Announcing the Recipients of the Autism and Neuroscience Conferences and Courses Awards
The Simons Foundation’s Autism & Neuroscience division is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2025 Autism and Neuroscience Conferences and Courses Awards. This year the awards provide financial support for scientific conferences or courses that align with the scientific missions of the division’s Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI), Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain (SCGB) and Simons Collaboration on Plasticity and the Aging Brain (SCPAB).
The awards support conferences and courses focusing on healthy cognitive aging, basic autism science, and systems and computational neuroscience.
This year’s awardees are:
Meeting on Language in Autism
March 11–14, 2026, and March 2028
Atlanta
The focus of the Meeting on Language in Autism (MoLA) is on the scientific study of the emergence, use and nature of language in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Language impairment, though not a core symptom of ASD, is one of the most important predictors of long-term outcomes and independence. The study of language in ASD also has the potential to inform our understanding of language itself, as we explore why some individuals with ASD have difficulties with certain domains of language while other domains remain fully intact. It is our goal to bring together researchers approaching questions about language in autism from a variety of backgrounds, topics and approaches.
21st Workshop Fragile X Syndrome & Other Neurodevelopmental Disorders
September 15–28, 2025
Noordwijk, Netherlands
This conference emphasizes recent breakthroughs in our understanding of fragile X and X-linked disorders, intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder and other neurodevelopmental disorders. The main scientific sessions will highlight recent advances in fragile X and other X-linked and autosomal conditions with intellectual disability, syndromes caused by multiple ‘single gene’ defects, mechanisms of disease using animal and human cellular models, epigenetic signatures, and diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic strategies. The goal is to increase the international exposure of researchers and to provide a training venue for the next generation of clinicians and scientists.
20th Troina Meeting on Genetics of Neurodevelopmental Disorders
April 15–18, 2026, April 2027, April 2028
Troina, Italy
The Troina Meeting on Genetics of Neurodevelopmental Disorders focuses on the presentation of disease models and mechanisms, as well as translational initiatives. The compact meeting format has inspired many disease-related discoveries and creates a unique atmosphere where established group leaders interact with all students and postdocs.
Geroscience Los Angeles Meeting (GLAM)
September 5, 2025, September 4, 2026, September 3, 2027
Los Angeles
The Geroscience Los Angeles Meeting (GLAM) is a trainee-focused conference on aging research hosted by the University of Southern California’s Leonard Davis School. GLAM was created as a response to traditional conferences and symposia, which tend to focus primarily on faculty presentations, giving only a relatively small place to trainees. At GLAM, other than one keynote address, all talks and poster presentations are given by trainees at various career stages, including undergraduate students, graduate students and postdoctoral trainees. Thus GLAM prioritizes empowering trainees by providing opportunities to present research, network and receive feedback. GLAM also includes a significant focus on the neurobiology of aging, ultimately aiming to advance geroscience training and to create new collaborations in Los Angeles and the greater Southern California scientific community.
2026–2028 Methods in Computational Neuroscience Course (MCN)
July–August 2026, July–August 2027, July–August 2028
Woods Hole, Massachusetts
The Methods in Computational Neuroscience (MCN) course is held annually at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. The course introduces students to the computational and mathematical techniques used to address how the brain solves problems at levels of neural organization ranging from single-membrane channels to operations of the entire brain.
Middle Eastern Systems and Computational Neuroscience Meeting
November 14, 2025
San Diego
The Middle Eastern Systems and Computational Neuroscience meeting is a daylong symposium bringing together experimental and computational neuroscientists of Middle Eastern origin. To be held in San Diego prior to the 2025 Society for Neuroscience conference, the meeting will feature scientific talks and inclusive networking events designed to foster dialogue and collaboration. By creating space for scientists from across national and cultural divides to connect through shared intellectual interests, the meeting aims to advance systems-level brain research while building lasting personal and professional relationships rooted in curiosity, respect and mutual understanding.
NeuroBridges
September 7–18, 2025, October 4–15, 2026, September 12–23, 2027
Cluny, France
NeuroBridges is a 10-day neuroscience summer school held annually in Cluny, France, since 2017. It brings together graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, primarily from the Middle East and Mediterranean regions, to explore both theoretical and experimental aspects of neuroscience. Participants engage in lectures led by prominent neuroscientists and collaborate on small-scale research projects. Beyond its academic goals, the program aims to foster scientific collaboration and build personal connections among young researchers from diverse backgrounds, with the broader mission of promoting mutual understanding across cultures.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Meeting on Neuronal Circuits
March 18–21, 2026, March 15–18, 2028
Cold Spring Harbor, New York
The remarkable computational capacity of neuronal circuits remains a major unresolved problem in biology, serving as the core substrate linking genes and behavior. The magnitude of this problem requires communal efforts among scientists working on different organisms and systems. Creating such synergy served as a motivation for starting this biannual meeting series. Almost two decades later, the Cold Spring Harbor Neuronal Circuits meeting has emerged as a well established and highly regarded forum for the neuroscience community, one that offers an unusual interspecies flavor and a focus on circuit structure and function. By its very nature, research presented in the meeting is highly interdisciplinary as it brings together experimentalists, theorists and researchers from a range of quantitative disciplines.
Transylvanian Experimental Neuroscience Summer School
Raul Cristian Muresan, Asociatia Transylvanian Institute of Neuroscience
June 1–19, 2026, June 1–19, 2027, June 1–19, 2028
Pike Lake (Sacalaia), Romania
The Transylvanian Experimental Neuroscience Summer School (TENSS) is a hands-on experimental neuroscience course organized annually since 2012, at Pike Lake in Transylvania, Romania. TENSS is a worldwide initiative helping train young brain researchers from developed and less developed countries to understand and use today’s most advanced tools in brain research. The school happens in an idyllic location, without preexisting infrastructure, where students and instructors enjoy the adventure, work hard and build sophisticated research labs from scratch.
