YAU: Shaping the future of urology in Europe

As the European Association of Urology looks toward the next decade of growth, innovation, and global leadership, the Young Academic Urologists (YAU) remain one of its most dynamic and transformative engines. In March 2025, the YAU stands stronger and more cohesive than ever before—an active network of talented clinicians, scientists, and educators spanning the entire continent. Our mission is simple yet ambitious: to shape the future of urology by empowering the next generation of leaders.

The Young Academic Urologists network continues to grow as one of the most dynamic and diverse scientific communities within the EAU. This year’s membership overview includes 117 active members and 101 associate members distributed across 15 working groups, each covering a major area of urology—from robotics and oncology to andrology, functional urology, paediatrics, and digital health.

One of the strengths of the YAU remains its early-career focus: with members up to 40 years of age maximum, ensuring that the initiative stays true to its mission of supporting young urologists in research, training, and leadership. 

The YAU also reflects the international reach of the EAU. This year’s membership spans more than 20 countries, with strong representation from Italy, Spain, Germany, Turkey, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium. The growing involvement of members from Greece, Poland, Switzerland, Ireland, the USA, Hong Kong, and China further underlines the global nature of the working groups.

Although urology remains a male-dominated specialty worldwide, the YAU continues to see improving gender balance: 18% of members are female, with particularly strong representation in Functional Urology, Paediatric Urology, Reconstructive Urology, and Sexual & Reproductive Health. This positive trend reinforces the YAU’s commitment to inclusivity and the promotion of diversity across all scientific areas.

The YAU Board today represents a rich mosaic of European excellence. From Portugal to Romania, from the UK to Poland, from Germany, France, Italy, and beyond, each region of Europe contributes unique strengths to our multidisciplinary structure.

This geographic diversity is not symbolic—it fuels our scientific creativity, enriches our perspectives on patient care, and ensures that our projects reflect the complexity and diversity of European healthcare systems. It also strengthens our commitment to a central value of the EAU: collaboration across borders.

Over the past year, the YAU has continued to produce high-quality scientific output across all units. Many of our groups have led influential multicenter studies, consensus statements, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses that have shaped current clinical practice.

YAU members regularly contribute high-impact articles, educational series, and thematic clusters focusing on emerging scientific areas, like European Urology Open Science or through a partnership with the new Trainees’ corner section on BJU int, YAU members provide commentary, training-oriented manuscripts, and critical reflections on contemporary urological practice. 

Beyond the numbers, publications, and collaborations lies an even more important value: mentorship. The YAU is evolving not only as a scientific group but as a community of mentors committed to supporting young urologists across Europe. All members are leading projects in AI-driven decision support, digital surgical platforms, remote monitoring, and telemedicine.

The YAU has grown into a pillar of the EAU—scientifically, academically, and culturally. Our mission is not merely to train future leaders, but to be those leaders today. The future of urology in Europe is bright because it is shared—built together by established experts, innovators, and a new generation of motivated young academic urologists.

The YAU is proud to be at the center of this journey. And the journey has only just begun.