Building Bridges 2025
36th Annual Conference of Academia Europaea (AE) and 14th Conference of the Young Academy of Europe (YAE)
Resilient Futures: Bridging Sciences, Technology, Humanities and Society
Conference Date: 15th to 17th October 2025
Conference venue: Parc de Recerca Biomèdica Barcelona (PRBB), Barcelona
LAST DAY TO REGISTER: 6th OF OCTOBER
Building Bridges 2025: Fostering Knowledge Across Disciplines
In an era where misinformation and subjective narratives challenge the foundations of truth, the role of rigorous academic inquiry has never been more crucial. Building Bridges 2025, the annual meeting of the Academia Europaea in Barcelona, will bring together leading scholars from all areas of knowledge to reaffirm the value of critical thinking, scientific evidence, and interdisciplinary dialogue.
At a time when public discourse is often fragmented and influenced by misleading information, academia remains a beacon of intellectual integrity. By connecting disciplines—from the humanities to the natural and social sciences—this meeting will explore how collaborative research can address global challenges, foster innovation, and reinforce the importance of knowledge-based decision-making in society.
As we gather in Barcelona in October 2025, we invite participants to engage in thought-provoking discussions, build new synergies, and strengthen the role of academia as a pillar of informed public debate. In a world of uncertainty, knowledge remains our most reliable bridge to the future. Let’s reinforce it!
Jaume Bertranpetit, Academic Director of Academia Europaea Barcelona Hub
IMPORTANT DATES:
REGISTRATION PAYMENT: UNTIL 17th OF SEPTEMBER: 250 EUROS
AFTER 17th OF SEPTEMBER: 340 EUROS
Cancellation policy: Please not that No refunds will be issued for cancellations made after September 10th
For any doubt or question, send us an email to: aebarcelona.bb@fundaciorecerca.cat
Program preview
a a atAuditorium and Marie Curie, Charles Darwin, Ramón y Cajal and Rita Levi-Montalcini rooms
8.30-9.00 | Check-in for Class meeting participants at at PRBB registration desk |
9.00-11.00 |
Class meetings (A1, A2, B, C) and YAE meeting Class A1 – Welcome and brief self-presentations by new members at Charles Darwin room Class A2 – Welcome and brief self-presentations by new members at Marie Curie room Class B – Welcome and brief self-presentations by new members at Ramon y Cajal room Class C – 09:00-09:15 Introduction to Class and its sections at Auditorium |
11.00-11.20
11.00-11.30
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Coffee break for Class C
Coffee Break for Class A1, A2 and B
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11.30-13.00 |
Continuation of Class meetings and Hub managers closed session Hub managers closed Session: Meeting of AE Hub managers (Rita Levi-Montalcini room) Class A1: Welcome and brief self-presentations by new members, continued. (Charles Darwin room) Class A2: “Rethinking Social Science in an Age of Rupture: Viable Futures for Democracy, Prosperity, and Sociality within Ecological Limits” (Marie Curie room). This session invites Class A2 members to reflect critically on the role of the social sciences in addressing today’s defining challenges. Rather than only diagnosing crises, how can our disciplines actively shape alternative futures? Rob van Tulder, MAE, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands Growth and beyond: Social innovation, sustainable prosperity, and global public goods Jonathan White, MAE, London School of Economics, London, United Kingdom Democratic resilience and climate breakdown Chris Hann, MAE, Planck Institute, Halle, Germany Freedom, work, and transitions in a decarbonizing/digitalizing economy Antje Wiener, MAE, University of Hamburg, Germany From ruptures to a new global order Class B: Brief presentations by new members, continued. (Ramon y Cajal room) Class C: Highlight talks from new members in each section (Auditorium) Introductions by Section Chairs 11:20-11:45 Julia Vorholt, MAE, ETH Zurich, Switzerland Establishing causality: Opportunities of synthetic communities for plant microbiome research Chair: Ray Dixon, MAE, John Innes Centre, Norwich, United Kingdom 