Falling Walls
 | This article reads like a press release or a news article and may be largely based on routine coverage. (August 2010) |
The Falling Walls conference is an annual science event in Berlin, Germany, that coincides with the anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall (November 9, 1989). The one-day scientific conference, which was first held in 2009 for the 20th anniversary of the historical moment, is supported by several scientific institutions (see list of partners). The aim of the conference is to showcase groundbreaking work being done by respected international scientists from a wide range of fields.
The Falling Walls Foundation
After the inaugural 2009 conference organized by the Einstein Foundation, an independent non-profit institution by the name of the Falling Walls Foundation was established through the support of the German Ministry of Education and Research and the Berlin Senator for Education, Science and Research. The foundation is managed by Dr. Nathalie Martin-Hübner, Managing Director. She is supported by Prof. Sebastian Turner, a Berlin entrepreneur, who serves at the board of trustees of the foundation.
Conference Format
The mission of the Falling Walls Foundation (inspiring to overcome the walls of knowledge) and a rigid time efficiency policy determine the conference format: over the course of one day (from 9 am through 6 pm) over 20 scientists from diverse fields present their scholarly breakthroughs to a live audience in 15 minute blocks. The event organizers strictly monitor the length of each presentation, which are bundled into themed sessions and followed by brief discussion rounds.
The 2010 Edition
The second Falling Walls Conference took place on 7 / 8 November 2010 in Berlin.
The 2009 Edition
The first conference took place on November 9, 2009. It was organized by the Einstein Stiftung Berlin, the public foundation established by the Senate of Berlin to support research in the city. The conference took place in the cultural convention center Radialsystem V, a refurbished water pump station situated on the Spree River directly on the "Mauerstreifen", the formerly prohibited border area where the longest piece of the Berlin Wall is still standing (East Side Gallery). Among the guests there was the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus.
List of speakers 2009
Jutta Allmendinger Template:De icon
Alain Aspect
Jean-Michel Borys
Michel Brunet
Dipesh Chakrabarty
Matthias Driess
Wolfgang Eberhardt
Detlef Günther
John-Dylan Haynes
Rolf-Dieter Heuer
Norbert Holtkamp
Harold James (historian)
Stefan H. Kaufmann
Gerhard Knies
Wilhelm Krull
Angela Merkel
Jürgen Mlynek
Richard Morris (neuroscientist)
Glenn Warren Most
Klaus Robert Müller
Amélie Mummendey
Miguel Nicolelis
Stephanie Reich
Ina Schieferdecker
Martin E. Schwab
Peter Seeberger
Tricia Striano
Franz-Josef Ulm
Wendelin Werner
Thomas Wiegand
Muhammad Yunus
Partners
Acatech Akademie der Technikwissenschaften
Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
Charité - Universitätsmedizin
Einstein-Stiftung-Berlin
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
Freie Universität Berlin
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Humboldt Universität zu Berlin
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Scientific Community
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Senatsverwaltung für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Forschung, Berlin
Stifterverband für die deutsche Wissenschaft
Technische Universität Berlin
Universität der Künste Berlin
External links
References
Central Science: More Falling Walls
Cern Document Server: Falling Walls
Scientific American: How science helped bring down the Berlin Wall
Scientific American: Walls to fall: 6 ideas at the intellectual frontier, from business models based on selflessness to glasses -free 3-D TV
Physicsworld.com: Breaking down walls in science
REGIERUNGonline: Rede von Bundeskanzlerin Merkel auf der Konferenz "Falling Walls"
Tagesspiegel: Die Leute wollen Cola classic
Tagesspiegel: Kontakt mit der Zukunft
WISSENSlogs: Falling Walls
Welt der Physik: Falling Walls 2009 - von Menschen und Mauern
Handelsblatt: Zukunftskonferenz in Berlin: Was die Wissenschaft verspricht
Die Welt: Mauerfall auch in der Forschung angemahnt
Berliner Morgenpost: Auch in der Forschung sollen Mauern fallen
Berliner Zeitung: Der Traum vom besseren Leben, as well published in Frankfurter Rundschau: Der Traum vom besseren Leben
BerliNews: Einstei'n bitte