Types of sessions
The 37th ECNP Congress offers a variety of scientific sessions designed to appeal to a wide range of participants.
All the sessions will be available for in-person participants. Most of the sessions will also be available for virtual participants.
The livestreamed sessions will be recorded for on-demand viewing by registered participants until 18 December 2024 at 12.00 (CET – Central European Time).
For an overview of the programme, click here.
Scientific Sessions
- Innovative Sessions
✓ ALBA Network Diversity & Inclusion Session (IN)
✓ ECNP’s Got Talent (IN)
✓ ECNP Inspired Sessions (IN)
✓ Neuroscience-based Nomenclature Session (IN)
✓ New Frontiers Session (IN)
✓ Panel discussions (IN)
✓ Patient Session (IN)
✓ Regulatory Spotlight Session (IN)
Industry Sessions
Scientific Sessions
Keynote Lecture (KN)
60 minutes (including welcome speech); livestreamed; available for in-person and virtual participants
Opening with a welcome by the ECNP President, the Keynote Lecture is given by a world-renowned speaker and formally launches the ECNP scientific programme. All participants are invited to join it! More details on this page.
Plenary Lectures (PL)
45 minutes; livestreamed; available for in-person and virtual participants
The six Plenary Lectures at the ECNP Congress are given by internationally-recognised eminent scientists and are the backbone of the scientific programme. Two of the six lectures are given by the 2024
ECNP Neuropsychopharmacology Award winner and by the Brain Prize Winner.
Read more.
Symposia and other presentations
- Symposia (S)
80 minutes; livestreamed; available for in-person and virtual participants
In these traditional ECNP Symposia, four top experts on a specific topic – led by a chair – map out the state of the field and present their most recent findings. Each speaker has 15 minutes to present their data followed by Q&A. Questions can be asked from in-person and virtual participants.
- Breaking Hot Topic Symposium (S)
80 minutes; livestreamed; available for in-person and virtual participants
The Breaking Hot Topic Symposium offers an opportunity to present and discuss the timeliest science during a short talk. Speakers are selected by the Scientific Programme Committee (SPC) from open submission.
- New Findings in Applied Neuroscience (S)
80 minutes; livestreamed; available for in-person and virtual participants
New Findings in Applied Neuroscience is a special symposium that gives six promising Early Career Scientists – selected from the best research presented at the ECNP Workshop on Applied Neuroscience – the opportunity to present their latest findings. Each lecture ends with Q&A time. Questions can be asked from in-person and virtual participants.
- New Medications Symposium (S)
80 minutes; livestreamed; available for in-person and virtual participants
The New Medications Symposium is a special symposium dedicated to clinical trials of new compounds, including proof of concept and post-marketing studies, using data from human trials. The selected speakers – led by a chair – present their data on new medications during a short presentation followed by Q&A. Questions can be from in-person and virtual participants.
- Career Development Sessions (CD)
45 minutes; livestreamed; available for in-person and virtual participants
The Career Development Sessions are training sessions with a leading expert in the field. The topics of these sessions focus on building your scientific career – writing scientific papers, improving presentation skills, creating a spin-off company or finding a job in the industry are just a few examples – and are especially interesting for Early Career Scientists. The session ends with Q and A.
- Love Your Brain Sessions (LB)
30 minutes; livestreamed; available for in-person and virtual participants
These sessions – each led by a single speaker– focus on the importance of prevention of brain disorders and promotion of mental health through a healthy and brain-friendly lifestyle. These sessions will explore neuroscience from a different perspective! The presentation of the speaker is followed by a short Q&A time.
- Top Paper Sessions (TP)
30 minutes; livestreamed; available for in-person and virtual participants
During the Top Paper Sessions, distinguished speakers present and discuss four papers published during the last year, which they consider clinically most important and cutting-edge in their discipline. These sessions are a great way to get up-to-speed with the latest developments in research.
Interactive Sessions
- Campfire Sessions (CA)
45 minutes; only available for in-person participants
The Campfire Sessions allow for the maximum interaction between experts on a certain topic and participants. Sitting in a circle as if around a campfire – and without slides and screens – the expert, with the help of a moderator, will first introduce the topic followed by a conversation with the participants. It is an easy and accessible way to pose your burning question(s) to a leading expert. The in-person only Campfire Sessions have a capacity of max. 80 persons, on a 'first come, first served' basis.
