Three minutes, one idea, one stage: at the Falling Walls Lab, early-career researchers present their ideas for research, start-ups and innovation to an interdisciplinary jury. The University of Münster hosted the Lab in 2025 and 2026. The winner in Münster goes on to pitch at the Global Finale in Berlin.
Damir Sakhapov, winner of Falling Walls Lab Münster 2026, will compete with the winners of Labs from around the world at the Falling Walls Lab Global Finale in Berlin. The Finale is part of the Falling Walls Science Summit, which takes place from 6 to 9 November 2026.
Watch the finale live: https://falling-walls.com/livestream-2026 (09:15 - 17:05 CET)
On 11 September 2026, eight early-career researchers gave three-minute pitches in English at REACH – EUREGIO Start-up Center. Their topics ranged from protein research and language barriers online to colour blindness in football.
The ideas that impressed the jury most
1st place: Dr Damir Sakhapov (University of Göttingen): a chip that makes it possible to observe the movements of individual proteins in real time, which could speed up drug discovery.
2nd place: Dr Lea Püchel (University of Münster): software that gives staff at daycare centres guidance and legal certainty when recording children’s data.
3rd place: Sarosh Madara (University of Münster): artificial intelligence for car repair workshops.
Full report on Falling Walls Lab Münster 2026 in the University of Münster news portal (in German)
The five-member jury assessed the ideas mainly on their innovativeness and relevance. Its members came from the University of Münster, Münster University of Applied Sciences and the City of Münster’s Science Office:
Prof. Monika Stoll, Vice-Rector for Research, University of Münster, and Director of the Department of Genetic Epidemiology, Centre for Medical Genetics
Prof. Tim Hahn, Heisenberg Professor for Machine Learning and Predictive Analytics in Psychiatry and Director of the Institute for Machine Learning in Medicine with the Focus Psychiatry, University of Münster
Prof. Claudia Voelcker-Rehage, Professorship of Neuromotor Behavior and Exercise, Institute of Sport Science, University of Münster
Prof. Nora Verfürth, Professor of Business Administration specialising in International Sustainability Management, Münster School of Business, Münster University of Applied Sciences
Dr Erik Tolen, Science Office of the City of Münster at Münster Marketing
“We were very impressed by the potential of the invention and believe that many people around the world could benefit from it,” said jury member Prof. Monika Stoll, explaining the decision.
Keynote: Dr. Laura Berkemeyer spoke on “From ‘What If?’ to ‘Yes, And’: Improvisation as a Mindset for a Changing World”. She showed how the mindset of improvisational theatre can help us deal with new ideas and uncertainty in a constantly changing world. Laura Berkemeyer is an occupational psychologist, improvisational theatre performer, freelance trainer and founder of Momentum – Institute for Applied Improvisation.
Panel: How does a research idea come to make a difference beyond the lab? This was the question at the heart of the panel discussion “From Breakthrough to Impact – Which are the Next Walls to Fall?”, moderated by Dr Agnes Laba. The panel brought together three perspectives: (bio)medical research, digitalisation in the public sector, and entrepreneurship.
Prof. Timo Strünker, Centre of Reproductive Medicine and Andrology, Reproduction Alliance, University of Münster
Dr Lea Püchel, Department of Information Systems, University of Münster. She also took to the stage as one of the pitchers that day.
Dr Anne Vortkamp, Greentech Innovation Scout, CEO and co-founder of NURICOS biosolutions GmbH
There will be a new Falling Walls Lab season worldwide in 2027. Whether the University of Münster will host a Lab again will be decided in the coming months. Would you like to pitch in 2027 or support the Lab? Get in touch at fallingwallslab@uni-muenster.de.
The first Falling Walls Lab Münster took place on 11 September 2025 at FIEGE X-Dock. The winner was Elham Iravani from the University of Wuppertal. Her project aims to make autism diagnosis in early childhood more accessible, easier to use and more affordable. In November 2025, she presented her idea at the Falling Walls Science Summit in Berlin.
Report on Falling Walls Lab Münster 2025 in the University of Münster news portal.
Article on Falling Walls Lab Münster 2025 in the Westfälische Nachrichten (in German).
The Falling Walls Lab is an international pitch competition run by the Falling Walls Foundation in Berlin. Every year, universities and research institutions around the world host their own Labs to showcase ideas and talent from their region. In 2026, there were 91 Labs worldwide, six of them in Germany – including Münster.