Falling Walls

Each year, 100 winners of international Falling Walls Labs earn a trip to Berlin. They present their work at the Falling Walls Science Summit and compete for the Falling Walls Science Breakthrough of the Year title in the Emerging Talents category.

Meet the first winners:
🏆 Lander Van Belleghem – Falling Walls Lab Leuven, Belgium
🏆 Johanna Guerry – Falling Walls Lab Montreal, Canada
🏆 Imen Mahouachi – Falling Walls Lab Tunis, Tunisia
🏆 Ridwan Ayinla – Falling Walls Lab Aggieland, Texas, USA
🏆 MinJae Kim – Falling Walls Lab San Francisco Bay Area, USA
🏆 Davide Scandella – Falling Walls Lab Western Switzerland
🏆 Görkem Otlu – Falling Walls Lab Ankara, Türkiye
🏆 Tara Gaschik – Falling Walls Lab Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
🏆 Rojina Tandukar – Falling Walls Lab Kathmandu, Nepal
🏆 Menna Shaker – Falling Walls Lab Cairo, Egypt

📩 Want to host a Falling Walls Lab? Get in touch via [email protected]

The photos feature Davide Scandella, Ridwan Ayinla, Tara Gaschik, MinJae Kim, Lander Van Belleghem.

Engage Hub Mexico’s mission is to promote young people’s interest and skills in science across Mexico. The hub connects public dialogue with hands-on stem education through discussion tables, conferences, and workshops. They recently opened their regional call (Mexico, Central America & the Caribbean) for the annual international congress about science engagement and climate change. In 2025 alone, the Mexico Hub held 16 public events, reaching 1,293 children, engaging 1,443 scientists in 16 different states across Mexico. The Hub is hosted by PAUTA (https://www.pauta.org.mx/en/), UAM (https://www.uam.mx/somosuam/eng/index.html) and UNAM (https://www.unaminternacional.unam.mx/en/unam).

🚀 Less Bureaucracy in Science and Research!
How can research and science administration become faster, smarter and more innovation-friendly?

From funding processes and reporting obligations to procurement, compliance and collaboration across institutions — researchers and administrators alike are calling for systems that enable innovation instead of slowing it down.

At the Creative Bureaucracy Festival on 11 June 2026 at Festsaal Kreuzberg in Berlin, public leaders, universities, ministries, innovators and practitioners from around the world will explore how to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy while strengthening impact, trust and delivery - not only in science, but across such topics healthcare, cities, migration, resilience and defense, leadership and personnel, and cooperation between federal, state and municipal governments.

💡 This year's programme addresses key challenges shaping public sector transformation — from federal cooperation and digital transformation to resilience and defence, artificial intelligence, migration, cities as innovation labs, leadership, youth participation and new forms of citizen engagement.

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲:
• 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗸𝗮 𝗚𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗺, Member of the German Council of Economic Experts;
• 𝗪𝗼𝗹𝗳𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗰𝗵ü𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗹, former Federal Chancellor of Austria;
• 𝗚𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗼𝘂, Rapporteur-General on Democracy of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and former Prime Minister of Greece;
• 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗲, CEO of the City of Sydney; and
• 𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘀 𝗣𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗲𝗿, Mayor of Tübingen
• 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗮 𝗧𝘄𝗮𝗰𝗵𝘁𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗻, Managing Director, PD – Berater der öffentlichen Hand;
• 𝗗𝗿. 𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗿é 𝗚ö𝗯𝗲𝗹, President of FITKO;
• 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗸 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗮, Chief Technology Officer, Bundesdruckerei;
• 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝗯𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘀𝗸𝗶, Co-Editor-in-Chief of Table.Briefings and incoming first female Publisher of the FAZ; and
• 𝗟𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘇 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗱𝘁, Publisher of Tagesspiegel.

𝗜𝗻 90 𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 8 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱, 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝘀
✔ Research administration & funding reform
✔ Digitalisation & AI in public institutions
✔ Mission-driven governance
✔ Faster implementation & less red tape
✔ Creative leadership in complex systems

Find the full programme here: https://creativebureaucracy.org/programme
Meet like-minded people working on the future of public administration — from universities and research institutions to governments and innovation labs.

📍 Festsaal Kreuzberg, Berlin
📅 11 June 2026
Door open: 8.00 h am CET; Programme Start: 9.00 h am CET
Get your ticket here: https://creativebureaucracy.org/tickets

ℹ️ The Creative Bureaucracy Festival is a project of the Falling Walls Foundation.

