls Labs worldwide. Finalists 400 participants from more than 40 countries presented their ideas at the annual Falling Walls Lab Finales from 2011 to 2014. Since 2012, international qualifying Labs became an integral part, growing to 36 regional Labs in 2015. Locations of international Labs since 2012 Aarhus, Denmark Athens, Greece Berkeley, USA Berlin, Germany Bremen, Germany Brunnen, Switzerland Bucaramanga, Columbia Cairo, Egypt Chennai, India Cologne, Germany Dakar, Senegal Edinburgh, United Kingdom Edmonton, Canada Fez, Morocco Groningen, Netherlands Haifa, Israel Hamilton, Canada Johannesburg, South Africa Jülich, Germany Karachi, Pakistan Kiev, Ukraine Krasnoyarsk, Russia Ljubljana, Slovenia London, United Kingdom Los Angeles, USA Luxembourg, Luxembourg Madrid, Spain Mexico, Mexico Moscow, Russia Munich, Germany New Haven, USA Osnabrück, Germany Prague, Czech Republic Rochester, USA San Diego, USA Sao Paulo, Brazil Sendai, Japan Sopron, Hungary Stuttgart, Germany Thuwal, Saudi Arabia Tomsk, Russia Trento, Italy Turku, Finland Valletta, Malta Vienna, Austria Zurich, Switzerland
FALLING WALLS VENTURE 2013-2014 Falling Walls Venture is an international forum for outstanding science-based start-up companies, venture capitalists and strategic investors and awards the title Falling Walls Science Start-Up of the Year. Each year, 20 leading academic institutions and venture capital firms present their best new science-based companies to a distinguished jury in ten minutes each. International participants 46 international science-based start-ups presented their business idea to a high-calibre jury from 2013-2014. Endorsing universities and academic institutions Boston University, USA ETH Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Switzerland Fraunhofer Society, Germany Freie Universität Berlin, Germany Helmholtz Association, Germany King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia KIT Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany Max Planck Society, Germany McMaster University, Canada New York University, USA Princeton University, USA Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Germany Technische Universität Berlin, Germany Technische Universität München, Germany Universität Zürich, Switzerland University College London, United Kingdom University of California, San Diego, USA University of Copenhagen, Denmark University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom VU University Amsterdam, Netherlands Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel Endorsing VCs Amadeus Capital Partners Ltd., London, United Kingdom Banexi Ventures Partners, Paris, France Caixa Capital Risc, Barcelona, Spain Caixa Capital, SCR, S.A., Lisbon, Portugal
CODE_n / GFT Technologies AG, Stuttgart, Germany Earlybird Venture Capital, Berlin, Germany ecapital entrepreneurial Partners AG, Münster, Germany Eckert Life Science Accelerator GmbH, Berlin, Germany Endeavour Vision SA, Geneva, Switzerland Enso Ventures Ltd., London, United Kingdom Gimv, Antwerp, Belgium Gründerfonds Bielefeld-Ostwestfalen GmbH & Co. KG, Bielefeld, Germany High-Tech Gründerfonds Management GmbH, Bonn, Germany INiTS Universitärer Gründerservice Wien GmbH, Vienna, Austria LSP Life Sciences Partners, Munich, Germany Omnes Capital, Paris, France Peppermint VenturePartners GmbH, Berlin, Germany Polaris Partners Inc., Waltham, USA Russian Venture Company, Moscow, Russia Total Energy Ventures, Paris, France Triangle Venture Capital Group Management GmbH, Sankt Leon-Rot, Germany UnternehmerTUM-Fonds Management GmbH, Munich, Germany FALLING WALLS IN THE MEDIA 2009-2014 Reports on Falling Walls About 1.200 reports have been published in national and international media on Falling Walls. Print media, radio and TV coverage 20 million per year between 2009-2013 80 million in 2014