The Falling Walls Science Summit 2026 runs from Friday 6 to Monday 9 November 2026 at the Falling Walls Science House, Karl-Marx-Allee 34, 10178 Berlin, with some sessions streamed online. Tickets are sold through the organisers' pretix shop: as of 28 October 2026, a four-day pass costs €2,802.60 and a student pass €519, including taxes. All times below are Berlin time, CET (UTC+1).

This is the 18th edition, with Canada as partner country. Organised by the non-profit Falling Walls Foundation, the summit was first held on 9 November 2009, the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Sessions are in English, with a few German-language exceptions in the programme.

Day-by-day structure

Each day has its own format and its own ticket:

  • Friday 6 November: Falling Walls Pitches. After the 09:00 opening, the Lab finale, the Venture start-up pitches and the Engage pitches for science engagement projects run on separate stages. An awards ceremony from 18:25 to 19:15 hands out the Breakthrough of the Year titles in Emerging Talents, Science Start-ups, Science Engagement and Women's Impact.
  • Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 November: Falling Walls Circle. Plenary tables, round tables, symposia and executive tables on research funding, AI, health and science diplomacy. Many executive tables are by invitation only. For founders, a good fit is "From Lab to Leader: Scaling Europe's Tech Champions" on 7 November, 10:00–11:00.
  • Monday 9 November: Breakthrough Day. From 09:00 to 18:00 on the Curie Stage, laureates and invited researchers give 15-minute talks.

Falling Walls Lab finale: 100 three-minute pitches

Falling Walls Lab is a pitch competition for students and early-career professionals from all disciplines. In the 2026 season, more than 3,100 people applied to 91 local Labs in over 60 countries. The 100 finalists pitch for three minutes each in three sessions on 6 November: 09:15–11:30, 12:00–13:45 and 14:55–16:55. A "Falling Walls Lab Emerging Talents" talk follows on Breakthrough Day at 16:30.

Falling Walls Venture: 25 science start-ups

Falling Walls Venture is open to research-based start-ups nominated by a university, research institution, accelerator or incubator. The organisers look for start-ups based on scientific research, with at least a prototype or proof of concept, founded on or after 1 January 2022. The 25 finalists pitch to a jury on the Franklin Stage in three clusters: Sustainability (10:00–11:30), Engineering of the Future (12:00–13:30) and Health Solutions (14:30–16:30). From 16:30 to 17:30, investors introduce themselves in "reverse pitches", and many announce investment opportunity prizes.

By the country labels in the programme, 20 of the 25 finalists are European, seven of them German. They include Brineworks (Netherlands), NPHarvest (Finland), Arkeon Technologies (Sweden) and Steerlight (France). The Science Start-ups Breakthrough of the Year winner is announced at the awards ceremony on 6 November and pitches again on Breakthrough Day, 9 November, at 10:00.

Science Breakthroughs of the Year 2026

The foundation named six laureates on 9 September 2026, chosen by six juries from 2,000 submissions nominated by 474 institutions. Their talks on 9 November:

  • 09:45: Georg Schett, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg (Life Sciences), on CAR T-cell therapy against autoimmune diseases.
  • 11:45: Yu Huang, UCLA (Engineering & Technology), on longer-lasting hydrogen fuel cells with far less platinum.
  • 12:15: David Awschalom, University of Chicago (Physical Sciences), on turning proteins into qubits.
  • 14:30: Jessica Jewell, Chalmers University of Technology (Social Sciences & Humanities), on how low-carbon technologies scale.
  • 15:00: Manali Mukherjee, McMaster University (Women's Impact Award), on biological evidence for Long COVID.
  • 16:45: Isidora Correa, Universidade Católica Portuguesa (Art & Science), on the microbial ecologies of Chile's Salar de Atacama and the impact of lithium extraction, in an art and science project.

Yoshua Bengio also speaks, on threats from increasingly powerful AI systems, at 14:15.

Tickets and prices

Prices in the ticket shop as of 28 October 2026, including taxes:

  • Full summit, 6–9 November: €2,802.60
  • Falling Walls Pitches, 6 November: €1,349.40
  • Falling Walls Circle, 7 or 8 November: €1,349.40 per day
  • Breakthroughs & Circle, 9 November: €1,557.00
  • Student ticket, 6–9 November: €519.00

Participants can also book discounted Deutsche Bahn event fares within Germany, from €16.19, via the tickets page.

How to watch online

Not every session is online: the programme marks each as in person or hybrid. Sign up on the livestream page to receive the links. The programme lists the Venture pitches and the Breakthrough Day talks as hybrid sessions.

Berlin Science Week and the 8 November reception

The summit falls within Berlin Science Week (1–10 November 2026), the foundation's festival where most events are free; see our Berlin Science Week guide. On 8 November, 18:00–21:00, participants of both are invited to a reception at Haus der Kulturen der Welt, John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10; shuttle buses leave the Science House from 18:00. For more events, see our Conferences section and the 2026–27 conference calendar.

Frequently asked questions

When and where is the Falling Walls Science Summit 2026?

From 6 to 9 November 2026 at the Falling Walls Science House, Karl-Marx-Allee 34, Berlin. The programme opens at 09:00 CET on Friday 6 and Monday 9 November.

How much does a ticket cost?

As of 28 October 2026, a full pass costs €2,802.60, single-day tickets €1,349.40 to €1,557.00 and a student pass €519, including taxes.

When are the Breakthroughs of the Year presented?

The six category laureates speak on 9 November. Winners of the Lab, Venture and Engage pitch categories are announced on 6 November.

Can I still apply to Falling Walls Lab or Venture?

Not for 2026. The 2027 Lab season opens on 1 February 2027, and Venture nominations reopen in February 2027.