The widespread availability of artificial intelligence (AI) has shaped many areas of our lives. This year’s conference theme sets out to explore how AI positively and negatively affects all aspects of health and healthcare. On the one hand, AI might support decision making under pressure, alleviate labour market shortages, and speed up pharmacological innovations. On the other hand, it enables the spread of misinformation in health and beyond, threatening social cohesion exacerbated by the loss of unskilled workers’ jobs. Finally, its impact on the research community has great potential, particularly in enhancing productivity, while also posing risks to research integrity and societal trust in scientific outputs.

We are pleased to announce two keynote speakers who are both experts in the consequences and applications of AI in healthcare:

• Helmut Farbmacher (Technical University of Munich)
• Divya Srivastava (City St George’s, University of London)

As in previous years, submissions are welcome from all areas of health economics and health policy, including long-term care, and need not be limited to the conference theme. Empirical, theoretical and policy-oriented contributions from Austria and neighboring countries are particularly encouraged.

For the first time, we will award a prize for the best presentation by a PhD student at the ATHEA conference. The awardee will be selected from those presenting in the designated PhD sessions (as part of the conference), which include a discussion by a senior health economist. Further details on eligibility and deadlines can be found in the submission portal.

Deadline abstract submission (max. 500 words): December 18th, 2026 via the ATHEA Abstract Submission Tool.

Notification of acceptance: February 1^st, 2027

Deadline registration for presenters: February 15^th, 2027

Conference venue: Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS), Josefstädter Straße 39, 1080 Vienna, Austria

Conference languages: English, German

Conference fee: 115 Euro