Falling Walls Lab contest

UNSW SMaRT Centre Director, Professor Veena is a member of jury panel to judge winners of the Falling Walls Lab Sydney on 30 July 2024.

Australian winners will join national winners from countries around the world for a global final at the famous Falling Walls scientific conference in Berlin later this year.

Students, researchers, and early-career professionals pitch their ground-breaking research, business models, and initiatives from all disciplines to the jury.

The Australian Falling Walls Sydney Lab competition is part of the larger Falling Walls Lab and conference movement. 

Veena was a keynote speaker at the 2018 Falling Walls conference (see her presentation via link).

Background by event hosts:

Selected participants are given the opportunity to participate in a pitch competition and present their work to peers, a high-calibre jury of experts from academia and business, and the general public.

The winners will then compete with the other state finalists at the Falling Walls Lab Australia (organised by the Australian Academy of Science) to determine who will be representing Australia at the Falling Walls Lab Finale in Berlin, Germany and win a ticket to the Falling Walls Conference.

At the global Finale, 100 finalists from all over the world 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 grand stage of the Falling Walls Conference.

The aim of the Falling Walls Lab is to provide a diverse and interdisciplinary pool of students, researchers, and early-career professionals with a world-class platform that helps them drive their innovations, develops their communication skills, and connects them with each other, creating a global network and impactful and sustainable community of innovators and changemakers.

The Falling Walls Lab Sydney is hosted by EURAXESS Australia & New Zealand and supported by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany and the Australian Academy of Science.

Falling Walls says:

Falling Walls Lab is a world-class pitch competition, networking forum, and stepping stone that brings together a diverse and interdisciplinary pool of students and early-career professionals by providing a stage for breakthrough ideas both globally and locally. Our multifaceted formats support our participants in driving their innovations and develop their communication skills, fostering collaboration and creating a space for our impactful and sustainable community to thrive.

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.

The winner of each international Lab qualifies for the global finale in Berlin , wins a ticket to attend the Falling Walls Science Summit, and takes part in an exclusive extended programme during their stay. 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 grand stage of the Falling Walls Breakthroughs of the Year.