About Lab
What is Falling Walls Lab?
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.
Past presentations have ranged in topic from ‘Breaking the Wall of Fake News Detection’ to ‘Breaking the Wall of Oil Spills’. The breakthrough factor (how innovative is the proposed idea?), potential impact of the presented work (how relevant is the idea to the discipline and beyond?), and performance (how convincing was the presentation?) help the jury determine the winner, who qualifies for the global finale in Berlin on 7 November and wins a ticket to attend the Falling Walls Science Summit, where the international Lab winners get to interact and network with the world’s movers and shakers of science, business, and policy-making.
During their multi-day stay in Berlin, the international Lab winners take part in an exclusive extended programme that includes an introductory session and networking dinner, expert workshops on a broad range of topics such as career development, entrepreneurial skills, and academic publishing, and events hosted by prestigious German research organisations such as the German Research Foundation (DFG). 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 Falling Walls Breakthrough Day stage, which, throughout the day, hosts leading experts, changemakers, and luminaries.
The international network of Falling Walls Labs includes renowned academic institutions from over 60 countries. The ETH Zürich, Tohoku University, and the University of Cape Town are only a few of the universities that have recently participated in the Falling Walls Lab programme.
Falling Walls Lab is organised by the Falling Walls Foundation and generously funded by the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (global finale) and Sartorius (international Labs). It is supported by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the German Research Foundation (DFG), and Springer Nature.
The Prizes
International Falling Walls Lab Participants
selected by international Lab selection committees
- Sharpen their presentation, communication skills, and critical thinking skills by pitching their innovative idea to peers, a jury of experts from academia and business, and the general public
- Connect with like-minded international Falling Walls Lab participants
- Receive valuable feedback from the esteemed jury and diverse audience
- Gain visibility in front of industry leaders, investors, and potential partners who can help take their project to the next level.
- Compete to become an international Falling Walls Lab winner
*Additional perks vary by international Lab location and may include rhetoric workshops, pitch coaching, etc.
International Falling Walls Lab Winners
selected by international Lab juries
- Win a trip to Berlin, Germany! (travel and accommodation included)
- Participate in the global Falling Walls Lab finale (7 November 2024) in Berlin, where they will compete to become the Breakthrough Winner of the Year in the Emerging Talents category of Falling Walls
- Receive a ticket to the prestigious Falling Walls Science Summit (7-9 November 2024), where leaders from science, industry, and policy-making meet and discuss which walls will be the next to fall in science and society
- Take part in an exclusive extended programme (extended programme events in past years have included a Springer Nature event on science publishing, an 'Insights into German Research' science excursion, a networking dinner, etc.)
- Interact with other Falling Walls Science Summit participants via various networking opportunities
- Increase their innovative project's global reach and visibility with a pitch video
- Gain exclusive access to the Falling Walls Lab alumni network
*Additional prizes vary by international Lab location.
Falling Walls Science Breakthrough of the Year
selected by a high-ranking, interdisciplinary jury
- Win a cash prize!
- Are awarded the Science Breakthrough of the Year title in the Emerging Talents category of Falling Walls
- Present their breakthrough projects on the Falling Walls Breakthrough stage on 9 November 2024, which, throughout the day, hosts leading experts, changemakers, and luminaries
* Prizes are non-transferable. There are no cash alternatives. The Falling Walls Foundation reserves the right to replace the prizes with alternate prizes if circumstances beyond the Falling Walls Foundation's control make it necessary to do so.