6th European Summer School in Evidence-Based Public Health 2026
Hosted by the Pettenkofer School of Public Health 
20–24 July 2026 at the Kardinal Wendel Haus in Munich, Germany
Join public health professionals, public health researchers, and decision-makers for a five-day intensive program on evidence-based public health. Learn from leading experts in the field while networking with researchers and practitioners representing a variety of public health institutions across Europe.
History
History
The idea for this Summer School was conceived during an international workshop on “Evidence-Based Public Health: Concepts and Methods“, held at the LMU Munich in November 2010. Following on from direct and indirect feedback during this workshop and through consultation with international colleagues working in public health and evidence synthesis, a distinct requirement for training in evidence-based public health was identified. In response to this, the European Summer School in Evidence-Based Public Health has evolved as a collaboration between the LMU Munich (Prof Eva Rehfuess) and the University of Liverpool (Prof Daniel Pope). Following the first Summer School in Liverpool in 2014, the Summer School has been taking place in Munich.
About the Summer School
This Summer School is ideal for:
- Researchers and professionals wishing to embrace and implement a complexity perspective in their public health activities;
- Researchers planning to undertake systematic reviews of public health interventions, involved in the development of public health guidelines or working on other aspects of evidence-based public health;
- Mid-career professionals working in public health institutions; and
- Students undertaking a PhD in Public Health, Epidemiology or related fields and wishing to embark on a career in evidence-based public health.
The objectives of the Summer School are:
- Understand the principles of evidence-based public health and complex interventions
- Be able to apply logic models in public health research and practice
- Be able to critically read a systematic review
- Know about and select appropriate evidence synthesis methods
- Be able to evaluate systematic review protocols, inclusion criteria, and search strategies
- Be able to undertake screening of articles against defined inclusion criteria
- Know about meta-analysis and other synthesis methods
- Understand Risk of Bias (RoB) tools and the GRADE approach in systematic reviews
- Know about the current role of AI tools in enhancing systematic reviews
- Know about critical steps in public health guideline development
- Be familiar with the role of evidence-to-decision frameworks and be able to apply selected criteria
- Be able to identify and apply selected knowledge translation (KT) strategies
- Understand the importance of stakeholder engagement in knowledge production and translation
The Summer School includes:
- Interactive lectures from experts in the field of evidence-based public health.
- Practice sessions and small-group exercises related to logic models, formulating questions, selecting the right review types, screening, interpretation of meta-analyses, evidence-to-decision frameworks and knowledge translation.
- Policy and practice insights covering a variety of public health topics delivered by eminent experts.
- Social activities including a guided Public Health walk through Munich and a summer school dinner.
Evidence-based public health (EBPH)
Evidence-based public health (EBPH) is the development, implementation and evaluation of effective programmes and policies in public health through application of principles of scientific reasoning, including systematic uses of data and information systems.
Programme & Speaker 2026
Programme and Speaker 2026
EUROPEAN SUMMER SCHOOL in EVICENCE-BASED PUBLIC HEALTH
The schedule for the five-day summer school will be published here shortly. The flyer will be available here for download in the near future
TENTATIVE PROGRAMME Version 1.0 (January 26, 2026)
DAY 1 | 20 July 2026 | EBPH INTRODUCTION AND COMPLEX INTERVENTIONS
| Time | Topic | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| 08.00-09.00 | Coffee – registration | |
| 09.00-09.15 | Opening of Summer School | Lisa Pfadenhauer, Eva Rehfuess |
| 09.15-10.00 | Getting to know each other | Lisa Pfadenhauer |
| 10.00-11.00 | Interactive Lecture: What is Evidence Based Public Health? | Eva Rehfuess |
| 11.00-11.30 | Coffee break | |
| 11.30-12.30 | Policy and practice insights: Evidence and public health nutrition policies in Germany | Peter von Philipsborn |
| 12.30-13.30 | Lunch | |
| 13.30-15.00 | Interactive Lecture: Complex interventions and complex systems | Eva Rehfuess |
| 15.00-15.30 | Coffee break | |
| 15.30-16.00 | Interactive Lecture: Logic models as a tool for addressing complexity | Stephan Voss |
| 16.00-17.30 | Practice session: Developing a logic model | Stephan Voss, Eva Rehfuess |
| 17.30 | Brief summary of Day 1 | Lisa Pfadenhauer |
| 18.30 | Leave Summer School venue for scenic walk to restaurant (optional and voluntary) |
DAY 2 | 21 July 2026 | SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS - FROM QUESTION FORMULATION TO SYNTHESISING DATA