11:45-12:10 Jiri Friml, MAE, ISTA, Vienna, Austria Rewriting the Rules of Plant Signalling: The Surprising Role of cAMP Chair: Crisanto Gutierrez, Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa, Madrid, Spain 12:10-12:35 Monica Di Luca, MAE, University of Milan, Italy Dynamic synapses and the long arm to the nucleus Chair: Balázs Gulyás, MAE, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm 12:35-13:00 Milan Chytrý, MAE Masaryk University, Czech Republic Biodiversity loss in European vegetation Chair: András Báldi, MAE, Centre for Ecological Research, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Vácrátót, Hungary
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13.00-14.00 | Lunch |
14.00-16.00 |
Continued Class sessions and YAE Meeting Class A1: 14-16 Linguistics section workshop. (Rita Levi-Montalcini room) Class A2: 14-15 Coffee and Conversations. Informal discussions at thematic tables followed by brief reporting from each group. (Marie Curie room) Joint session of Classes A1 and A2 (Marie Curie room) 15-16 Discussion on the 5th EU Freedom/Letta Report. Chairs: Genoveva Martí, MAE, ICREA at University of Barcelona and Chair Class A1 and Björn Wittrock, MAE, Director AE College of Excellence and Chair Class A2 The discussion will be introduced by Thomas Sturm, MAE, (ICREA at Autonomous University of Barcelona). Comments by Janez Potočnik, former EU commissioner of science and research (2004-2010) and for the environment (2010-2014). Class B: Artificial Intelligence Workshop with presentations by (Ramon y Cajal room) Metin Sitti, MAE, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey ML for Small-Scale Soft Robot Design and Control
Lionel Briand, MAE, LERO, University of Limerick, Ireland Automated Testing and Safety Analysis of Deep Neural Networks
Rachid Guerraoui, MAE, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland Towards a Safe AI
Erol Gelenbe. MAE, IITIS-PAN, Gliwice, Poland Random Neural Networks: Parametrization and Learning for Cyberattack Detection Class C: (Auditorium) 14:00-14:25 Csaba Szabo, MAE, University of Fribourg, Switzerland NO, CO, H2S, CN: the growing family of mammalian gaseous transmitters Chair: Balázs Gulyás, MAE, Karolinska Institute, 14:25- 14:50 Stefan M. Pfister, MAE, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany Molecular tumor classification – translating discoveries into patient benefit Chair: Péter Hegyi, MAE, Translational Medicine at University of Pécs, Budapest, Hungary 14:50- 15:55 Future activities and planning; membership and task force topics. Open discussion related to views of the section chairs and potential reform of sections; overview of the membership, including missing candidates and emerging/underrepresented fields; the potential for new task force topics and involvement of YAE. |
15:55-16:00 | Closing remarks |
16.00-16.30 |
Coffee break
|
16.30-17.00 |
Special Lecture (Auditorium) Chair: Björn Wittrock, Director AE College of Excellence and Chair Class A2 Philippe Aghion, MAE, Collège de France, Paris ; Erasmus Medal winner 2021 Should we fear AI? |
17:00-19:00 | Annual General meeting (includes Hub’s presentations and SAPEA report) Auditorium |
19.00-20.00 | Welcome reception (Terrace of PRBB indoors if it rains) |
Rooms: Auditorium and Rosalind Franklin Room (for press and additional meetins)
Rooms: Auditorium and Rosalind Franklin Room (for press and additional meetings)
Class A1 Internal Meeting Programme
Wednesday 15th October
Auditorium and Marie Curie, Charles Darwin, Ramón y Cajal and Rita Levi-Montalcini rooms
9.00-11.00 |
Welcome and brief self-presentations by new members at Charles Darwin room |
11.00-11.30 | Coffee Break |
11.30-13.00 |
Welcome and brief self-presentations by new members, continued. (Charles Darwin)
|
13.00-14.00 | Lunch |
14.00-16.00 | Continued Class sessions |
14:00-16:00 | Linguistics section workshop (Rita Levi-Montalcini room) |
14.00-16.00 | Film, Media and Visual Studies workshop (Rosalind Franklin room) |
14.00-15.00 | All other A1 sections [session in common] The Humanities and the Humanities Class. Challenges and prospects, continued. (Charles Darwin room) |
15.00-16.00 |
