This October, DDEA invites postdocs to Kibæk, Denmark for our annual Postdoc Summit.
Join us to strengthen the diabetes, metabolism and endocrinology research community through scientific and professional development at the postdoc level.
By gathering postdocs working in Denmark and those working abroad, for an immersive four-day meeting, we will provide you with opportunities to gain a broader scientific perspective on diabetes, metabolism and classical endocrinology research by bridging fundamental discoveries with clinical science and public health.
During the four-day Postdoc Summit you will attend scientific lectures by international experts, present and get feedback on your own research, be inspired to broaden your career horizon, learn new skills, and be challenged to examine scientific leadership – the what, why and how.
Mark your calendars and apply for a seat if you want to expand your professional network, engage in and give your perspective on highly topical themes within diabetes and classical endocrinology research, and build relationships with new and old peers in a relaxed, informal and beautiful environment.
During the four-day Summit, we aim to give you a broad scientific perspective and the opportunity to expand your professional network. Therefore, each day will have one themed scientific session, followed by other activities such as poster sessions, networking activities, and group work on the challenges of scientific leadership. Please see below for an overview of the programme.
As we believe that interactivity improves learning outcomes, we expect you to be actively involved in the group work and discussions with other participants and speakers throughout the Summit. We kindly ask you to bring your own laptop so that you can look up materials, contribute actively to group discussions and prepare group presentations.
The following topics will be covered during the Postdoc Summit:
Endocrine Crosstalk
Hormones are essential for maintaining homeostasis, regulating metabolism, body temperature, reproduction, and growth. In the Endocrine Crosstalk session, we will explore the role of thyroid hormones as key regulators of energy balance and circadian rhythms, influencing multiple organs in both the brain and periphery. A special focus will be given to how these hormones shape neuroendocrine regulation in the hypothalamus, fine-tune hormone availability through specialized glial cells (tanycytes), and impact liver health in the context of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).
Next generation diagnostics
The generation of large biological datasets has advanced our understanding of various conditions and highlighted new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. This session will focus on biomarker discovery in human disease using large data datasets from proteomics, metabolomics, genomics and lipidomics. Speakers in this session will present their research using blood, extracellular vesicles and human genetics to identify novel pathways in health and disease, providing perspectives from epidemiology, metabolism and translational research.
Women’s health
Women’s health encompasses a diverse range of physiological processes that influence lifelong well-being, yet many aspects remain underexplored. This session will highlight key areas of research, from the lasting impact of maternal health on child development to the hormonal and metabolic drivers of PCOS. With perspectives from epidemiology, endocrinology, and developmental biology, the speakers will shed light on these critical topics and their implications for both fundamental science and clinical care.
Keynote Lecture
This year’s Keynote Lecturer, Joerg Heeren is Professor of Immunometabolism. His research focuses on the mechanisms underlying obesity-associated chronic inflammatory diseases. He and his group have a keen interest in the regulation and function of brown adipose tissue in energy metabolism. By utilizing advanced imaging and metabolic flux analysis, his research aims to elucidate the systemic and local mechanisms governing energy metabolism and adipose tissue homeostasis, particularly in response to adaptive thermogenesis.
DDEA Postdoc Challenge 2025
Throughout the DDEA Postdoc Summit you will work on a special assignment, known as the DDEA Postdoc Challenge. This year you will explore the challenge of scientific leadership through multiple lenses. We invite you to #leadyourownlife and reflect on this topic both within Challenge working groups and as a Summit community, considering:
– How to develop leadership skills to successfully manage other scientists
– How to personally lead yourself and your own career
Scientific leadership is an essential skill for progression at all career stages, but critically for postdoctoral researchers. At this stage, leadership encompasses self-leadership, supervision, and the beginning stages of establishing an independent research group.
A lack of engagement in developing good leadership skills can negatively affect both leaders and entire teams, in terms of interpersonal dynamics, impacting mental health and practically, in terms of hindering productivity and output.
This year at the Summit, we seek the voices of all participants on this topic, and we invite them to develop leadership skills together, alongside discussion of specific leadership challenges postdocs face today, with specific outputs to aid both attendees of the Summit and beyond in developing these critical skills.
Programme overview
Monday, 6 October
Tuesday, 7 October
Wednesday, 8 October
Thursday, 9 October
Speakers:
Organisers:
The DDEA Postdoc Summit is open for postdoctoral researchers and clinicians at the postdoctoral level, working within or outside of Denmark, in any field of diabetes, metabolism, and classical endocrinology. We welcome postdocs from basic, translational and clinical research, including interdisciplinary research in fields related to diabetes and endocrinology. Advanced PhD students in their final year are welcome to apply, but seats are prioritised for postdocs.
Participants are selected based on abstract submission, not a first-come, first-served basis. Therefore, you are welcome to apply right up to the deadline.
After the registration deadline, all applicants will be informed whether or not they have been allocated a seat at the Summit. Notification will be by email from DDEA no later than 25 August 2025.
Please note that you are not guaranteed a seat at the Postdoc Summit if you do not meet the target group requirements. Priority is given to participants employed at Danish research and health institutions or life science industry, but seats are reserved for participants employed at research and health institutions or life science industry abroad. We value a diverse participant group, and therefore encourage all who are interested to apply regardless of their country of employment.
DDEA reserves its right to select participants based on the defined requirements.
Accommodation and meals
DDEA provides and covers the costs of accommodation and meals for all selected participants at the Sinatur Skarrildhus, from 6-9 October 2025.
Transportation
When you register, you can sign up for joint transportation by bus from Vejle to the venue on 6 October and the return from the venue to Vejle on 9 October. The cost of this bus transportation is covered by DDEA and the arrangement is made by DDEA.
All other travel costs and costs for overnight accommodation before or after 6-9 October are at the participants’ own expense.
Certification
A course certificate will be sent to all participants upon request at the end of the course.
No-show fee
It is free of charge to participate in the course however DDEA will charge a no-show fee of 2000 DKK if you do not show up and have not unregistered from the course by 14 September.
Please note that we expect all participants to have approval from their supervisors for the week-long course, with full presence and participation, prior to completing the registration form.
Deadline for submission of abstracts: 10 August 2025, 23:59
Abstract guidelines:
Be sure your abstract contains the following information and adheres to the following formatting guidelines before submission:
You may download the template here
The abstract should be max 1500 characters incl. spaces and written in Arial 10.
The body of the abstract contains the following content: background and aim, rationale, methods, results (if obtained to-date), conclusion (and perspectives)
(Text in Arial 10)
No images, figures, charts or tables should be included in the abstract.
Please proofread carefully before submission and submit a Word file and please name the file that you submit with your name.
Format of poster
Size of poster: A0 or A1 – width max. 1 m/height max. 1.25 m in portrait format to fit the poster boards.
EAN: 5798 0022 30642
Reference: 1025 0006
CVR: 29 19 09 09