| Time | Topic | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| 08.30-09.00 | Morning coffee | |
| 09.00 | Introduction to Day 2 | Lisa Pfadenhauer |
| 09.00-10.30 | Interactive Lecture: Systematic reviews and other types of evidence synthesis | Lisa Pfadenhauer |
| 10.30-11.00 | Coffee break | |
| 11.00-12.30 | Practice session: Asking the right question and choosing the right review type | Lisa Pfadenhauer |
| 12.30-13.30 | Lunch | |
| 13.30-15.00 | Interactive Lecture: From review question to data extraction | Lisa Pfadenhauer |
| 15.00-15.30 | Coffee break | |
| 15.30-16.00 | Practice session: Conducting title and abstract screening | Lisa Pfadenhauer |
| 16.00-17.00 | Interactive Lecture: Meta-analysis and other forms of evidence synthesis | Katrin Probyn |
| 17.00-17.30 | Practice session: Interpreting the findings of a meta-analysis | Katrin Probyn |
| 17:30 | Brief summary of Day 2 |
DAY 3 | 22 July 2026 | SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS - RISK OF BIAS, THE GRADE APPROACH AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
| Time | Topic | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| 08.30-09.00 | Morning coffee | |
| 09.00 | Introduction to Day 3 | Ani Movsisyan |
| 09.00-10.30 | Interactive Lecture: Risk of bias assessment and GRADE | Ani Movsisyan, Katrin Probyn |
| 10.30-11.00 | Coffee break | |
| 11.00-12.30 | Interactive Lecture: Weaving artificial intelligence into systematic reviews: opportunities and challenges | TBD |
| Practice session: Data extraction using a Large Language Model | TBD | |
| 12.30-13.30 | Lunch at Munich Beer Garden | Osterwaldgarten |
| 14.30-17.30 | Munich guided public health walk | Weisser Stadtvogel |
DAY 4 | 23 July 2026 | FROM EVIDENCE TO DECISION-MAKING: GUIDELINE DEVELOPMENT
| Time | Topic | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| 08.30-09.00 | Morning coffee | |
| 09.00 | Introduction to Day 4 | Brigitte Strahwald |
| 09.00-10.30 | Interactive Lecture: Developing guidelines to inform public health policy and practice | Brigitte Strahwald |
| 10.30-11.00 | Coffee break | |
| 11.00-12.30 | Interactive Lecture: Evidence-to-decision-frameworks in public health | Eva Rehfuess |
| 12.30-13.30 | Lunch | |
| 13.30-15.00 | Policy and practice insights: WHO guidelines, EU regulations and clean air for Europe | Annette Peters |
| 15.00-15.30 | Coffee break | |
| 15.30-17.00 | Practice session: Applying the WHO-INTEGRATE framework | Eva Rehfuess, Brigitte Strahwald, Katrin Probyn |
| 17.00 | Summary of Day 4 | Eva Rehfuess |
| 19.00 | Summer School dinner (included) |
DAY 5 | 24 July 2026 | EVIDENCE TO POLICY AND PRACTICE
| Time | Topic | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| 08.30-09.00 | Morning coffee | |
| 09.00 | Introduction to Day 5 | Lisa Pfadenhauer |
| 09.00-09.45 | Interactive Lecture: Knowledge translation: From evidence to practice and policy | Kerstin Sell |
| 09.45-10.30 | Practice session: Developing a knowledge translation plan | |
| 10.30-11.00 | Coffee break | |
| 11.00-12.30 | Policy and practice insights: Collaborating with stakeholders in translating evidence to policy and practice | Manfred Wildner |
| 12:30-13:00 | Closing of Summer School | Eva Rehfuess |
| 13:00-14:00 | Lunch | |
| 14:00-15:00 | Optional Networking |
Registration
Thank you for your interest in the 6th European Summer School in Evidence-Based Public Health.
Registration is open from 15th January 2026. Please register using this registration form.
Costs
- Early bird registration: 750 EUR
- Normal registration: 950 EUR
Registration dates
- By 30th April 2026: Early-bird booking ends (registration received)
- By 29th June 2026: Late-booking ends (last date for payments)
The fees include the summer school academic programme as well as participation in the Munich Public Health Walk and the summer school dinner. Please note that accommodation is not included in the Summer School fees.
Registrations for the Summer School will only be confirmed once the full fee has been received. We kindly ask that payments are made promptly to secure your place, as spots are limited. Please note that the payment includes a non-refundable registration fee of €150.00. The remainder of the payment is, in principle, refundable but becomes non-refundable after 31 May 2026.
Please send the completed registration form to ebphsummerschool@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de.
Venue & Accommodation
Venue
The Summer School will be taking place at the Kardinal Wendel Haus.
Kardinal Wendel Haus
Mandlstrasse 23
80802 Munich
(Transport and local information)
Accommodation
We highly recommend that you book a room at the Summer School venue. Alternatively, there are ample opportunities for accommodation in Munich, which cooperates with the LMU. We can provide a list of suitable hotels upon request. Please note that participants are responsible for booking their own accommodation.
Contact
Please contact us for any further information regarding the Summer School, accommodation or payment under ebphsummerschool@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de