The president of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Prof. Nili Cohen, participated in early November 2016 in the international Falling Walls Conference in Berlin. The prestigious conference invites top international researchers to present their groundbreaking studies to hundreds of invitees from dozens of countries, representing leading research institutions, governments, corporations and NGOs. The conference takes place every year on November 8–9, the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

 

The conference’s objectives, as defined by its organizers, are to: “build bridges between business, politics, academia and the arts; connect outstanding researchers from different disciplines and support the interdisciplinary exchange of ideas internationally; identify trends, opportunities and solutions for global challenges and discover international breakthrough research; promote the latest scientific findings among a broader audience; and inspire people to break down walls in science and society.” Additional details on the conference appear on its site: http://www.falling-walls.com.

 

Prof. Cohen chaired a conference session featuring studies on digital production, quantum biology, studies on terror, and microbiome research. She noted in her introductory remarks that the Berlin Wall fell on the anniversary of the 1939 Kristallnacht pogroms against the Jews of Germany. The close scientific relations that developed between Israel and Germany after the horrors of the Holocaust are a consummate expression of the notion and the reality of falling walls.

 

President of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Prof. Nili Cohen, at the international
Falling Walls Conference on scientific innovation held in Berlin in November

 

 

President of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Prof. Nili Cohen, at the international
Falling Walls Conference on scientific innovation held in Berlin in November