UoC International Researchers Dating Brains in Berlin
Thanks to the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Albert’s Global Researcher Network had the opportunity to take two international scholars to this year’s Falling Walls Conference in Berlin.
Besides the conference itslef Dr. Hong Jiang (Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research, Cologne/Institute for Genetics, University of Cologne) and Dr. Nikolay Sitnikov (Institute of Organic Chemistry, University of Cologne) were able to make use of the ‘Brain Date’ format to meet ohter participants and join the reception at the Axel Springer Building as well as the festive dinner at the DZ Bank close to the Brandenburg Gate.
Dr. Nikolay Sitnikov: »This was a very multifaceted conference of very unusual format, which provides great opportunities for establishing new valuable contacts across the industrial and scientific community. The brain dating platform, created by the organizers, was of great help to select people you would prefer to get in touch with and book an appointment. Thus, one could really extract maximum of the few very intense days we spent together in Berlin. This conference is not oriented to cover developments in a particular scientific area, but provides a great overview on the most high-impact breakthroughs in human knowledge. It was a great motivation for my further work and a lot of connections to like-minded people what I took back with me from Berlin!«
Dr. Hong Jiang: »The Falling Walls Conference was the most amazing conference I have ever participated in. The novel format and breakthrough topics all attracted me a lot. The most impressive part will be the “brain date”. In brain date, you will have academic dating with people you are interested in. That is fantastic when you get closely in touch with people who have a different background but inspire you a lot. There were a lot of topics that correlate science, politics, and culture. There are so many open-minded people showing their ideas, new products and breakthroughs in this world. I’m sure most of the participants feel it’s awesome! I would be very glad to take part in again in the future if possible.«
The Falling Walls Conference takes place on 9 November, the day of the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years before the first conference in 2009. And since that first time the question is: Which walls will fall next? Falling Walls provides a platform for exchange between science, business and politics.
At the conference 2015 the audience could enjoy 22 inspiring and also entertaining talks by researchers from across the globe and the disciplines. During the intermissions participants could get deeper into the topics they had learnd about before. At the Forum Stage the speakers answered questions from science journalists and the audience. The winners of interdisciplinary competitions (Falling Walls Lab, Falling Walls Venture) also presented their projects.
– @UniCologne with International Scholars at #fallingwalls15 pic.twitter.com/OV25yi9ILb
— International Office (@UniCologneIO) November 9, 2015
German Federal Minister for Education and Research Joanna Wanna opening the #fallingwalls15 conference pic.twitter.com/7PGZUjot6u
— International Office (@UniCologneIO) November 9, 2015
Breaking the wall of dehydration after the 1st session of #fallingwalls15 pic.twitter.com/d3zO0XYWMH
— International Office (@UniCologneIO) November 9, 2015
Gathering for the festive dinner #fallingwalls15 Thanx to everyone for the great day! pic.twitter.com/RoWWpqoFMr
— International Office (@UniCologneIO) November 9, 2015