Home / Global Initiatives / Falling Walls Science Breakthroughs of the Year Award

Falling Walls Science Breakthroughs of the Year Award
The Falling Walls Science Breakthroughs of the Year, initiated by the Berlin-based Falling Walls Foundation, showcases and celebrates the most recent breakthroughs in science and society from all around the world. Awardees are selected by a jury comprising globally recognised experts in the fields.
The Falling Walls Foundation is a non-profit organisation supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany. It has been hosting an annual conference since 9 November 2009, the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. In 2020, the event was conducted online to bring together outstanding science projects and bright minds globally to inspire a discussion on how science and innovation can contribute to the state of mankind. It celebrated work in 10 scientific, innovation, and humanistic categories.
Top 10 Scientists
![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Engineering and Technology | Prof. Yi-Chun Lu – Breaking the wall of safe energy storage
In 2020, Prof. Yi-Chun Lu from the Faculty of Engineering was selected as one of the top 10 scientists in the Falling Walls Science Breakthroughs of the Year Award in the category of Engineering and Technology. Being the only female Asian scientist in the top 10 of this category, Prof. Lu was recognised for her ground-breaking invention of a safe, high energy, low cost, and environmentally friendly battery that serves as a substitute for commercial lithium-ion batteries which are ubiquitous in our daily lives.