Frontiers Science House: did you miss it? Fresh stories from Davos – end of week wrap
- Open science at the center of global dialogue
Antimicrobial resistance: a “pandemic” killing more people than cancer by 2050 – Davos needs to talk about this
The science trust dividend: why data integrity matters
Before AI runs out of data, we need a new AGI paradigm
Frontiers Planet Prize: advancing planetary boundary science through interdisciplinary research
New AI platform building cities within planetary boundaries
UNESCO Science Decade: aligning global science for impact, openness, and cross-sector collaboration
Announcement of Europe’s first commercial cancer lab in space
Draghi Tracker launched to measure and accelerate European innovation and competitiveness
Disruptive transformations unlocked by quantum computing
Structural batteries: a top 10 emerging technology demonstrated for the first time
Ammonia market to grow from $100 billion to $500 billion
Grammy-nominated Aloe Blacc calls for open data sharing across funders and corporations
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales on what AI means for the future
Read more about the individual stories below.
Open science at the center of global dialogue
Reflecting on the future of open science during the closing plenary session “The 2035 science roadmap,” Frontiers CEO and Co-founder Kamila Markram reiterated the value of making science openly accessible and visible:
“Everybody profits and benefits from science made openly accessible, and the world will be a better place for it. The Frontiers Science House was the first of its kind – bringing a science house smack to the middle of the Davos Promenade, not somewhere in the corner, but into the middle of the most prominent promenade in Davos, so that everybody can see the amazing scientists driving the agenda and the beauty of science as well.”
Global health & data trust
Immediate global actions needed against the “AMR pandemic”
AMR is a fast-growing global threat, with the potential to kill more people than cancer by 2050, requiring urgent cross-sector action and investment. Vanina Laurent Ledru, Chief Public Health and Government Affairs Officer of Institut Merieux and bioMerieux; Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; and Adèle James, Co-founder & Chief Technology Officer of Phagos shared their insights: “Antimicrobial resistance pandemic will kill more people than cancer by 2050 and no one at Davos is talking about it" – leading scientists speak out at Frontiers Science House
Data integrity helps build trust in science
Speakers raised concerns that public mistrust in data and science can delay policy making and implementation, weakening society’s response to global challenges. The private sector, policymakers, and international organizations are the catalyst of building an international trustworthy and ethical science ecosystem grounded in equity, transparency, and openness.
Following “The science trust dividend: Enabling innovation and adoption” session, Giles Moëc, Chief Economist of AXA Group added:
“For us [at AXA], respect for science is absolutely key for various reasons, among which is our absolute need for data integrity. Data integrity is key to what we do. Otherwise, we cannot actually insure risks accurately. Trust in science is also key to enabling people to protect themselves accurately against key risks.”
Before AI runs out of data, we need a new AGI paradigm
During the closing plenary session, “The 2035 science roadmap,” Henry Markram, co-founder of INAIT, the Open Brain Institute, and Frontiers, warned that today's dominant approach to artificial general intelligence (AGI) is reaching its limits. He explained that achieving true intelligence will require a fundamentally new paradigm, grounded in real-time physical and biological interaction rather than recursive learning from past records.
“Apparent AI, strictly scientifically speaking, is not intelligent. It is capable – superhumanly capable – but it is reflecting the human record because that's the data. [...] When you get to the real-time barrier, you run out of data. There's no more data. The current paradigm that is being used to get to AGI is not going to get you there.”
Planetary boundaries & sustainability
Frontiers Planet Prize: Advancing planetary boundary science
The Frontiers Planet Prize community shared how their award-winning research is advancing planetary boundary science during the session “Frontiers Planet Prize: Science improving the state of the world.” Johan Rockström, pioneer in planetary boundary science, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, and Chairman of the Jury of 100 for the Frontiers Planet Prize, highlighted bringing the planetary boundary framework to COP30 for the first time. There, scientists and leading figures with the Planetary Science Pavilion released a science statement that Rockström called “the call for interdisciplinary science, representing the spirit of the Frontiers Planet Prize.”
Since winning the Frontiers Planet Prize in 2025, International Champion Arunima Malik, Professor at the University of Sydney, has continued her interdisciplinary work, applying planetary boundary science to global trade through a Scope 3 emissions masterclass and a sustainable business hub supporting “net zero positive transitions in global trade.”
AI Polis: turning climate science into actionable urban planning
Genisys AI announced the launch of AI Polis, an AI-powered platform functioning as a city-level coordination system, integrating data, AI models, and governance frameworks to help cities design, prioritize, and scale projects that improve urban life while staying within planetary boundaries. Hear what Bart Becks, CEO of Genisys AI and board member of the European Innovation Council said: AI platform helps cities develop within planetary boundaries
Frontiers Science House and the UNESCO International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development
Frontiers Science House marks an important starting point for collaboration between Frontiers and UNESCO’s Science Decade, aligning global scientific leadership around a shared strategic vision for the decade ahead. At a UNESCO-organized session in Davos, participants were encouraged to engage with the Science Decade Strategic Plan, which focuses on strengthening science systems and accelerating real-world impact through openness, trust, and cross-sector collaboration.
Building on this momentum, the first Science Decade Global Conference will take place in Paris in July 2026, bringing together policymakers, funders, researchers, and industry leaders to advance coordinated action under the Science Decade framework.
