Dr. Boris Nikolai Konrad: Guiness World Record Holder in memory sports, neuroscientist and author
Born in Bochum in 1984 and raised in Hattingen an der Ruhr, Dr. Boris Nikolai Konrad discovered the world of memory techniques while still at school. After graduating from high school in 2003, he successfully studied physics and computer science at TU Dortmund University and the University of Reading in England, with minors in business administration and mathematics.
In 2014, he completed his doctorate magna cum laude at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich with a thesis on the neuronal basis of extraordinary memory performance. Since then, he has been conducting research at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior at Radboud University Nijmegen (Netherlands), specializing in memory training and the interaction between the brain and modern technology. He has long been particularly interested in artificial intelligence and how we can use it to learn from it.
For years, Dr. Konrad was one of the most successful memory athletes in the world. He is an eight-time world team champion, has set four Guinness World Records - including in remembering names (201 in 15 minutes) - and was the winner of the ZDF show “Germany's Superbrain”. He still occasionally takes part in memory competitions today. In more than 100 television appearances worldwide, he has shown what a trained memory is capable of, three times on “Wetten, dass...?” alone.
His ability to present complex scientific content in an understandable way and 20 years of experience make him one of the best speakers in the industry, for which he was awarded the “5 Star Speaker Award” in the Best Performer Speaker category in 2017. As early as 2016, he was one of the youngest speakers of all time to be certified as a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) by the American National Speakers Association (NSA).
In addition to speaking on stage, he also shares his knowledge in his books. “Mehr Platz im Gehirn” (Ariston) was on the German SPIEGEL bestseller list (non-fiction paperback) for several weeks in 2022. Dr. Konrad's extraordinary career reflects his unique ability to convey theoretical knowledge in a practical way and make his findings accessible to a wide audience.