Joint session of Classes A1 and A2 (Marie Curie room) 15-16 Discussion on the 5th EU Freedom/Letta Report. Chairs: Genoveva Martí, MAE, ICREA at Univeristy of Barcelona and Chair Class A1 and Björn Wittrock, MAE, Director AW College of Excellence and Chair Class A2 The discussion will be introduced by Thomas Sturm, MAE, (ICREA, and Autonomous University of Barcelona). Comments by Janez Potočnik, former EU commissioner of science and research (2004-2010) and for the environment (2010-2014). |
Class A2 Internal Meeting Programme
Wednesday 15th October
9.00-11.00 | Welcome and brief self-presentations by new members at Marie Curie room |
11.00-11.30 | Coffee Break |
11.30-13.00 |
“Rethinking Social Science in an Age of Rupture: Viable Futures for Democracy, Prosperity, and Sociality within Ecological Limits” (Marie Curie room) This session invites Class A2 members to reflect critically on the role of the social sciences in addressing today’s defining challenges. Rather than only diagnosing crises, how can our disciplines actively shape alternative futures? Rob van Tulder, MAE, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands Growth and beyond: Social innovation, sustainable prosperity, and global public goods Jonathan White, MAE, London School of Economics, London, United Kingdom Democratic resilience and climate breakdown Chris Hann, MAE, Planck Institute, Halle, Germany Freedom, work, and transitions in a decarbonizing/digitalizing economy Antje Wiener, MAE, University of Hamburg, Germany From ruptures to a new global order |
13.00-14.00 | Lunch |
14.00-15.00 | Coffee and Conversations. Informal discussions at thematic tables followed by brief reporting from each group. (Marie Curie room) |
15:00-16:00 |
Joint session of Classes A1 and A2 (Marie Curie room) Discussion on the 5th EU Freedom/Letta Report. Chairs: Genoveva Martí, MAE, ICREA at University of Barcelona and Chair Class A1 and Björn Wittrock, MAE, Director AE College of Excellence and Chair Class A2 The discussion will be introduced by Thomas Sturm, MAE, (ICREA, and Autonomous University of Barcelona). Comments by Janez Potočnik, former EU commissioner of science and research (2004-2010) and for the environment (2010-2014). |
16.00-16.30 |
Coffee break
|
Class B Internal Meeting Programme
Wednesday 18th October
9.00-11.00 | Welcome and brief self-presentations by new members at Ramon y Cajal room |
11.30-13.00 | Brief presentations by new members continued (Ramon y Cajal room) |
13.00-14.00 | Lunch |
14.00-16.00 |
Artificial Intelligence Workshop with presentations (Ramon y Cajal room) by Metin Sitti, MAE, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey ML for Small-Scale Soft Robot Design and Control
Lionel Briand, MAE, LERO, University of Limerick, Ireland Automated Testing and Safety Analysis of Deep Neural Networks
Rachid Guerraoui, MAE, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland Towards a Safe AI
Erol Gelenbe. MAE, IITIS-PAN, Gliwice, Poland Random Neural Networks: Parametrization and Learning for Cyberattack Detection |
Thuesday 16th October
Class C Internal Meeting Programme
Auditorium and Marie Curie, Charles Darwin, Ramón i Cajal and Rita Levi-Montalcini rooms
9.00-9.15 | Introduction to Class and its sections at Auditorium |
9.00-11.00 | Welcome and short introductions by participating new members |
11.00-11.20 | Coffee Break |
11.20-11.45 |
Highlight talks from new members in each section (Auditorium) Introductions by the Section Chairs Julia Vorholt, MAE, ETH Zurich, Switzerland Establishing causality: Opportunities of synthetic communities for plant microbiome research Chair: Ray Dixon, MAE, John Innes Centre, Norwich, United Kingdom |
11.45-12.10 |
Jiri Friml, MAE, ISTA, Vienna, Austria Rewriting the Rules of Plant Signalling: The Surprising Role of cAMP Chair: Crisanto Gutierrez, Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa, Madrid, Spain |
12.10-12.35 |
Monica Di Luca, MAE, University of Milan, Italy Dynamic synapses and the long arm to the nucleus Chair: Balázs Gulyás, MAE, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm
|
12.35-14.00 |
Milan Chytrý, MAE Masaryk University, Czech Republic Biodiversity loss in European vegetation Chair: András Báldi, MAE, Centre for Ecological Research, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Vácrátót, Hungary |
