Natalia Pietrzkowska became a Falling Walls Lab Warsaw finalist

Falling Walls is one of the largest unique global hubs connecting science, business and society. They shape the future of humanity by impact-oriented ideas and discoveries, driven by their shared dedication for creating breakthroughs across borders and disciplines. As a vessel for the world-changing spirit of 1989 in and beyond Berlin, they’re on a relentless pursuit to find out: Which are the next walls to fall? 

As the organizers of the event say – "Just like the concrete blocks of the Berlin Wall that crumbled on the night of November 9, 1989, starting a new era of freedom, today the Falling Walls Foundation works to unite those who set out to tear down new walls in science and society ". Every year, students, PhD students, scientists, start-up founders and innovators from all over the world talk about their ideas for breaking down walls. The first steps being national qualifying rounds which are organized in over 70 countries. 

The first conference was held on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 2009. It was organised by the Pro science agency. Natalia Pietrzkowska, a final-year student of biology at UPWr, became a finalist of the Warsaw stage of the competition – Falling Walls Lab Warsaw, which took place in the Main Building of the Warsaw University of Technology. 

As reported by Natalia: – The event was divided into two sessions, during which we presented our ideas for tearing down scientific and technological walls. In the break between sessions, there was time for networking – for establishing partnerships and meeting many wonderful young people full of passion and ideas, not only from Poland, but also from abroad – says the student, adding that the final is not at all the end of their adventure with Falling Walls and Pro science. – On the contrary, I think for many of us this is just the beginning. The Pro science agency offered us help, whether in finding business partners or establishing contacts with the competition's partners. Perhaps for some it will help them pursue implementation doctorates in prestigious units – says Natalia. 

During the three-minute presentation, because this is the amount of time the participants had to present, Natalia Pietrzkowska talked about ​​breaking the wall in chronic kidney disease (CKD) - a very serious but underestimated problem of public health. – This invisible enemy is estimated to affect 13.4% of the human population and is projected to become the 5th leading cause of death in the world by 2040. Few people know that more people die of CKD than breast cancer or prostate cancer. So the problem is huge and the number of cases of CKD is growing steadily, and at least in part this is due to the increasing incidence of diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity – important risk factors for CKD in humans. CKD also affects animals, so such a solution would be useful not only in human medicine, but also in veterinary medicine – emphasizes Natalia. 

On the one hand, the finalist admits that she felt stage fright, after all, there was an audience of nearly 200 people in the room. On the other hand, she was excited to share her idea with others. – Three minutes to present the problem and its solution is very, very little. In addition, the topic should be presented in an accessible and attractive way for the listener, because you talk to a very diverse group of people – not only to experts in their field, as is often the case at scientific conferences – and this was probably the greatest difficulty of this speech – admits the student, encouraging participation in the Falling Walls Lab. – It's worth having a go! Maybe someone will like your proposed solution and you’ll get to implement it and put it into practice. I have the impression (maybe wrong) that a lot of young people waste their potential and ideas because they simply don’t know where to start, because no one showed them where to look for opportunities.. Fortunately, there are more and more initiatives or programs that meet these needs such as the AIP & Shape VC Academy organized this year – she adds. Natalia plans to spend the first year after graduation working in the profession: - and then: –... time will tell! I think that if you do something with passion, it’s destined for success – she says.

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