Germ of a great idea

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Falling Walls is a German government-led initiative aimed at encouraging breakthrough research in science, industry and politics.

At 24, the soft-spoken Serepa will represent SA in November at the Falling Walls Lab in Berlin, where she will be one of 20 master's students, PhD candidates, doctoral graduates and entrepreneurs from around the world to make presentations. Three winners will be chosen. They will receive a monetary award and present their work at the Falling Walls conference the following day.

The Falling Walls concept was extended globally after the successful event in 2011 at which 100 participants spoke about their ideas, research projects and initiatives (in under three minutes).

Serepa's winning presentation in the SA leg of the competition - qualifying rounds took place also in Zurich, Bucharest, Istanbul and São Paulo - focused on the development of antibiotics from natural sources. It was found to be the most exciting of the 22 presentations and an example of how, through research, African scientists could develop potentially groundbreaking solutions to health problems.

Serepa comes from Botlokwa, a village in Limpopo. Her passion for biology began at her high school, Mokomene. "Biology was always my favourite subject, and when I got to university I fell in love with human biology and microbiology," she says.

In her first year at university, she "quickly realised that you had to be independent and that most of the lecturers didn't have enough time to deal with each individual student," she says.

Serepa singles out natural science associate professor Vincent Gray, who was her supervisor at Wits University. Had it not been for him, she says, she might not have entered the competition. "I missed the first talk on the Falling Walls concept but he told me about it and encouraged me to go for it," she says.

"What made the presentation challenging was that I needed to make it interesting to people who were not necessarily familiar with bacteria and microorganisms."

Serepa says she is excited to be given the platform to present her idea, but it's also intimidating - "especially because I'll be representing SA".

After she has submitted her master's thesis, she plans to further her research and hopes that her new profile will draw more funding. "At the moment the research is being sponsored partly by the department of agriculture but it's not enough, and I hope to attract a lot more," she says.

Source: Financial Mail