The iNNO SED Summer School, subtitled “Innovating River Futures: From Sediment Science to Field Action”, is a six-day residential course held at the Danube research facilities of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) in Göd, Hungary. It is organised by Global Water Partnership Central and Eastern Europe (GWP CEE) together with BME, with teaching contributions from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU) and the Geological Survey of Slovenia. The school sits inside iNNO SED, a Horizon Europe project on innovative sediment management in the Danube River Basin that runs from September 2024 to August 2029 with 46 funded and associated partners and a total budget of roughly €8.77 million. The week pairs expert lectures with hands-on work: river dynamics, sediment transport and morphology, hydrodynamic and sediment modelling, Earth Observation and environmental data analysis in the classroom, then measurements taken from research boats on the Danube, laboratory sediment analyses, a study visit to a restoration site and water well on Szentendre Island, and group work on real river-basin sediment challenges. Participants close the week by presenting their group results and receiving a certificate. The 2026 edition, held 28 June to 3 July 2026, drew 127 applications for 20 places.
Benefits & funding
- No participation fee — the programme itself, the expert lectures and all learning activities are covered for every selected participant.
- Accommodation and meals for the duration of the summer school.
- Field trip expenses covered.
- A travel subsidy of up to €250 per person. Travel costs above that ceiling are the participant’s own, which is worth planning for from outside Europe.
- A certificate, awarded after the final group presentations.
- A small cohort — 20 participants were selected from 127 applications in 2026 — taught by researchers from across the iNNO SED partnership.
Eligibility
- MSc and PhD students in hydrology, environmental science, water resource management, geomorphology, civil and environmental engineering, ecology, policy, social sciences and related fields.
- Young professionals with up to 5 years of experience working on water, rivers, sediment, climate resilience or catchment management. This 5-year ceiling applies to the young-professional route only; no experience limit is stated for students.
- Fluency in English, written and spoken. The whole programme runs in English.
- No nationality or residency requirement is stated, and none is applied in practice: the 2026 cohort studied or worked across 11 European countries, and their personal and academic backgrounds spanned roughly 16 countries across Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
- No age limit is published.
Can you apply?
Worth a closer look
Sign in and add your profile to check this against your nationality, residency, and studies.
Education required
Master Enrolled · PhD Enrolled · Bachelor · Master
Not in your profile yet
We only check the criteria we have data for. Always confirm full eligibility on the official page before applying.
Application process
- 1Prepare a curriculum vitae in English.
- 2Record a motivation video of one to two minutes in English, appearing in person on camera; any common video format is accepted.
- 3Email both documents to gwpcee@gwpcee.org before the deadline, using the subject line “iNNO SED Summer School 2026 — Application [Your Name]”. The 2026 deadline was 1 April 2026.
- 4Wait for the selection outcome. Successful candidates in 2026 were notified by 17 April 2026.
Program timeline
Call for applications published.
Feb 24, 2026
Application deadline.
Apr 1, 2026
Date by which selected candidates were notified.
Apr 17, 2026
Summer school begins in Göd, Hungary.
Jun 28, 2026
Summer school ends.
Jul 3, 2026
The iNNO SED project runs until 31 August 2029. No further edition had been announced on the project site when this record was written.