Falling Walls Lab is an international pitch competition that gives emerging researchers, entrepreneurs, and innovators a stage for groundbreaking ideas. In just three minutes, participants present their projects to an interdisciplinary audience — concisely, compellingly, and with real-world relevance.

At CSH, we believe that communicating science clearly is central to its impact. Falling Walls Lab is a format that builds this skill: it challenges scientists to distill their work to its core and make it accessible to audiences beyond their own field.

CSH is co-organizing Falling Walls Lab Vienna for the second time, together with ACR – Austrian Cooperative Research, Fraunhofer Austria, Christian Doppler Forschungsgesellschaft, Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft, Österreichische Fachhochschul-Konferenz, and xista innovation GmbH, with support from FFG and AIT.

Who can apply?
The competition is open to students and young professionals whose bachelor’s degree was awarded no more than 10 years ago, master’s degree no more than 7 years ago, or doctorate no more than 5 years ago.

How it works
The ten best candidates will compete at the FFG Forum in Vienna on September 9, 2026. A high-calibre jury selects three finalists, who will present again at Technology Talks Austria on September 11 — Austria’s most important technology conference, held at the MuseumsQuartier. The audience then votes for the one representative to go to the global final in Berlin on November 6, 2026.

All finalists are invited to a full-day pitching training on September 7, led by science communicator Bernhard Weingartner.

Application deadline: May 29, 2026
🔗 Apply here: https://falling-walls.com/falling-walls-lab-vienna-austria