ICPR 2026: Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research

What Is ICPR?

ICPR — the Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research — is Europe's leading academic conference dedicated to psychedelic research and therapy. Organized by the OPEN Foundation and held biennially in the Netherlands, ICPR brings together researchers, clinicians, and scholars from disciplines including neuroscience, psychiatry, pharmacology, anthropology, and ethics to present and discuss the current state of psychedelic science.

The conference was established to fill a critical gap in the European research landscape. While events such as the MAPS Psychedelic Science conference serve a similar function in North America, ICPR has become the primary venue for the European psychedelic research community — and increasingly draws international presenters and attendees. Its explicitly interdisciplinary mandate distinguishes it from purely clinical or pharmacological symposia, fostering dialogue between the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and clinical practice.

Since its inception, ICPR has grown into one of the most respected gatherings in the field globally. The conference covers research on a wide range of psychoactive substances, including psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, DMT, ayahuasca, mescaline, and ketamine, as well as broader topics such as meditation-induced altered states, therapeutic frameworks, and the sociocultural dimensions of psychedelic use. This breadth reflects the understanding that psychedelic science cannot be fully comprehended through any single disciplinary lens.

ICPR 2026: Dates, Location, and Organizer

The 7th edition of ICPR takes place June 4–6, 2026 at PHIL Haarlem in the Netherlands. A dedicated pre-conference workshop day is scheduled for June 3, 2026, the day before the main conference program begins.

Key Details

About the OPEN Foundation

The OPEN Foundation is a Netherlands-based non-profit organization that promotes scientific research into psychedelics and supports the integration of psychedelic science into mainstream medicine and psychology. Founded in 2007, the organization has played a central role in fostering the European psychedelic research community through conference organization, research funding, educational activities, and public engagement. The OPEN Foundation has organized every edition of ICPR since its founding.

About the Venue

PHIL Haarlem is a cultural center located in the historic city of Haarlem, situated approximately 20 kilometers west of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The venue provides a modern conference facility within the context of a culturally vibrant city, easily accessible from Schiphol Airport and Amsterdam's central transportation hub.

Who Attends ICPR?

ICPR attracts a diverse and international audience that reflects the conference's interdisciplinary character. Typical attendees include academic researchers conducting clinical trials, neuroimaging studies, or qualitative research on psychedelics; clinical psychologists and psychiatrists working with psychedelic-assisted therapies; pharmacologists and neuroscientists investigating mechanisms of action; anthropologists and ethnobotanists studying traditional use of plant medicines; policy analysts and legal scholars tracking regulatory developments; therapists and counselors interested in emerging therapeutic modalities; graduate students and early-career researchers presenting their work; and journalists and science communicators covering the field.

The conference's commitment to interdisciplinarity means that sessions often bring together perspectives that might rarely interact in more specialized settings. A presentation on the neuropharmacology of DMT may be followed by a discussion of indigenous shamanic traditions, or a clinical trial report may be juxtaposed with an ethical analysis of psychedelic therapy access. This cross-pollination of ideas is widely regarded as one of ICPR's most distinctive features.

Main Themes in the Conference Program

While the complete program for ICPR 2026 is announced closer to the event date, the conference has historically covered a consistent set of core research themes that reflect the field's primary areas of inquiry.

Clinical Research and Therapeutic Applications

Clinical trials and therapeutic applications typically form a major component of ICPR programming. Research presented at previous editions has covered psychedelic-assisted therapy for treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, anxiety associated with terminal illness, substance use disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Studies involving psilocybin, MDMA, LSD, ayahuasca, and ketamine have all featured in past ICPR programs. The conference provides a venue for researchers to present results from ongoing trials, discuss methodological challenges, and examine the therapeutic frameworks being developed for clinical use.

Neuroscience and Pharmacology

Presentations on the neurobiological mechanisms underlying psychedelic experiences are a staple of the conference. Topics have included serotonin 5-HT2A receptor pharmacology, default mode network dynamics, neuroplasticity, and the relationship between subjective experience and measurable brain changes. This research stream is critical for understanding how psychedelics produce their effects and for developing safer, more targeted therapeutic protocols.

Anthropology, Culture, and History

ICPR consistently includes sessions examining the cultural and historical dimensions of psychedelic use. This encompasses ethnobotanical research on traditional plant medicines including ayahuasca, San Pedro cactus, and peyote; historical analyses of psychedelic use across cultures; the sociology of contemporary psychedelic communities; and critical examinations of cultural appropriation and indigenous intellectual property rights. These sessions reflect a recognition that psychedelic research cannot be fully understood without its cultural context.

Ethics, Policy, and Regulation

As psychedelic-assisted therapies approach regulatory approval in various jurisdictions, questions of ethics, policy, and regulation have become increasingly prominent at ICPR. Topics include informed consent in psychedelic research, equitable access to psychedelic therapies, the legal frameworks governing psychedelic substances, and the ethical implications of commercializing therapies derived from indigenous knowledge traditions.

