Guidelines for applications

Alzheimer Forschung Initiative (AFI), Alzheimer Nederland (AN), Fondation Vaincre Alzheimer (FVA), and the Synapsis Foundation (SF) are dedicated to helping early career dementia researchers reach their full scientific potential. One of the ways we try to help early career dementia researchers is by organising the European Research Academy (ERA-AD), held in Bertinoro, Italy from 1-5 March 2026. Please note that previous editions of the ERA-AD were organised under the name of the European Alzheimer Academy Workshop (EAAW).

The ERA-AD aims to provide an overview of the latest developments in the Alzheimer's Disease research field. The event is especially targeted at ambitious early career dementia scientists working in the Netherlands, France, Germany, or Switzerland. Over the course of 4 days the participants will hear a collection of talks by prominent Alzheimer's Disease scientists, combined with daily professional development sessions. In these sessions, the speakers, committee members, and staff will train the participants in skills such as successful grant writing, finding their research niche, and academic mentorship. We will end with a scientific discussion together with our keynote speaker prof. Henrik Zetterberg on the current state of Alzheimer's Disease fluid biomarker research.

Applicants to the ERA-AD should meet the following criteria

• Possess an MSc or MD degree.
• Perform fundamental/basic, preclinical or clinical Alzheimer's Disease or related dementia research.
• Work at a university or other public non-profit research institute/organisation in the Netherlands, France, Germany, or Switzerland.
• Be either a Ph.D. student, a postdoctoral researcher (or equivalent), or a clinician with an MD but no Ph.D. younger than 40 years (France only).
  • For PhD students: only 3rd year or higher Ph.D. students by the time of the ERA-AD 2026, working at a university or other public non-profit research institute/organisation are eligible.
  • For postdoctoral researchers (or equivalent): only researchers within a maximum of 6 years^* after obtaining their Ph.D. by the time of the ERA-AD 2026, working at a university or other public non-profit research institute/organisation are eligible.
    ^*Please note: for taken maternity leave, the effective elapsed time since the award of the Ph.D. will be reduced by 1 year for each child before or after the Ph.D. award. For taken paternity leave or leave due to longterm illness, the effective elapsed time since the award of the Ph.D. will be reduced by the duration of the leave taken.

Applicants should provide the following information in their application:

• personal details (date of birth, affiliation, e-mail address, date of Ph.D. defence if applicable, etc)
• current academic position
• CV (max. 2 A4)
• list of publications (if applicable)
• motivation text (max. 300 words; highlight especially how this workshop might benefit your research project and your career)
• your LinkedIn profile (optional; if you have one), since we will create a LinkedIn group to help you stay in touch with the organisations and your fellow participants before, during, and after the ERA-AD 2026
• a description of your previous experience regarding scientific professional development. Have you taken any courses on becoming an independent researcher, grant writing, supervising students etc? Have you obtained any scientific funding yourself? (max. 250 words)
• 5 keywords to describe your research
• a description of your research in 3 sentences.

Applications are in English and can be submitted exclusively through this website. Registrations will open on 25 September 2025 and the deadline for applications is 4 November 2025 at 15:00 CET. Candidates will be selected by the above mentioned organisations. For equally suitable candidates the date/time of registration will be considered.

In total, 40 students can participate in the workshop. We are aiming for the following distribution, based on participants' current affiliations, not their nationalities: 10 students from France, 10 from Germany, 10 from The Netherlands, and 10 from Switzerland.

Participation costs

Each applicant will be charged € 500 for their participation in the workshop. This contribution will be used for lodging (single rooms) and food costs, which are all included. Travel costs are not included and students are responsible for their own travel itinerary. However, the organisation does offer a courtesy bus option between Bologna airport and the venue. More information will be provided to selected applicants.

Participants working in Germany, the Netherlands, and France have the possibility to apply to AFI, AN, or FVA, respectively, to receive travel grants once they have been accepted for the ERA-AD 2026. Travel grants for participants working in the Netherlands and France are € 500 and can be applied for by all participants working in the respective countries. Travel grants for participants working in Germany are up to € 1000 euro and can be used for both the registration costs and the remaining travel costs. They can only be applied to by eligible Ph.D. students and postdoctoral researchers up to 2 years after Ph.D. defence by the time of the ERA-AD 2026, who are working in Germany. If SF is able to offer travel grants as well, we will communicate this as soon as possible.

More information on how to apply for these will be provided after the participants have been selected.

Participants who are doing a PhD have the possibility to claim 1.5 ECTS points for their participation in the ERA-AD 2026 to their graduate school or PhD institute, as long as the ERA-AD 2026 aligns with their PhD programme. The 1.5 points reflect the preparation reading and the work during the week. We will provide a certificate of attendance and the programme after successful completion.