FOR LAB ORGANISERS

Get started by informing the Falling Walls Lab team (lab@falling-walls.com) about your interest in organising a local Falling Walls Lab event. The Falling Walls Foundation does not demand any licencing fees; however, international Lab organisers must maintain a high standard in the planning and execution of a Falling Walls Lab to safeguard the competition’s integrity.

Decide on key details such as the location, date, and application period to ensure a successful and impactful Falling Walls Lab.

A Falling Walls Lab must be organised by an academic institution/science academy or in cooperation with an academic institution or science academy as its main partner (e.g. the German Academic Exchange Service).
Falling Walls does not cover event expenses. Keep costs low by acquiring sponsors with final approval from Falling Walls.

Secure a venue with a video projector, accommodating around 100 seats for presenters, jury, media, and the audience.

Invite a diverse pool of Bachelor’s and Master’s students, PhD candidates, post-docs, and early career professionals to apply. Use various channels for distribution and start early to attract a minimum of 15 participants.

Applications are collected through the Falling Walls website. Your Lab’s committee selects presenters from the final list provided by Falling Walls.

Assemble a jury of at least five respected members from academia and business, ensuring a balance in discipline and gender. Appoint a jury chair and provide a briefing on the jury’s role and the evaluation criteria.

Each presenter gets three minutes and three PowerPoint slides. Appoint a moderator for time management. The event is open to the public.

The winner qualifies for the global finale in Berlin, gaining access to an exclusive extended programme.

Falling Walls Lab is more than a competition – it’s fun! Bring together bright minds with groundbreaking ideas and enjoy the journey!

Three minutes is all it takes! Falling Walls Lab is a world-class pitch competition, networking forum, and stepping stone that brings together a diverse and interdisciplinary pool of students and early-career professionals by providing a stage for breakthrough ideas both globally and locally. Our multifaceted formats support our participants in driving their innovations and develop their communication skills, fostering collaboration and creating a space for our impactful and sustainable community to thrive.

Throughout the year, renowned academic institutions around the world host international Falling Walls Labs to showcase the quality, diversity, and passion of their region’s most innovative minds. In three minutes each, participants are given the opportunity to present their solutions to some of the most pressing challenges of our time to peers, a high-calibre jury of experts from academia and business, and the general public.

The winner of each international Lab qualifies for the global finale in Berlin on 6 November, wins a ticket to attend the Falling Walls Science Summit, and takes part in an exclusive extended programme during their stay. At the global finale, the international Lab winners compete to become the Breakthrough Winner in the Emerging Talents category of Falling Walls, taking home the title and prize money, and receiving the opportunity to pitch their idea once again on the grand stage of the Falling Walls Breakthroughs of the Year.

Falling Walls Labs are a platform for outstanding and innovative research work and ideas. As such, Falling Walls Labs are great:

• networking events: connect local innovators with others and strengthen their link to the regional (scientific) landscape
• recruiting events: give outstanding academics a stage to present their novel ideas
• marketing/publicity events: increase the visibility of your institution in the region

"For any organiser, Falling Walls Lab is a possibility to offer a high-level, very attractive event that supports great ideas." - 2022 Lab Organiser

Our aim is to keep the costs as low as possible without compromising the quality of the event. The Falling Walls Foundation does not cover any expenses except for your winner’s accommodation from 7-8 November at our partner hotel and their ticket to the Falling Walls Science Summit.

As an academic institution, you likely already have access to the necessary infrastructure (location, print production budget, etc.) to host a Lab. The only additional costs you should have are the winner’s travel expenses (economy flight to/from Berlin), and possibly two to three additional hotel nights. We, therefore, encourage you to acquire suitable sponsors for your event to help cover the costs.

All Falling Walls Labs must be held in English, including all pitches.

If you are interested in hosting a Falling Walls Lab in your region, please contact the Falling Walls Lab team (lab@falling-walls.com). We will then be in touch to send you the initial briefing materials and to discuss further steps with you. We advise that you already consider securing a date and venue for the event, as well as the resources (human & financial) necessary to host a Lab. For more information, please also have a look at our Launch a Lab page.

Falling Walls Lab aims to reach a broad range of people from all professional backgrounds at the beginning of their careers. We are looking for university students and early-career professionals of all disciplines. Our aim is to provide our target demographic with a platform where they can present their innovative ideas and connect with fellow researchers and entrepreneurs from various fields. In order to pinpoint and reach these early-career innovators, we needed to develop a mechanism. We introduced our eligibility criteria to help us reach our target group and provide a level playing field for all participants.

Eligibility Criteria
You must be 18 years or older when submitting your application. There is no upper age limit for applicants.

You must fulfil at least one of the following formal requirements:

• You are currently enrolled at university as a student
• You received a Bachelor’s degree no more than 10 years ago
• You received a Master’s degree no more than 7 years ago
• You received a PhD no more than 5 years ago

*An MD (medical degree excl. a doctoral dissertation) is considered equivalent to a Master’s degree. A Dr. med. (medical degree incl. a doctoral dissertation) is considered equivalent to a PhD.

No prior Falling Walls Lab experience: Participating in a Falling Walls Lab is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. As such, once you take part in an international Lab, you are no longer eligible to apply for a future Lab. If this is the case, we recommend you consider taking part in a different Falling Walls format, such as Falling Walls Venture (for start-ups) or Falling Walls Engage (for science engagement projects).

Please note, applicants do not have to be enrolled in your institution to be eligible to apply to your Lab.

The jury uses three criteria to evaluate presentations:

• Breakthrough factor (50%): How innovative is the proposed idea?
• Relevance/Impact (40%): How relevant is the idea to the discipline and beyond?
• Structure/Performance (10%): How convincing was the presentation?

If your question is not answered here, please send us an email via lab@falling-walls.com and we will promptly reply. Thanks!