Immune system, recycling, science communication and much more: young researchers surprise with amazing concepts

At the final of the Falling Walls Lab Vienna 2025 twelve young talents presented their innovative ideas in three-minute pitches. First place went to Tayebeh Saghaei (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences), who impressed the high-calibre jury with her pitch "Breaking the Wall of Single Cell Diagnostics". Second place went to Sanja Savić (OFI, Austrian Research Institute for Chemistry and Technology) with "Breaking the Wall of Animal Free Device Safety", while third place went to Benedikt Schwarze (University of Vienna) with "Breaking the Wall of Skin Diseases". The Viennese jury was impressed by the high standard of the entries. "The Falling Walls Lab Vienna shows how closely research, innovation and society's future are linked. Above all, it is young research that acts as a creative engine and makes the change of tomorrow possible"emphasised jury chairwoman Helga Nowotny, who decided on the nominations together with the other jurors Freyja-Maria Smolle-Jüttner, Iris Filzwieser, Johann Kastner, Markus Wanko, Peter Prenninger and Sandra Stein. As part of this year's programme, the audience experienced FFG-Forums an exciting mix of practical research from a wide range of fields. The three winners will present their pitches on Friday at the Technology Talks Austria 2025 at 11.30 am on the main stage. Tayebeh Saghaei will represent Austria at the international Falling Walls Lab Final in Berlin in November 2025. In preparation for the Vienna final, all finalists were able to take part in the LBG Career Centre of the Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft complete a specialised pitch training course. Since the beginning of the year, the LBG Career Centre has been offering free courses for young academics at all Austrian universities. The Falling Walls Lab Vienna 2025 was organised by Austrian Cooperative Research, Christian Doppler Research Association, Complexity Science Hub, Fraunhofer Austria, Ludwig Boltzmann Society, Austrian University of Applied Sciences Conference and xista innovation GmbH. The participating organisations support the Falling Walls Lab Vienna, as this competition offers young talents a stage to make their ideas visible, receive feedback and make international contacts. The aim is to emphasise the importance of research and innovation and to strengthen the creative minds of tomorrow. What is the Falling Walls Lab? Falling Walls Lab is an international pitch competition that offers students and young professionals from all disciplines a stage for ground-breaking ideas. In just three minutes, participants present their innovative research projects to an interdisciplinary audience, with the final of the Vienna Lab taking place on 10 September as part of the FFG Forum. The three best participants will be given the opportunity to present their projects once again on the big stage of the Technology Talks. The Technology Talks Austria, which will take place on 11 and 12 September 2025 in Vienna's MuseumsQuartier, are considered Austria's most important technology conference and are largely organised by the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology.