The Science Breakthroughs of the Year

Since over 10 years Falling Walls brings together some of the world's best researchers to discuss and celebrate the latest breakthroughs in science and society from around the world that are helping to solve some of our biggest challenges.

In ten categories ranging from life sciences to social sciences and humanities to science in the arts, outstanding research projects are honoured annually as the Falling Walls Science Breakthroughs of the Year. These breakthroughs represent significant advances, groundbreaking developments, innovative ideas and achievements that remove barriers to progress in the nominees' respective fields. In 2020, the ten breakthroughs were identified by a prestigious global jury chaired by Helga Nowotny, President Emeritus of the European Research Council. The juries chose the science breakthroughs of the year from 940 research projects that were nominated by academic institutions from 111 countries on all continents.

With the virtual Circle Tables in 2020, Falling Walls introduced a format for discussions on the promises and limitations of breakthrough research and development in a series of publicly accessible expert panels. World-leading scientists, science strategists and policymakers from academia, business and politics explained the prerequisites for a coordinated vaccine development and distribution to mitigate the pandemic, discussed how to strengthen public trust in science and combat systemic discrimination in scientific institutions, and mapped out paths towards a sustainable future using the newest advancements in natural sciences, engineering, and knowledge governance.

The Falling Walls Winners Sessions showcase the most promising research projects that have been selected by our distinguished jury as the most outstanding and with the greatest potential to become the ten Breakthroughs of the Year. In each session, the ten winners in the designated categories present and discuss their research. In 2020, the 10 winners in each category were identified by our distinguished world-class juries, counting more than 100 jurors under the leadership of renowned experts in their respective fields.

Together with international partner organisations, the Berlin Science Week is able to give science, research and innovation more visibility and creates a global platform for open dialogues and collaboration between science and society. Discover these events from our partners with more than 200 digital expert panels, workshops, talks and more, full of inspiration and pioneering thinking in science and society from all over the world.

At Falling Walls X Berlin Science Week, high-profile speakers from the global science community gather on our digital stage. At the intersection of science and society, they present and discuss some of the most pressing issues of our time. Meet scientists from renowned scientific institutions from all over the world, from prestigious Anglo-Saxon universities such as Oxford and Harvard to outstanding universities in Africa, Asia and Australia.

The programme of Falling Walls and Berlin Science Week 2020 was full of inspiration, scientific breakthroughs and exciting discussions. We have summarised the best of each day in 15 minutes. We are delighted to provide you with a compilation of the daily highlights from all the events.