Witsies claim top spots in the battle for ideas

Two Wits students were ranked top in the Falling Walls Lab competition that also saw Nelson Mandela University feature in the top three.

The DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service), in partnership with Wits University, supported by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in South Africa, hosted solutions-orientated students on 2 June 2023. This was part of the Falling Walls Lab Johannesburg, a world-class pitch competition where students present innovative ideas in three minutes Open to all disciplines and students across the country, the winner of the regional competition proceeds to the international competition in Germany.

Kate Da Silva, a PhD student from the Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform (WADDP) Research Unit, scooped second place for her concept on how to assist the body to regenerate tissue after traumatic incidents This involves the utilisation of the native tissue secretome as a biotherapeutic agent for tissue trauma

The jury, comprising experts from academia, industry, government and DAAD, evaluated the presentations based on three main factors The breakthrough factor accounted for 50%, relevance and impact 40%, and structure and performance at 10% Judges use a standard rubic which prioritises originality, innovation and the ability to trigger other innovative processes The 2023 event attracted participants from the Universities of Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Central University of Technology and Mangosuthu University of Technology.

Each year, two Labs take place in South Africa The DAAD Information Centre in Johannesburg hosts one of the two (Lab Johannesburg/Lab Pretoria) in collaboration with a partner university in Gauteng, while the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and the University of Cape Town host the Falling Walls Lab Cape Town

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