Daniel Pleissner and Namrata Pathak were among the 100 participants of this year's Falling Walls Lab in Berlin. The scientists were invited to present their innovative research approaches in three minutes to an international audience. 

The two young ATB-scientists were invited from among more than 1,300 applicants to present their research ideas. 

Research ideas with the potential to break down walls... 

ATB scientist Daniel Pleissner is working on the use of biomass and organic wastes in biotechnological processes. He addresses among other things the production of lactic acid and other chemicals from organic waste such as food leftovers.

Vimeo-Video of the speech: Breaking the wall of food waste

Namrata Pathak is currently working on her doctoral thesis in the field of quality management of fruit and vegetables. She researches how the ripening hormone ethylene can be minimized in packaging and storage by means of photocatalytic oxidation.

Vimeo-Video of the speech: Breaking down the wall of fresh fruits

Falling Walls is an international platform for 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 first “Falling Walls Lab” took place in 2011 in Berlin one day prior to the Falling Walls Conference. Due to the huge success of the Falling Walls Lab 2011, the Falling Walls Foundation and A.T. Kearney extended the format to a global scale in 2012. Since then, international Labs have taken place in more than 30 countries around the world. The Falling Walls Lab Finale is held each year in Berlin on 8 November. The Finale gathers 100 participants, among them all winners of the international Labs.