Petyo Budakov (PhD), visiting researcher at Media University Berlin, was selected as a finalist for the Falling Walls Lab Finale at the Falling Walls Conference on 8-9 November 2016 in Berlin.
Petyo Budakov’s research focused on how to break the wall of social carelessness. At the Falling Walls Lab Finale, he gave a three-minute talk to a top-level audience, including academics from Stanford University, Humboldt University of Berlin, the University of Oxford and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Dr. Budakov said: „Social networking users constantly increase the time they spend by simply checking their accounts without doing anything which could be considered ‚reasonable‘. We generate billions of ‚empty‘ likes – but liking isn’t helping. My quest is to create an innovative social networking site that connects volunteers and social projects on a global scale. Based on a revolutionary methodology, this innovative social network will encourage its users to join efforts in solving social and environmental problems.“
Watch the video of Petyo Budakov’s talk here.
The platform, developed in collaboration with Bulgarian designer Keti Tserovska and Prof. Lyudmil Hristov from the New Bulgarian University, will facilitate the management of multiple social projects simultaneously.
During discussions following the talk, Dr. Budakov had the opportunity to share his research goals, conducted at Media University, with like-minded academics: „Media University Berlin is a high-quality academic institution, where students‘ creativity is constantly nurtured by the provision of learning situations that have more than one learning outcome and require multiple approaches to a solution. Thanks to the DAAD, I have a chance to open up new horizons as well as to expand my career path. It’s a great experience!“
The Falling Walls Lab is an international forum, which aims to build and promote interdisciplinary connections between excellent academics, entrepreneurs and professionals from all fields. All participants get the opportunity to present their innovative ideas, research projects and social initiatives to peers and a distinguished jury consisting of experts from academia, research institutions and business.
