The Interdisciplinary Mountains Summer School offers an immersive interdisciplinary experience at the heart of contemporary transformations in mountain territories. Centered on the concept of ‘Living Well in the Mountains’, this summer school will explore how people inhabit, coexist, create, and collectively envision life in mountain territories under multiple pressures.

This Summer School organized by the UNIL Interdisciplinary Centre for Mountain Research is aimed at PhD students from all disciplines who wish to explore contemporary perspectives on ‘Living Well’ in mountain regions. This Summer school may also be open to master’s students.

Through the program, students will investigate social, cultural, ecological, and political transformations in mountain areas in relation to global changes, such as climate change, shifts in economic activities (tourism, pastoralism, agriculture, etc.), land-use pressure, mobility patterns, and territorial development dynamics. Participants will have the opportunity to work on projects addressing cross-cutting issues specific to mountain regions. The goal is to help them develop a systemic understanding of mountains and their challenges, both through thematic field visits and workshops fostering connections across the various topics addressed.

Areas of interest:

• Interdisciplinarity in mountain research
• Climate change impacts and adaptation in mountain regions
• Natural and socio-environmental risks
• Conflicts around land and resource use
• Mountain Tourism
• Ecological processes and biodiversity evolution in mountain ecosystems
• Co-existence with non-human entities

Format

The summer school combines interdisciplinary learning (social sciences, ecology, environmental sciences, arts, architecture, etc.) with field immersion, through:

• Field trips and meetings with local stakeholders (managers, elected officials, farmers, associations, etc.),
• Cross-disciplinary lectures delivered by invited researchers,
• Collaborative workshops and creative presentations.

Click here to view the full programme.

This Summer School is organized by Interdisciplinary Centre for Mountain Research, The Faculty of Geosciences and Environment, University of Lausanne (UNIL).

Full details, including how to apply, can be found on the UNIL website.

Application deadline is 12 April 2026.

_{Photo by WENHUI LIN.}