13.00-14.00 | Lunch |
14.00-14.25 |
(Auditorium) Csaba Szabo, MAE, University of Fribourg, Switzerland NO, CO, H2S, CN: the growing family of mammalian gaseous transmitters Chair: Balázs Gulyás, MAE, Karolinska Institute, |
14:25-14:50 |
Stefan M. Pfister, MAE, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany Molecular tumor classification – translating discoveries into patient benefit Chair: Péter Hegyi, MAE, Translational Medicine at University of Pécs, Budapest, Hungary |
14.50-15.55 | Future activities and planning; membership and task force topics. Open discussion related to views of the section chairs and potential reform of sections; overview of the membership, including missing candidates and emerging/underrepresented fields; the potential for new task force topics and involvement of YAE. |
Tuesday 16th October
Young Academy of Europe Programme - Open Meeting
Wednesday 15th October
9.00-12.30 | YAE MEETING (CLOSED SESSION) |
12.30-13.30 | YAE AGM opening lunch |
13.30-14.30 |
Welcome and summary of the year. Welcome & update activities 2024/2025 by Scott Bremer (Chair) and Wolfgang Tress (Treasurer) Welcome to new FYAEs and Treasurers report |
14.30-15.30 |
Board elections by Marc Yeste (Secretary)
|
15.30-16.00 |
Coffee break |
16.00-17.00 |
Research talks by new members Nicoletta Liguori (Selection Committee PE Chair) Three talks from new YAE members |
17.00-17.20 | Results of the YAE elections Marc Yeste (Secretary) |
17.20-18.30 | Aperitif |
19.30-21.30 | AGM dinner |
Venue
Accomodation
Discounts:
Hotels: Barcelona offers a diverse range of nice hotels in the city center and near the venue. Have a look at our recommendations:
Silken Ramblas (in the city center): in its website, insert the promotion code : FCRI.
Please make sure you reserve your hotel accomodation in advance as October is a busy time in Barcelona!
Derby Hotels: promotional code BBRIDGES25.
When booking your room you have to enter the dates, number of people and in “Promotional Code” put BBRIDGES25. The page will show the selected hotel with all the offers with the discount already applied, or if you do not choose a hotel, and choose BARCELONA, a dropdown of all the hotels will appear, each one showing its best rate with the discount.
The code BBRIDGES25 applies a 10% discount on all rates and offers for bookings between October 14 and 18 at hotels Claris 5* GL, Granados 83 4* S, Balmes 4*, Derby 4*, Gran Derby 4* and Astoria 3*.
Hotel SB Icaria
Av. Icaria, 195 · 08005 Barcelona (Barcelona)
T. (+34) 932 218 200
Prizes: Double room, individual use: 176,00€ Breakfast and Vat included.
Double room for two people: 201,00€ breakfast and VAT included.
Not included: Tourist tax per night and person: 6,27 euros
INSERT CODE: BB25 When you reserve the accomodation at the website of the hotel: https://www.sb-hotels.com/hoteles/barcelona/icaria/
Appartments
Discount: 15% off our flexible and non-refundable rate
• Stay between 14/10/2025 and 18/10/2025 (The discount will only apply to stays within this period)
Code: NAITLYBB25
Go to its webpage: Naitly Barcelona Poblenou, enter the desired dates for your stay, and add the code in the “Promos and Rates” section. Then click on the magnifying glass to search for availability and prices. Once the options appear, select the apartment you like best and choose the rate that best suits your needs.
Social Activities
Discover a variety of opportunities to experience the charm of our city and its surroundings.
GEOLOGICAL TRIP TO MONTSERRAT MOUNTAIN
Montserrat massif will be observed both from the distance and from within (monastery area). This massif is distinctive for its conglomerate pinnacles, resulting from a very penetrative high-density joint system that is developed throughout a very homogeneous conglomerate. Montserrat contains the world’s largest amount of conglomerate pinnacles within a massif.
Date: Wednesday 15th Octuber
Time: 8.30-15.30
Price: 100€
VISIT TO T HE SPANICH WINERY TORRES
Visit to vineyards and winery, focusing on regenerative agriculture and sustainability
Date: Saturday 18th October
Time: 10.00-15.00
Price: 80€