About the Falling Walls Lab

A unique international platform for leaders from the worlds of science, business, politics, the arts and society.

Falling Walls Lab is an international forum for the next generation of early-career innovators, trailblazers, creators, and visionaries. Its aim is to promote exceptional ideas and connect promising scientists and entrepreneurs from all fields on a global level. Participants are given the opportunity to participate in a pitch competition and present their research, business model, or initiative to peers, a high-calibre jury, and the general public.

Each year, renowned academic institutions around the world are invited to host their own Falling Walls Lab to showcase the quality, diversity, and passion of their region’s most innovative minds. In three minutes each, participants try to convince a high-calibre jury of their solutions to some of the most pressing challenges of our time. The winner of each international Lab qualifies for the global Finale in Berlin on 8 November and wins a ticket to attend the Falling Walls Conference, where they get to interact with the world’s movers and shakers of science, business, and policymaking.

The Falling Walls Lab is organised by the Falling Walls Foundation and generously funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Berlin-Senate, Google, and Huawei. It is supported by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

THE FOUNDATION

Falling Walls is the unique global hub connecting science, business and society. We shape the future of humanity by impact-oriented ideas and discoveries, driven by our shared dedication for creating breakthroughs across borders and disciplines. As a vessel for the world-changing spirit of 1989 in and beyond Berlin, we are on a relentless pursuit to find out: Which are the next walls to fall?

THE MISSION

The crumbling concrete blocks of the Berlin Wall marked the dawn of a new era of freedom by breaking barriers both physical and imaginary on the night of 9 November 1989. The Falling Walls Foundation is channelling this iconic image as a not-for-profit organisation based in Berlin, devoted to the mission of bringing together those who set out to tear down the next walls in science and society. Starting with the inception of our first Conference on the 20^th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 2009, Falling Walls has become an ever-growing network of the most ambitious and forward-thinking minds from around the globe. Our community is built on outstanding experiences of gathering, learning and the connection to a higher purpose by tackling the greatest challenges of this planet. Together we stand for the freedom of thought and scientific research, and for making ground-breaking ideas accessible to society.

THE WORK

We create initiatives, innovative real-world spaces and novel digital platforms for future-paving scientific ideas worldwide by utilising a carefully curated blend of sharing information and experiences. We inspire by tapping the wonder and awe inherent in science and by building bridges between those who dedicate their lives to world-changing tasks. We facilitate discourse and cooperation among the global avant-garde of researchers, decision-makers, thinkers, artists, and emerging talents. We believe in the value of dialogue beyond borders, building alliances for a more open, peaceful and sustainable world to live in. Therefore, we enable scientists to share their knowledge with an audience as wide as possible, generating socially and geographically inclusive thinking and impact.

As a science-driven creative organisation with an international and interdisciplinary mindset, we set the highest standards for our work, particularly in upholding the relevance and the quality of our activities to help science engage audiences in innovative and impactful ways.