ENGAGE ADVISORY BOARD 2026

With the Global Call having come to a close, now is the busy period where all the fantastic applications are reviewed! We are very proud to present this year’s Engage Advisory Board, who will play a key role in reviewing Science Engagement projects from around the globe and select the 15 Engage Finalists for 2026. All of them are key players in the Science Engagement communitzy and you can find out more about their work below.

From left to right:

Gabriela de la Torre García, General Director, PAUTA, MX
Simone Montano, Associate Professor, University of Milano-Bicocca, IT
Adenike Oladosu, Researcher and Founder, I Lead Climate Action Initiative, NG
Carl Öhman, Associate Professor, Uppsala University, SE

📸 Credit (from left to right): Falling Walls Foundation, Simone Montano, Oladosu Adenike Titilope, Mikael Wallerstedt

The Global Call for Science Breakthroughs 2026 has wrapped, with 2,589 submissions from 1,896 institutions across 134 countries. The jury has their work cut out.

Over the coming months, we'll reveal the shortlists, the finalists, and finally – the Science Breakthroughs of the Year 2026.

Be there when they take the stage in Berlin this November at the Falling Walls Science Summit.
Get your tickets now: https://falling-walls.com/science-summit/tickets-2026

In honour of Earth Day, we want to spotlight the 2025 Engage Finalist project BioSmart Women Nepal, co-led by microbiologist Pooja Manandhar. The initiative promotes climate-smart agriculture by integrating biofertilizer production with organic waste and forest biomass management.

BioSmart Women Nepal actively engages women and young people, who are usually excluded from scientific and economic opportunities. Through hands-on training and mentorship, women have become earners, educators, and community leaders, actively influencing agricultural and climate policies.

Pooja’s message this Earth Day is clear: “Restore forests. Revive soil. Empower people.”

Check the link in the comments to watch Pooja’s pitch BioSmart Women Nepal at the Falling Walls Science Summit and to learn more about the project.

📷️ Falling Walls Foundation, Pooja Manandhar.

What if the same power plant could generate electricity and act as a giant battery? Reverion built it. Stephan Herrmann and his team at Reverion built a reversible power plant that can generate electricity from gas or hydrogen – and take excess renewable energy and turn it back into green fuel. Learn more about it here: https://falling-walls.com/science-breakthroughs-success-stories-reverion

Stephan Herrmann brought Reverion to the Falling Walls Science Summit as a finalist of the Global Call (Science Start-ups category) – taking it from lab to stage. Know a start-up that’s turned science into a real business? Nominate them now: https://falling-walls.com/global-call

🗓️ Deadline for the Global Call: 30 April�

Questions about the application process? Join our Open Hour on 22 April and get answers directly from the team – registration link in the comments.

Last year, marine scientist Colette Wabnitz took home the Women’s Impact Award for making the invisible visible – women in fisheries who’ve been left out of data, decisions, and policy.
👉Read more about her work in our latest interview : https://falling-walls.com/science-breakthroughs-success-stories-colette-wabnitz

Colette Wabnitz’s story is one of many that have reached the Falling Walls Science Summit through the Global Call — with more still waiting to be told. Good news: the deadline just got pushed. You now have until 30 April to nominate and apply across multiple categories, including the Women’s Impact Award: https://falling-walls.com/global-call

Not sure where to start? Join one of our Open Hours on 22 April to get direct assistance from our team. Registration link in the comments.

With the Global Call deadline extended to 30 April, this is your final opportunity to get guidance before it closes. Whether you're nominating someone or applying yourself, join us for a live conversation with the Falling Walls team. We'll help you navigate eligibility, categories, and submissions for all eight categories.

Registration link in the comments.

Breakthroughs don't rush, neither should you.

We've extended the Falling Walls Global Call 2026 deadline to 30 April – giving you room to breathe, rethink, and put your best work forward. This is your chance to be named a Falling Walls Science Breakthrough of the Year and showcase your project at the Falling Walls Science Summit in Berlin.

Nominate a leading researcher or apply with your own project now: https://falling-walls.com/global-call

Got questions? Join our Open Hour:
📅 22 April, 9–10am CET
📅 22 April, 5–6pm CET

Registration link in the comments.