Safety, Risk, and Harm Reduction

The responsible conduct of psychedelic research requires careful attention to safety considerations, and this topic receives dedicated attention at ICPR. Presentations have addressed adverse event reporting, contraindications, the management of challenging experiences, screening protocols, and harm reduction strategies applicable both to clinical settings and to non-clinical contexts where psychedelic use occurs.

ICPR 2026 Workshops

ICPR 2026 includes a pre-conference workshop day on June 3, 2026 — the day before the main conference begins. Workshop days are a hallmark of ICPR's programming, offering participants the opportunity for deeper engagement with specific topics in a more focused, interactive format than the main conference sessions typically allow.

Three workshops have been officially announced for the ICPR 2026 workshop day:

1. Psychedelics, Peace Building & Collective Liberation

This workshop explores the intersection of psychedelic experiences with social justice, conflict resolution, and collective healing. It addresses the question of how insights from psychedelic research and practice might contribute to broader societal processes of reconciliation and liberation — a topic that has gained increasing attention as the field grapples with questions of equity, access, and the social dimensions of psychedelic healing.

2. Psychedelics, Grief & End-of-Life Care

This workshop focuses on the application of psychedelic-assisted approaches in the context of grief, bereavement, and end-of-life care. Research on psilocybin-assisted therapy for anxiety and existential distress in patients with terminal illness has been among the most compelling findings in modern psychedelic science, with trials at Johns Hopkins University and New York University demonstrating significant and sustained reductions in anxiety and depression. This workshop provides a focused space for clinicians, researchers, and practitioners to discuss these applications in depth.

3. MDMA-Assisted Therapy for Couples

This workshop examines the emerging application of MDMA-assisted therapy in the context of couples therapy and relational healing. MDMA's characteristic effects — including enhanced emotional openness, reduced fear response, and increased feelings of trust and empathy — have led researchers and clinicians to explore its potential as an adjunct to couples therapy, particularly for relationships affected by trauma. This workshop addresses the clinical rationale, practical considerations, and current evidence base for this therapeutic approach.

Why ICPR Matters in Psychedelic Research

ICPR occupies a distinctive position in the global psychedelic research landscape for several interconnected reasons.

First, its European location provides a critical counterbalance to the North American concentration of psychedelic research activity. While major research institutions and conferences are clustered in the United States and Canada, ICPR ensures that the European research community — including influential programs at Imperial College London, Charité Berlin, University of Zurich, and Leiden University — has a home conference where their work is presented and discussed in an appropriate context.

Second, ICPR's explicitly interdisciplinary format creates conditions for the kind of cross-disciplinary fertilization that is essential in a field as multifaceted as psychedelic science. The decision to bring neuroscientists, clinicians, anthropologists, ethicists, and policy analysts into the same program is deliberate and reflects a sophisticated understanding of the complexity of psychedelic research.

Third, the conference plays a role in shaping the research agenda. The topics that receive prominent attention at ICPR — and the questions raised during discussions — influence the direction of future research and the priorities of funding bodies. In a field evolving rapidly, this agenda-setting function is significant.

Fourth, ICPR provides a networking environment that fosters international collaboration. Many multi-site research projects and cross-institutional partnerships have originated from connections made at the conference. For early-career researchers in particular, ICPR offers visibility and access to the broader research community that can be pivotal for career development.

How ICPR Fits Into the Broader Psychedelic Landscape

Understanding ICPR in its broader context requires situating it within the dramatic developments in psychedelic research and policy that have occurred over the past two decades. The so-called "psychedelic renaissance" — the resurgence of rigorous scientific research into psychedelic substances after decades of prohibition-driven stagnation — has produced a growing body of evidence suggesting therapeutic potential for several serious psychiatric conditions.

This research trajectory has created a corresponding need for professional infrastructure: peer-reviewed journals, regulatory pathways, training programs, ethical guidelines, and — critically — conferences where the research community can meet, present, and debate. ICPR fills this need within the European context, complementing the broader international conference ecosystem.

For audiences interested in the traditions documented elsewhere on this site — ayahuasca, Amazonian shamanism, and sacred plant medicine — the relevance of conferences like ICPR lies in their role as bridges between traditional knowledge and modern science. Research on ayahuasca presented at ICPR and similar conferences draws on both the pharmacological analysis of the brew's active compounds and the ethnobotanical documentation of its traditional use. This dialogue between scientific and traditional ways of knowing is one of the most intellectually productive — and ethically delicate — aspects of the contemporary psychedelic research field.

The inclusion of anthropological and cultural perspectives at ICPR reflects an acknowledgment that the substances under scientific investigation were not discovered in laboratories but have been used within indigenous healing traditions for centuries or millennia. The challenge of conducting rigorous scientific research while respecting the cultural origins and ongoing significance of these practices is a recurring theme at the conference — and a topic of vital importance for the responsible development of the field.