In April 2011, over 300 people convened at the University of Amsterdam to attend the European Ayahuasca Research Symposium (http://www.stichtingopen.nl/ears/), a half-day seminar cosponsored by Stichting OPEN and MAPS. The Symposium brought together researchers from across Europe who over the last few years have been studying ayahuasca and DMT within the disciplines of anthropology, neuroscience, psychology and religious studies. The next morning, the presenters from the seminar were joined by other European ayahuasca scholars for a closed-door researcher workgroup intended to stimulate future ayahuasca research and possible collaborations in Europe. The workgroup succeeded in building a shared knowledge base of ongoing and planned ayahuasca research, in facilitating discussions on methodology and obtaining institutional approvals for research, and in developing personal and professional contacts among the few ayahuasca researchers currently based in Europe. This short report shares some of the highlights of the workgroup.