Breakthrough technologies & emerging innovation
Europe’s first commercial orbital cancer lab
SPARK Microgravity GmbH revealed plans to build Europe’s first dedicated commercial orbital cancer lab, accelerating the path from discovery to therapy. Learn how microgravity enables research that is impossible on Earth: SPARK Microgravity announces plans for Europe’s first commercial cancer lab in space at Frontiers Science House in Davos
JEDI Draghi Tracker launched to measure and accelerate European innovation and competitiveness
The Joint European Disruptive Initiative (JEDI) Draghi Tracker was launched during the session “Strengthening Europe's science and innovation engine” – a quarterly progress report designed to measure Europe’s implementation of the Draghi report on competitiveness and help move from debate to delivery. Learn more about the performance of 20 key measures in the report: Draghi Tracker launched to measure and accelerate European innovation and competitiveness at Davos’ Frontiers Science House
Disruptive transformations unlocked by quantum computing
Quantum technologies will reshape science and industry as profoundly as AI has. The quantum decade could unlock new capabilities for managing highly complex systems – from climate and biological networks to secure communications.
During the session “Conquering quantum's next frontier,” Barry Sanders, Scientific Director Quantum City of the University of Calgary, said:
“We don’t know exactly what kind of disruptive transformation quantum will bring. It is exciting for scientists but on the security side this is a dual question.”
Structural batteries: a top WEF 10 emerging technology demonstrated for the first time
Chalmers University of Technology and Imperial College London showcased structural battery technology at Frontiers Science House – a breakthrough innovation listed in the Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2025 report, co-published by the World Economic Forum and Frontiers. Structural batteries are multifunctional materials that both store electrical energy and carry mechanical loads, with the potential to fundamentally reshape construction, transport, and energy systems.
In a world's first live demonstration, Professor Leif Asp, Chalmers University of Technology, and Professor Emile Greenhalgh, Imperial College London, presented how structural batteries could transform the way we build, move, and power the world during the session “Discover structural batteries.” Later in the week, Professor Asp demonstrated working devices – including a hollow torch and an aircraft door opening structural power design – illustrating the technology's real-world application and scalability.
Ammonia market to grow from $100 billion to $500 billion
At the closing plenary session, “The 2035 science roadmap,” researchers, funders, policymakers, and innovators explored how open, trusted, and inclusive science can be achieved over the next decade, focusing on the infrastructures, incentives, and collaborations needed to translate science into cooperation, resilience, and real-world impact.
During the conversation, Karen Baert, CEO and Co-founder of Ammobia, highlighted the growing importance of ammonia technology:
“Soon enough, the ammonia market will grow from $100 billion today to $500 billion and will really sit at the critical intersection of not just food security, but also energy security, and sustainability.”
The reason for this being two new use cases for ammonia, which Baert explained:
“One, ammonia will be used as a maritime shipping fuel, which will decarbonize 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. And [two], on top of that, ammonia will be used as an energy carrier, a way to redistribute renewable energy across the world.”
Open science & collaboration
Aloe Blacc calls for open data sharing across funders and corporations
Speaking during the session “Novel approaches to accelerate cancer precision therapeutics—on both sides of the leash,” Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum artist, and founder of Major Inc and Pepto-ID, Aloe Blacc urged funders, universities, startups, and corporations to share data – especially negative results – so the scientific community can learn faster in the AI era. Privacy-preserving approaches could enable collaboration without undermining commercial incentives. Discover projects advancing open data including Frontiers FAIR² Data Management and the Open Brain Institute: Grammy-nominated Aloe Blacc calls for open data sharing across funders and corporations at the Frontiers Science House
What does AI mean for Wikipedia? Jimmy Wales’ answer: facts and the nerds still rule
At an evening session, “The future of knowledge in the age of AI,” celebrating Wikipedia's 25th anniversary, founder Jimmy Wales participated in a panel on trustworthy information, sustainability of the knowledge ecosystem, and collaboration in the public interest. In a follow-up interview with Frontiers, he reflected:
“When I think about Wikipedia 25 years from now, I actually think it's going to be very similar in a way to what we have today. The fundamentals of what an encyclopedia is are timeless. […] Wikipedia will be bigger. I suspect by then there'll be new ways of interacting with the content. That is ask a question of Wikipedia and get an answer. Right now, large language models hallucinate too much to really make that effective. And we're very obsessed about facts, so we want it to be really fact-based. But clearly the trend in technology is going to be that a keyword-based search is really old fashioned and that we're going to have new ways of interacting. So, I think it's going to be an exciting time but I think one of the things to remember about Wikipedia is it's our hobby, we do this, we're a bunch of nerds and we love writing an encyclopedia as our hobby.”
European Space Agency Director General calls for space traffic management
During the “Restoring multilateralism with science diplomacy” session, leaders from government, technology, and science explored how science can be used to prevent conflict, carry out agreements, and bridge geopolitical divides. Speakers included Christian Ehler, Member, European Parliament; Lise Korsten, President, African Academy of Science; Josef Aschbacher, Director General, European Space Agency; Alexandre Fasel, State Secretary, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Switzerland; and Martin Müller, Executive Director Science Anticipation, GESDA.
When discussing potential areas for future global collaboration, European Space Agency Director General Josef Aschbacher highlighted the need for space traffic management, similar to air traffic management, noting the increasing number of satellites:
“By the end of the decade, we will probably have 100,000 [satellites]. So just imagine the sheer number of satellites there, including dead ones. That means they are becoming debris and therefore it has to be taken care of.”
In a follow-up interview with Frontiers, Aschbacher added:
“Science, of course, is one way of enhancing, increasing diplomacy and therefore multilateralism. But at a certain point the doors are closing, especially when it comes to competition or security-, defense-related science and innovation. So, it's really the question is how far you can find common ground to really exchange, collaborate, and therefore benefit from humanity.”
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