On June 7th, the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute hosted the Falling Walls Lab competition, organized by the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Space, along with the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, the Hebrew University, and the Technion. Three of the twenty finalists were chosen to represent Israel in the international competition in Berlin on November 8–11, 2016 (see www.falling-walls.com), commemorating the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The jury had five members, including Prof. Tamar Ziegler and Prof. Noam Eliaz, members of the Israel Young Academy.

 

Most of the competitors are graduate students and doctoral candidates, but they include postdoctoral and other young researchers as well. The competition in Jerusalem, like the one in Berlin, requires the presenters to convince both the judges and the audience of the quality and seriousness of their proposals within just three minutes (with an additional two minutes for questions and answers). The selection criteria include how innovative the idea is, its potential for global impact, and the quality of the presentation.