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Summer schools: Deepen your knowledge, make new contacts
6 Jul 2026
LMU offers a wide range of summer school programs for undergraduates, PhD students and postdoctoral researchers.
LMU organizes dozens of summer schools every year. Many of them are well-established programs and are repeated regularly due to their success. At the same time, new programs are always being added – one example being the 2026 Summer School on Imprecise Probabilities, organized by the Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Statistics.
Gaining a better understanding of uncertainty
Incomplete data, uncertain models, decision-making based on limited knowledge: These are the kinds of questions addressed by the Summer School on Imprecise Probabilities, which will take place for the first time in Munich from 27 to 31 July. The school brings together researchers and early-career academics working at the point where probability theory meets statistics, decision theory, logic, artificial intelligence and machine learning.
The focus is on how uncertainty can be described in mathematical terms when traditional probability models reach their limits. The summer school teaches the necessary foundations, showcases current research questions and facilitates dialogue with international experts. The program is compiled by a scientific committee, and the speakers come from a variety of theoretical and practical fields.
Participants will spend several days working intensively on a single topic while meeting researchers from different countries and disciplines. This constellation creates space for questions, discussions and new contacts. “You will not only receive a thorough introduction, but also gain insights into current research questions and unresolved challenges,” says Professor Eyke Hüllermeier, holder of the Chair of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at LMU.
This established international program is usually organized every two years at different venues. “We are delighted that this year’s summer school will be held in Munich,” Hüllermeier says. He sees the event as an excellent opportunity for the Bavarian capital to bring local researchers together with the international academic community and to further raise its profile in this field.
Further information: https://www.ifi.lmu.de/kiml/en/school26/
International perspectives for doctoral researchers
How can medicine, the social sciences, the natural sciences, technology and the humanities work together to conduct research into health? From 7 to 11 September 2026, the LERU Doctoral Summer School at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium will devote itself to addressing this question. Under the heading ‘Inter-, Multi- and Transdisciplinary Perspectives on Health’, advanced PhD students from the League of European Research Universities (LERU) – of which LMU is a member – will gather there.
The program is aimed at doctoral candidates from all disciplines whose research relates to health in the broadest sense or can be applied to this field. Lectures, workshops and group projects will bring the participants together. In the process, they will develop interdisciplinary research ideas and present them at the end of the week. The new Vesalius Museum for Science, Healthcare and Society in Leuven is also part of the program.
The first LERU Doctoral Summer School took place at Utrecht University in 2010. Since then, the event has been organized annually at different partner universities. At LMU, the GraduateCenter is overseeing the call for applications and the selection process for funded places. “The summer schools are always designed to be highly interactive, and feedback from participants is exceptionally positive,” reports Dr. Isolde von Bülow of the GraduateCenter. The participants selected will receive financial support.
Applications and selection for this year’s summer school have already been completed. The next call for applications is expected to be announced at the end of 2026 via the LMU GraduateCentre’s newsletter.
Further information: https://www.graduatecenter.uni-muenchen.de/foerderung/foerderung/leru/index.html
Dialogue between academia and practice
The European Summer School in Evidence-Based Public Health will be held from 20 to 24 July 2026 and has its origins in an international workshop held at the Faculty of Medicine in 2010. While numerous professional development programs on evidence-based medicine are in existence worldwide, significantly fewer focus on evidence-based decision-making in the field of public health. “We wanted to bridge this gap with the summer school,” explains Professor Eva Rehfuess, Chair of Public Health and Healthcare Research and founder of the summer school.
The program is aimed at researchers and staff at public health institutions such as the Robert Koch Institute and the World Health Organisation. Dialogue between academic research and practitioners is a particularly important component of the format. Above and beyond the content and varied teaching formats, however, many participants also appreciate the sideline program and the collegial atmosphere, says Dr Lisa Pfadenhauer, who is responsible for planning content and coordinating the eleven lecturers.
Further information: https://ihrs-en.ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de/events/ebph-summer-school/index.html
Participants of the Munich Advanced Course in International Law (MACIL).
© LMU
International law in a world in flux
What remains of international law when the world order changes? This question is at the heart of the Munich Advanced Course in International Law (MACIL), which will be held in Munich from 3 to 13 August. This year’s theme is: ‘Today’s World Order in Disruption: The End of International Law as We Know It?’
