Applications open for Falling Walls Lab 2015

South Africans, Hope Serepa, Vinu Nair, and John Woodland are all previous winners of the Falling Walls Lab in Johannesburg, selected from hundreds of entries from across South Africa.

Each was given just three minutes to persuade a jury of executives, members of government ministries, academics, and scientists that their cutting edge concepts were the best among 20 submissions from fellow South Africans.

Applications are now open for this year's Johannesburg Lab, and the deadline for submission is 14 August 2015. The Falling Walls Lab Johannesburg will take place on 18 September at the Wits Origin Centre in Johannesburg.

International conference

The top contestants from each Lab go on to the International Falling Walls Conference, an annual global gathering of more than 100 forward-thinking individuals from more than 35 countries held each year on 9 November in Berlin - the day the Berlin Wall came down.

Wim Plaizier, managing partner for Africa at A.T. Kearney, said the aim was to uncover innovative and uniquely South African ideas. "The event gives us an opportunity to discover young talent and support interdisciplinary dialogue, and importantly, provide South African talent the opportunity to gain recognition on a global stage."

The three winners of the International Finale Lab held in Berlin in November are crowned Falling Walls Young Innovator of the Year, awarded prize money, and invited to showcase their ideas on the grand stage of the Falling Walls Conference.

Antimalarial agents

John Woodland is a PhD student in medicine at the University of Cape Town. His work accelerates the development of more effective and more efficient antimalarial agents. Woodland went on to be named a Falling Walls Young Innovator of the Year 2013, and presented his work at the Falling Walls Conference - Berlin.

"Science is often a lonely, individual, and isolated endeavour," he said. "To be thrust into the middle of so many creative individuals was wonderful. And in those research moments when you just want to despair, it is good to be able to draw on that positive experience and realise you can push on."

Plaizier said that the Labs served to help build a better South Africa. "We believe one of the best ways to do this is to promote entrepreneurial spirit, innovation, academic research, and intellectual capital which will address the challenges facing the country. The Falling Walls Lab in Johannesburg is an excellent way to engage with emerging and breakthrough ideas."