During the four-day intensive course, you will get a broad scientific perspective in metabolism and endocrinology as well as the opportunity to expand your professional network.

Each day will have one or two themed scientific sessions followed by other activities such as workshops, poster sessions, and active networking with speakers and other PhD students. As we believe that interactivity improves learning outcomes, we expect you to be actively involved in the discussions with other participants and speakers throughout the event.

The programme this year includes scientific sessions on:

• Gut Biology and Processed Food
• Obesity and Cancer
• Bone and Adipose
• Spatial Metabolomics
• Pituitary Gland and Rare Endocrine Diseases
• Can Type I Diabetes Be Prevented or Cured?

In addition, you will be able to choose and participate in two of six hands-on workshops:

• Statistics and the World Beyond p<0.05
• How to Study Aging in the Lab
• Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• AI and Ligand Binding
• Leadership and Team Science
• How to Handle the Third Reviewer

Speakers:

• Ann Rosendahl, Associate Professor, Lund University (SE)
• Anu Bashamboo, Senior Group Leader, Institut Pasteur (FR)
• Benjamin Anderschou Holbech Jensen, Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen (DK)
• Bettina Theill Warming, Founder and Owner, Aspira (DK)
• Birgitte Andersen, Scientific Director and Head of Obesity New Product Innovation, Novo Nordisk A/S (DK)
• Claus Ekstrøm, Professor, University of Copenhagen (DK)
• Cynthia Andoniadou, Professor, King’s College London (UK)
• Dana Small, Professor, McGill University (CA)
• Hindrik Mulder, Professor, Lund University (SE)
• Jesper Johannesen, Professor, Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen (DK)
• Johan Swinnen, Professor, KU Leuven (BE)
• Kirsty Spalding, Professor, Karolinska Institute (SE)
• Michaela Tencerová, Head of Laboratory, The Czech Academy of Sciences (CZ)
• Samuel Dicken, Research Fellow, University College London (UK)
• Shareen Forbes, Professor, University of Edinburgh (UK)
• Signe Borgquist, Professor, Aarhus University Hospital (DK)
• Theodore Alexandrov, Assistant Professor, University of California San Diego (US)
• Thue Schwartz, Professor, University of Copenhagen (DK)
• William Cawthorn, Senior Lecturer, University of Edinburgh (UK)

Organisers:

• Nils Færgeman, Professor, University of Southern Denmark (DK) (Chair)
• Andreas M. Fritzen, Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen (DK)
• Christopher Lewis, Postdoc, Novo Nordisk A/S (DK)
• Claus H. Gravholt, Clinical Professor, Aarhus University (DK)
• Dorte Møller Jensen, Professor, University of Southern Denmark, Steno Diabetes Center Odense (DK)
• Esben Søndergaard, Associate Professor, Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus (DK)
• Frederik Østergaard Klit, PhD Student, Aalborg University DK)
• Jana Hennelova, PhD Student, King’s College London (UK)
• Joanna Kalucka, Associate Professor, Aarhus University (DK)
• Jørgen Wojtaszewski, University of Copenhagen (DK)
• Louise Torp Dalgaard, Roskilde University (DK)

The DDEA Summer School is open for PhD students working within or outside of Denmark, in any field of diabetes, metabolism, and endocrinology. We welcome PhD students in basic, translational, clinical or interdisciplinary research in fields related to diabetes and endocrinology.

Due to the limited number of seats, you are not guaranteed a seat until you receive an e-mail with final confirmation from DDEA after the registration deadline. Seats in the course will be prioritised for:

• Applicants with a relevant abstract
• PhD students in their 2^nd year and beyond who have not attended previously
• DDEA grant recipients
• Applicants working at Danish research institutions
• Date of registration for the event

We welcome applicants from research institutions outside of Denmark, as we always reserve some seats for PhD students from outside of Denmark.

To apply for a seat, you must submit an abstract. If you are selected for participation, you are expected to present your project in a poster session and/or oral presentation.

After the registration deadline, all applicants will be informed whether or not they have been allocated a seat at the Summer School. Notification will be by email from DDEA no later than the last week of June 2026.

If the event is overbooked, DDEA reserves the right to select participants based on the defined requirements.

Accommodation
DDEA offers accommodation for all participants from 24-27 August 2026 at the course venue’s hotel. When registering, please indicate if you would be willing to share a room with another participant.
You will be informed about your overnight accommodation by DDEA after the registration deadline when participants are selected by the organisers.

Dinner registration
DDEA organises networking dinners on 24, 25, and 26 August. Participation in the dinners is free of charge. Please sign up when you register and indicate whether you have any dietary requirements.

Transportation
DDEA offers joint bus transportation from Odense Railway Station to the Summer School venue on Monday, 24 August and from the venue to the Odense Railway Station on Thursday, 27 August. When registering, please indicate if you would like to join this bus transportation.

Certification
A course certificate will be sent to participants, upon request, at the end of the course. Full participation is required to obtain the certificate. Please plan to take the certificate to your faculty or PhD school to apply for ECTS points.

Latest cancellation date & no-show fee
Please note that it is free of charge to participate in the event however the DDEA will charge a no-show fee of 2000 DKK if you do not show up and have not unregistered from the event by 9 August 2026.

Please note that we expect all participants to have approval from their supervisors for full presence and participation prior to completing the registration form.

Deadline for submission of abstracts: 31 May 2026, 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.

• Title of abstract (Use a short and specific title with title-style capitalization and put it in bold)
• Presenting author name(s) (Underline the presenting author’s name)
• Affiliation (Include unit, institution/company/hospital, city and country for all authors and put it in italic)

The body of the abstract contains the following content: background and aim, rationale, methods, results (if obtained to-date), conclusion, and future 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 and orientation of poster: A0 or A1 – width max. 1 m/height max. 1.25 m. Portrait orientation fits the poster panels best.