6 November 2026
At the Falling Walls Science Summit in Berlin, Forschungszentrum Jülich is highlighting international collaboration and the transfer of research into practical applications. It will contribute its perspectives to two panel discussions: on 7 November 2026, the focus will be on capitalising on Germany's research strengths in quantum technologies; on 8 November, the discussion will explore science diplomacy and partnerships with Africa.
Forschungszentrum Jülich is co-organising the panel discussion "Science Diplomacy with Africa: Innovation Across Borders" with Falling Walls. Tommaso Calarco, Director of the Institute of Quantum Control, will represent Jülich. The discussion will focus on how research partnerships can build trust, facilitate access to technologies and foster shared advances in knowledge, innovation and value creation.
Jülich draws on its collaboration with African institutions, including WASCAL, through projects such as H2Atlas-Africa. Key areas include energy and climate research as well as hydrogen technologies. H2Atlas-Africa also gave rise to a separate initiative dedicated to training early-career researchers. The strategic aim is to develop technical solutions while strengthening scientific expertise over the long term and building lasting partnerships.
Bringing Quantum Technologies into Practice
How excellent research can lead to commercially viable innovations is the focus of the panel discussion "Capitalising on Germany's Quantum Research Excellence" on 7 November, from 4 to 5 p.m. Paolo Bianco will represent Forschungszentrum Jülich. Together with representatives from policy, industry and research, he will discuss how regional networks and international companies can accelerate the transfer of quantum technologies into practical applications. The panel thus complements the focus on international research partnerships by exploring how scientific strength can translate into economic value.
Working with Canada: From Energy Materials to Brain Research
Collaboration with Canada also demonstrates how joint research can forge lasting connections. At the German-Canadian Materials Acceleration Centre (GC-MAC), the partners pooled their expertise to develop materials for climate-neutral energy technologies. This collaboration gave rise to the Helma and Amadeo projects. With HIBALL, the collaboration extends to brain research: researchers led by Katrin Amunts and partners at McGill University combine neuroscience, artificial intelligence and supercomputing to develop high-resolution brain models.
