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Women's Impact Award 2025: Three winners nominated
Together with "Falling Walls Female Science Talents" and the Elsevier Foundation, the Volkswagen Foundation sponsors the Women's Impact Award. The shortlist of winners for 2025 has now been finalised - congratulations!
Together with our partners, the Falling Walls Foundation and Elsevier Foundation, we are proud to announce the three Winners of this year’s Women’s Impact Award. According to a distinguished jury, the three chosen projects show outstanding promise in advancing gender equality.
The three Winners are invited to present their projects to an international audience during the Female Science Talents International Fall Gathering and the Falling Walls Award Ceremony. One of the Winners will be honoured with the title Science Breakthrough of the Year 2025 and will present her work on the grand Falling Walls stage on 9 November, reaching a global audience.
Preis für den "Breakthrough of the Year 2024" in der Kategorie "Women's Impact Award".
The Women’s Impact Award recognises outstanding projects that advance gender equity and generate meaningful societal impact for women and girls. This year, an esteemed international jury has selected three exceptional Winners whose work exemplifies these values.
This year’s winning projects address gender equality and societal impact from diverse perspectives: from innovative breast cancer diagnostics and research on the effects of reproductive cycling on ageing and disease, to highlighting the often-overlooked role of women in global fisheries.
Shortlist
- 1. Ângela Gonçalves: "How the biological clock ticks in the female reproductive tract"
Addressing decades of disparities in women’s health, this project leverages AI and biology to transform diagnostics, aging and cancer prevention. Ângela Gonçalves,professor at Heidelberg University and group leader at DKFZ, she is developing new models for early cancer detection and healthy aging, with a special focus on women’s health.
- 2. Dr. Colette Wabnitz: "Gender equity in fisheries"
This project highlights women in global fisheries; co-creating fact sheets, policy analyses and workshops to advance gender equity and ocean justice. Dr. Wabnitz is an interdisciplinary marine scientist working across Stanford University, UBC and the Stockholm Resilience Centre.
- 3. Prof. Omneya Attallah: "BrAID: Early detection of breast cancer in resource-limited settings"
This project develops BrAID, an AI-powered non-invasive test to detect breast cancer early, bringing accessible diagnosis to underserved communities. Prof. Omneya Attallah leads AI innovation in healthcare at AASTMT, Egypt.
The participants of the International Fall Gathering 2024 of Female Science Talents.
Press release
Link to the press release of Falling Walls Foundation (pdf)
Falling Walls Science Summit
Since its inception in 2009, the Falling Walls Science Summit has become a leading international, interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral forum for scientific breakthroughs and dialogue between science and society. In commemoration of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the event takes place every year from 7 to 10 November in Berlin. It brings together global leaders from science, business, politics, media and civil society to discuss the potential of scientific breakthroughs to solve grand challenges and shape a sustainable future. The Falling Walls Science Summit is organised by the non-profit Falling Walls Foundation.