Around 25 students and early-career legal professionals from various countries take part each year. Over the course of six to eight sessions, internationally renowned lecturers address specific aspects of a major aspect of international law. Participants engage in discussion with the lecturers, but also bring together different legal traditions and experiences. “The result is an exceptionally diverse and international program that goes far beyond what students often experience in their day-to-day university life,” says Professor Christian Walter, holder of the Chair of International Law and Public Law. Thee resultant dialogue frequently gives rise to new contacts and friendships.
MACIL has been running for 14 years. Its international profile is also evident in its collaboration with the European master’s program in International Law of Security, Peace and Sustainable Development. Many former participants go on to work in international organizations, diplomacy or academia. According to Walter, the aim for the future is to further strengthen the combination of academic excellence, practical relevance and personal dialogue.
Further information: https://www.macil-misu.de
Strong demand for open science
The interdisciplinary Open Science Center at LMU is organizing a hybrid summer school from 7 to 11 and on 14 and 15 September 2026. “Every year, we lay on a compact foundation course that makes it easier for early-career researchers to get started with transparent and reproducible research,” says Dr. Malika Ihle. Scientific integrity, she notes, is more important today than ever before, which explains why demand is so strong: It regularly exceeds the number of available places by more than double.
“After the summer school, participants often become committed advocates for open science within their departments or even across faculties,” Ihle adds. That is why a key focus in 2026 will once again be on training multipliers.
Organizing the schools is a lot of work, but structured templates have made the work easier over the years. In 2023, Ihle and her team received a one-off grant of 15,000 euros from the LMU Fund for the Promotion of Teaching. Nevertheless, the majority of the work is carried out on a voluntary basis. Participation is free of charge.
Further information: https://www.osc.lmu.de/events/events/2026-09-07-lmu-open-science-summer-school.html
Participants from all over the world
The Munich International Summer University (MISU) pools LMU’s varied array of English-language summer schools. All these events are aimed primarily at international students, PhD candidates and young professionals. The courses last between two and ten weeks, take place in small groups and are complemented by a program of cultural events.
The summer programs start in July and August. They cover the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities, as well as business and law topics. In addition, the International Office runs summer language courses from 4 to 28 August.
For 28 years, MISU has been organized by former LMU students who are members of the International University Club Munich (IUCM). “From its inception until MISU was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of participants rose steadily,” says Susanne Gerlach of the IUCM. “And fortunately, the numbers have been on the rise again since 2022.” One challenge that remains at present is finding affordable accommodation for participants from around 80 countries.
In addition to personal encounters in the cultural program, Gerlach is keen to highlight the European Studies Program run by the Geschwister Scholl Institute of Political Science. “Political changes around the world give students from many different countries the opportunity to discover both differences and similarities in a single course. This helps them develop a better understanding of one another.”
Further information: https://www.lmu.de/en/study/all-degrees-and-programs/programs-for-international-visiting-students/munich-international-summer-university/
Cultural traces left by migration
How have waves of migration from Czechia and Ukraine shaped Bavaria? This is the question addressed by the Bavarian-Czech summer school “‘Eastern European’ Bavaria in the 20th and 21st centuries: Cultural and literary traces of migratory movements”, which will be held from 27-31 July 2026 at LMU and the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BAdW).
Central to this event will be the historical and cultural links that exist between Bavaria and the eastern part of Central Europe. Participants will examine the traces that migratory movements have left behind in literature and culture, exploring how the legacy remains visible to this day. One special focus will be on the perspectives of women and children in the context of exile and migration – an aspect that has hitherto received little attention.
“The summer school will promote dialogue between Bavarian and Czech students, universities and cultural institutions,” says Junior Professor Dr. Svetlana Efimova, who is organizing the program in collaboration with Dr. Lucie Antošíková of the Czech Academy of Sciences and Professor Renata Cornejo of the Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem. The summer school will be sponsored by the Bavarian-Czech Academic Agency (BTHA) with funding from the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and Art, in cooperation with LMU, the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the Adalbert Stifter Association. Three items on the program are also open to the public.