Falling Walls: awards for Peter Baum and Iain Couzin
Which barriers will be broken down next in research and society? This is the motivation behind the Falling Walls Foundation's annual awards recognizing important scientific breakthroughs and exceptional research projects. In 2022, two researchers at the University of Konstanz received accolades: experimental physicist Professor Peter Baum (in the "Physical Sciences" category) and collective behaviour researcher Professor Iain Couzin (in the "Life Sciences" category). This means both researchers are also nominated for the "Science Breakthrough of the Year" award, with the results to be announced on 13 September 2022.
Falling Walls Foundation's 2022 shortlist
Professor Peter Baum is a professor of physics at the University of Konstanz. His research focuses on the interplay between light and matter at the smallest measurable scales of space and time. For this purpose, he utilizes optical measurement methods based on ultrafast laser technology in the femtosecond range (one millionth of a billionth of a second).
Video: Falling Walls Global Call Winner 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoFxYFE9vYU&feature=youtu.be
Recent successes:
Professor Iain Couzin is speaker of the Cluster of Excellence “Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour” and director of the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior. He examines the foundational mechanisms of collective behaviour – in large groups of animals as well as in the neural networks of the brain. Couzin uses computer vision and sophisticated tracking methods to observe the decision-making behaviours of thousands of animals simultaneously and to understand the "rules of the swarm". Iain Couzin was recently awarded the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize 2022. Since 2018, he has been listed as a "Global Highly Cited Researcher" for four years straight.
Video: Falling Walls Global Call Winner 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8hxhQCRlOk
Recent successes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG4YLxC0iwg&t=68s
Falling Walls Summit in November 2022
In the eyes of the Falling Walls Foundation, the fall of the Berlin Wall exemplifies the responsibility to breaking down barriers in research and society. On the occasion of the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Falling Walls Summit will take place in Berlin from 7 to 9 November 2022. At the summit, researchers who where recognized for a "Scientific Breakthrough of the Year" will present their work.