With great excitement, I am looking forward to the upcoming 36th ECNP Congress in Barcelona, 7-10 October. The congress programme is outstanding, with a fantastic range of sessions lined up for you, including an inspiring keynote lecture by Sheena Josselyn, and six excellent plenary lectures in the field of applied neuroscience research by Oscar Marín, Deanna Barch, Asya Rolls, Sergiu Pasca, Peter Goadsby and Kafui Dzirasa.
With 21 symposia, 23 campfires, and 10 other sessions, as well as Top Paper sessions, Educational Update sessions, Career Development sessions, and Love Your Brain sessions, the programme provides highly diverse ways of discussing advancements in the field.
The Barcelona congress will also offer a great venue to meet fundamental and clinical neuroscience researchers, clinicians, regulators, as well as patient organisations and industry representatives. With currently more than 5,600 registrations and almost 1,500 poster presentations, we are confident that there will be ample occasion to meet and discuss the latest developments or your next collaborative applied neuroscience project. If you haven't already signed up for the 36th ECNP Congress 2023, make sure to register here or onsite.
In the meantime, new developments within ECNP are being rolled out. For example, two pilot ECNP Courses on anxiety disorders and on ADHD started very successfully just before the summer, and the course participants will have their first in-person meeting during the congress.
Furthermore, following a productive collaboration with the Executive Committee, the Early Career Advisory Panel, and the Network Task Force, ECNP will launch the Early Career Academy at the congress. This Academy will further foster interactions between Early Career Scientists and other ECNP initiatives, such as their participation in our 20+ ECNP Networks and Thematic Working Groups. Also, at the congress we will have a formative meeting giving rise to a public-private partnership roundtable for precompetitive research collaborations.
Finally, to further shape the future outlook of applied neuroscience research, I am looking forward to presenting at the upcoming Brain Innovation Days in Brussels. This meeting, organised by the European Brain Council, is focusing on “The brain in the 21st century” and on how to provide better brain health for future generations. As an important outlook for 2024, I should also highlight the upcoming New Frontiers Meeting that will be held in March in Nice. The organising committee has finalised the programme, which aims to set the stage for a roadmap towards a new diagnostic framework for mental disorders. It will be posted shortly. Stay tuned for the registration of this meeting opening, after the congress.
But first, hope to see you all soon in Barcelona!