Women’s Impact Award 2026
The Women’s Impact Award, a joint initiative of the Falling Walls Foundation and the Elsevier Foundation, honours women who unite outstanding research with real-world impact. As part of the Falling Walls Global Call for Science Breakthroughs 2026, the award celebrates scientific excellence with purpose and recognises research that contributes to a more equitable future.
The award is open to researchers at postdoctoral level or above, including research fellows, senior researchers, principal investigators, group leaders, and professors. Submissions are welcomed from cis and trans women, genderqueer, and non-binary individuals. Eligible projects must be actively running and combine scientific excellence with societal impact, either by advancing gender equality in research or by supporting underserved and marginalised communities and reducing structural inequalities.
Projects must be currently collecting or analysing data, piloting interventions, or implementing solutions in real-world contexts. Applications must be submitted in English. Nominations may be made by universities, research institutions, companies with research laboratories, scientific foundations, partner organisations of Falling Walls, and leading scientists in the field.
