The Constructive Advanced Thinking (CAT) programme supports small, interdisciplinary teams of early-career researchers to develop innovative ideas through a series of short, funded stays at Institutes for Advanced Study (IASs) across Europe.

CAT is not a traditional research grant but a collaborative format designed to foster exchange, experimentation, and the development of new approaches in a highly interactive and interdisciplinary setting.

The initiative was developed within the Network of European Institutes for Advanced Study (NetIAS) and involves institutes both within and beyond the network, providing access to a wide range of research environments and intellectual communities across Europe.

The Netias debates bring together fellows from the European network on a joint topic. Two or three Institutes team up to coordinate each thematized series of debates. 

The events can be attended both onsite and online.

The Network brought together 22 Institutes for Advanced Study across Europe. It was created in 2004 to stimulate a dialogue on IAS practices and possible forms of cooperation. The participating institutes shared the objective of creating international and multidisciplinary learning communities. This openness and the freedom the fellows enjoyed for their researches served to promote scientific and intellectual exchanges. The fellows, released from their usual teaching and research obligations, pursued their projects in a privileged environment that stimulates reflexion and innovation. IAS tend to break from the intellectual routines, thus fostering the emergence of new perspectives, approaches and paradigms.