Karina Dueñas wins with a light-activated therapy to combat antibiotic-resistant skin infections and will represent Barcelona at the Global Finale in Berlin this November.
Barcelona joins the international Falling Walls Lab network for the first time, bringing together researchers and early-career professionals from 8 universities in a single stage.
On 18 June 2026, sixteen researchers and students presented their ideas at StartUB!, each with exactly three minutes. A panel of experts in entrepreneurship, innovation, and science evaluated all sixteen pitches and selected three winners.
The competition covered a wide range of disciplines: from biosensors and molecular diagnostics to solar-powered medical oxygen, sustainable food materials, gut microbiome monitoring, AI-driven drug discovery, and regenerative hospitality. Across sixteen presentations, the common thread was applied research aimed at problems with real-world reach.
The ideas
Karina Dueñas Parro took first place with a project that addresses one of medicine’s most urgent problems: bacterial infections that no longer respond to antibiotics. A PhD candidate in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at IQS (Universitat Ramon Llull), she is developing light-activated, cellulose-based therapies that can destroy resistant skin pathogens without conventional drugs. Her approach combines antimicrobial photodynamic therapy with materials science and sits at an early but credible stage of technology transfer.
Second place went to Estel Gubianes Alcedo, a biomedicine student at the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya developing a multiplex blood biosensor for the early diagnosis of ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis). Her research focuses on making diagnosis faster and more accessible, current methods often detect the disease too late. The project, ALSense, proposes that a single blood test could identify the condition years earlier than existing approaches allow.
Third place was awarded to Jordi Puig Prujà, co-founder of HAPTIKA Technologies and a graduate in Industrial Electronics from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. His project is a wearable sensory feedback system for upper-limb prosthesis users, an idea already recognised by the James Dyson Award. The engineering challenge is real: restoring the sense of touch to a prosthetic limb in a way that is practical, affordable, and scalable.
First time in Barcelona
Falling Walls Lab Barcelona 2026 is the first edition of the competition to be held in the city. The format is straightforward: each presenter pitches a breakthrough idea in three minutes, followed by questions from the jury. There are no slides beyond a four-slide template, no notes, no group presentations. The event is free and open to the public.
What Falling Walls Lab is
The competition was created in 2011 by the Falling Walls Foundation, a Berlin-based non-profit whose name references the fall of the Berlin Wall and the idea that scientific and social barriers can be broken down. Each year, academic institutions around the world host their own Labs between February and September. In 2025, the network counted more than 2,700 applications from 104 countries, 82 Labs in 60 countries, and a cumulative alumni community of over 1,400 people since its founding.
What happens next
Karina Dueñas Parro will represent Barcelona at the Falling Walls Lab Global Finale in Berlin on 6 November 2026, competing alongside winners from Labs around the world for the title of Emerging Innovator of the Year. Cash prizes will also be awarded; the amounts will be confirmed by the Falling Walls Foundation in the coming weeks.
The jury
The jury comprised experts in entrepreneurship, innovation, international development, and science communication: Anna Domingo Riu, international development specialist; Begoña Perdiguero, Tech Entrepreneurship Team Leader at ACCIÓ; Aina Pascual Cuadras, innovation specialist; Yancy Vaillant, Professor of Strategy, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation at TBS Education; and Xavier Dumont, Head of Entrepreneurship Services at Barcelona Activa.
Falling Walls Lab Barcelona 2026 is organised by StartUB! – Universitat de Barcelona in collaboration with the XEU (Xarxa d’Emprenedoria Universitària de Catalunya), the entrepreneurship network of Catalonia’s universities: Universitat de Barcelona, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (BarcelonaTech), Universitat Ramon Llull, Universitat de Lleida, Universitat de Girona, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Universitat de Vic – Universitat Central de Catalunya, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, and Universitat Abat Oliba CEU.