The annual Geilo winter schools span a week from Sunday to Friday evening and consist of between 12 and 15 double lecture hours on a selected theme that varies each year. The lectures aim to provide a fundamental introduction to the topic while conveying new research results. The selection of themes emphasizes international trends and specific needs. The lectures are delivered by two to three international experts. Between lectures, time is allocated for informal scientific discussions and networking activities. Experience shows that this setup creates an excellent platform for building connections across institutions and lecture groups. The choice of themes and speakers is made by a national working group.
The winter schools are based on an idea by Aslak Tveito, and were established and organized by Knut-Andreas Lie from 2001 to 2012. (From 2007 to 2010, the winter schools were extended to also include a national researcher meeting in eScience.) Andre Brodtkorb (then at SINTEF) continued the organization from 2013 to 2019, when the task was handed over to Torkel Haufmann.
The schools will be continued at least to 2025 by a third/fourth generation of organizers.