The first edition of the ISCAR Summer School will take place at the University of Aosta Valley (City of Aosta, Italy) from 25 to 30 May 2026 and will focus on the same theme as ForumAlpinum 2026 “Alpine communities and territories in a time of glacier loss and climate change”, with a particular link on the Alpine Convention’s Young Academics Award 2026 on the topic “The Alpine water cycle and cryosphere in a changing climate: dynamics, impacts, and responses”.
Applying for the Summer School
The Summer School is mainly addressed to master students applying (until 30 April 2026) for the Alpine Convention’s Young Academics Award 2026. The Young Academics Award honors outstanding master’s theses on relevant Alpine topics. The Award is presented every two years and is an initiative of the Alpine Convention in collaboration with ISCAR.
All information on the Award’s admission criteria, this year’s theme, the prizes, as well as the application form are available on the Alpine Convention website. When applying to the Award, candidates can directly submit their application for the Summer School by checking the corresponding box in the application form.
Young academics from Alpine countries who do not (wish to) apply for the Young Academics Award but are interested in participating in the Summer School and are currently working on a thesis related to the ForumAlpinum theme and/or the topic of the Young Academics Award 2026, or have completed such a thesis in recent years, are asked to contact us directly (iscar@scnat.ch) until 30 April 2026 at the latest. Please send us some information about yourself (a brief CV) and about the thesis you are currently working on or have recently completed (an abstract or the finished thesis).
The Scientific Committee of the Summer School will evaluate the applications and select the participants until 7 May 2026.
Programme
The Summer School will start on Monday, 25 May, after lunch (at 14:00) and will end on Saturday, 30 May, upon returning to Aosta after the ForumAlpinum excursion. The Summer School will be held in English.
The programme will include lectures with presentations and workshops by scholars and professionals covering the various themes of the Summer School, convivial moments, three site visits, participation in the thematic conference, workshops, screening of a thematic film, and moments of political and technical debate related to the ForumAlpinum 2026 and its side events. Participants are warmly invited to present their thesis in one of the 4 sessions of the ForumAlpinum.
A detailed agenda will be provided in the coming weeks.
The the provisional programme looks as follows:
Useful information
The accommodation from Monday to Saturday, all meals, breaks, and excursions during the Summer School will be offered free of charge to participants. Detailed information will be communicated directly to the participants.
Participants are responsible for organizing their own travel and covering the associated costs.
More information on how to reach Aosta can be found on the ForumAlpinum Website under Useful Information.