Women's Impact Award
Despite making up half of the world’s population, women* and girls still face systemic inequality. This award celebrates visionary scientists whose interdisciplinary, ground-breaking research advances gender equity and creates meaningful societal impact for women and girls.
Highlights of the Award
- 10 Finalists will be selected by a distinguished jury and publicly announced to gain global recognition.
- Out of these, 3 Winners will be invited to the International Fall Gathering and Falling Walls Science Summit in Berlin, Germany from 6–9 November 2025.
- Among the winners, one exceptional researcher will be honoured as the Science Breakthrough of the Year in the Women’s Impact category and will present on the prestigious Breakthrough stage at the Falling Walls Science Summit on 9 November 2025.
The Women’s Impact Award is a collaborative initiative by the Falling Walls Foundation, the Elsevier Foundation, and the Volkswagen Foundation.
The Women's Impact Award 2025 Winners
We’re thrilled to announce the three Winners of the 2025 Women’s Impact Award!
Selected from 97 applications worldwide and 10 inspiring finalists, this year’s winners lead groundbreaking projects in women’s health, gender equity in fisheries, and accessible breast cancer diagnostics. The three Winners are invited to share their work at the Female Science Talents International Fall Gathering and the Falling Walls Award Ceremony this November in Berlin. One of the Winners will be honoured with the title Science Breakthrough of the Year 2025 and will present her work on the grand Falling Walls stage on 9 November, reaching a global audience.
Here are the winning projects in more detail:
Angela Goncalvez - How the biological clock ticks in the female reproductive tract: the influence of reproductive cycling on aging and disease
Endometriosis, ovarian cancer, menopause — still under-researched and often misdiagnosed. This project combines AI, molecular biology, and clinical insight to develop non-invasive tools for early detection, personalized care, and healthier aging — directly challenging gender bias in medicine.
Colette Wabnitz - Gender equity in fisheries
Millions of women sustain global fisheries yet remain overlooked in data and decisions. This project co-creates fact sheets, gender policy analyses, and regional workshops to elevate women’s voices, support leadership, and advance just, inclusive, and sustainable ocean governance.
Omneya Attallah - BrAID: Early Detection of Breast Cancer in Resource-Limited Settings via Novel Cost-Effective Non-invasive Biomarkers and Artificial Intelligence
Breast cancer diagnostics face limitations—radiation exposure, invasiveness, and high costs. This project creates BrAID, a portable and painless AI-powered tool that detects cancer biomarkers noninvasively and affordably, giving women in underserved regions access to life-saving early diagnosis.
*Falling Walls Female Science Talents uses an inclusive definition of women and welcomes submissions from cis and trans women, genderqueer and non-binary people.
Our Winners
RELEVANT INFORMATION
- Universities and research institutions
- Companies with research labs
- Scientific foundations
- Partner organisations of Falling Walls
- Leading scientists in their field
We welcome submissions from women researchers from all disciplines who:
- Are researchers at least at the postdoctoral level, similar level or higher.
- Conduct a ground-breaking research project directly connected to one of the 17 SDGs which:
- Tackles a specific gender related topic,
- Incorporates gender equality into its design,
- Ideally enables and empowers underserved communities through the design of the research and/or its application.
- The research project must be running and active at the time of the submission. Being in the funding or ideation phase is not considered eligible.
Nominations that do not fit these selection criteria will not be considered for evaluation.
Please note that all nominations have to be submitted in English.
The Winners will:
- Receive a travel scholarship for Berlin from 7–9 November 2025 and participate in the International Fall Gathering and the Falling Walls Science Summit 2025.
- Benefit from an increased reach and visibility for you and your research on a global level.
- Get unique networking opportunities with global leaders in science, politics, business, and the media.
- Become part of the inspiring Female Science Talents community and get access to the Female Science Talents community channels.
- Become a champion that inspires the vision of gender equality in science.
- Engage with other Falling Walls projects, including Falling Walls Venture, Falling Walls Engage, Falling Walls Lab and partners.
In addition, the Science Breakthrough of the Year in the Women's Impact Award category will:
- Receive a digital pitch training in October.
- Present on the grand Breakthrough stage at the Falling Walls Science Summit on 9 November 2025 together with other Science Breakthroughs of the Year in other categories.
STEP 1
Click on the button above “Nominate or Apply Now”.
STEP 2
Select if you are nominating or applying (drop-down menu).
STEP 3
Select the category “Women’s Impact Award” (drop-down menu).
STEP 4
If you are nominating someone, nominees will get an email inviting them to complete their nomination.
STEP 5
Nominees and applicants will be informed about the selection process per email.
30 April
Closing of the Call for Nominations.
June
- A pre-selection of applications is led by our Selection Committee.
July
- A distinguished Jury consisting of up to 6 Members, among them renown scientists, partners and representatives of the Female Science Talents community, will shortlist 10 Finalists.
- The Jury will select 3 Winners in the Women’s Impact Award category.
August
- The Winners will be announced on the Falling Walls Female Science Talents website.
- The Jury will announce the Breakthrough of the Year 2025 in the Women’s Impact Award category.
- Start of travel planning.
October
Digital pitch training workshop and onboarding into our global community of Female Science Talents.
7–9 November 2025
International Fall Gathering & Falling Walls Science Summit in Berlin, Germany.
7 November 2025
In-person Award Ceremony and Gala Dinner in Berlin, Germany.
If you have further questions about the Women's Impact Award, please reach out to: femalesciencetalents@falling-walls.com
For more information on Female Science Talents, check out our About Page.
Please read our Terms & Conditions before applying.
WOMEN'S IMPACT AWARD ALUMNI
Since 2023, Female Science Talents has supported outstanding early-career researchers worldwide whose scientific work is matched by leadership and societal impact. Explore our growing network of alumni and discover how they are shaping the future of science across disciplines and regions.