- Educational Update Sessions (E)
80 minutes; livestreamed; available for in-person and online participants
These sessions are designed to provide an educational update with emphasis on new information relevant for clinical practice. They focus on a continuous dialogue between the two speakers and the participants. During their talks, the speakers will engage the participants by inviting them to take part in an interactive poll on the presented topics. Each presentation ends with the Q&A. Questions to speakers can be asked from in-person and online participants. One of the Educational Update Sessions (E06) is hosted by the European Psychiatric Association (EPA).
Poster Sessions
Once the abstracts have been reviewed the accepted abstracts will be added to the programme.
- Poster (P) and ePoster Sessions (EP)
- Poster Sessions: available for in-person participants in the poster area. The abstracts accepted for in-person presentation will be presented by means of a paper poster.
- ePoster Sessions: available for in-person and virtual participants.
All posters from accepted abstracts are also available via the congress platform as ePosters, starting from the first day of the congress.
Innovative Sessions
- ALBA Network Diversity & Inclusion Session (IN)
45 minutes; livestreamed; available for in-person and virtual participants
The general goal of this session is to raise awareness of gender and diversity issues in brain sciences and to disseminate positive practices countering discrimination.
- ECNP’s Got Talent (IN)
60 minutes; livestreamed; available for in-person and virtual participants
For this innovative format, ECNP challenges four Early Career Scientists to explain their research to a lay public audience. The contest is not about what you present, but how you present — 'storytelling' and 'engagement' are key concepts. Their performances will be evaluated by a jury and the best one will receive an award.
- ECNP Inspired – The stories behind the researcher and the research (IN)
45 minutes; livestreamed; available for in-person and virtual participants
‘Inspiration’ can be defined as an event that reveals a new truth to our mind, guiding us to new acts or a new perspective about our life and work. The ECNP Inspired Session gives the stage to speakers that will inspire you by giving a short talk on their experiences as researchers and clinicians.
- Neuroscience-based Nomenclature Session (IN)
45 minutes; livestreamed; available for in-person and virtual participants
The Neuroscience-based Nomenclature (NbN) is a pharmacologically driven nomenclature for medications with CNS indications, and updated continuously. It is a result from an unprecedented collaboration between the five leading CNS pharmacological organisations: The European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP), The International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP), American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP), Asian College of Neuropsychopharmacology (AsCNP) and International Union of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR). During this session, presenters from the NbN taskforce will present how the NbN has been developed and illustrate how to use it.
- New Frontiers Session (IN)
45 minutes; livestreamed; available for in-person and virtual participants
A session dedicated to the outputs of the ECNP New Frontiers Meeting 2024 held in March. The New Frontiers Meeting 2024 aims to reach a consensus roadmap for building a new diagnostic framework for mental disorders by discussing its rationale, outlook, and consequences with stakeholders.
- Panel discussions (IN)
45 minutes; livestreamed; available for in-person and virtual participants
Panel discussions host a selected group of panellists who discuss and share differing perspectives about a specific topic. A moderator will guide the panel and the audience through the session. The two discussants will offer opinions and respond to audience questions either through questions curated by the moderator or taken from the in-person and online participants. Most of our panel discussions are organised in collaboration with partner organisations, such as the European Brain Council (EBC) and European Academy of Neurology (EAN), strengthening the missing to improve brain health together. Sessions IN10 and IN07 are examples of these collaborative efforts.
- Patient Session (IN)
45 minutes; livestreamed; available for in-person and virtual participants
ECNP is committed to ensuring that advances in the understanding of the brain are translated into better treatments and enhanced public health. Hence, one of the goals of ECNP is to facilitate the dialogue between researchers, regulators, government bodies, and patients. As such, each year the Congress organises and hosts this session with patient organisations, on a specific topic.
- Regulatory Spotlight Session (IN)
45 minutes; livestreamed; available for in-person and online participants
This is a special regulatory dialogue session with the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Designed for open and active engagement amongst EMA stakeholders, the session is an excellent opportunity for scientific and regulatory exchange.
These industry sessions are organised with financial support from industry and are reviewed for balance and rigour by the Scientific Programme Committee (SPC).
- Industry Satellite Symposia (ISS)
90 minutes; livestreamed; available for in-person and virtual participants if applicable
These industry sessions are scientifically oriented and have a well-balanced programme (e.g. not concentrating on one specific medication). The programmes are not organised in parallel with the official ECNP scientific programme
- Industry Mini Sessions (IMS)
45 minutes; livestreamed; available for in-person and virtual participants if applicable
These scientifically oriented mini sessions have a well-balanced programme and are not organised in parallel with the official ECNP scientific programme.
- Industry Interactive Discussions (IID)
30 minutes; not-livestreamed; available for in-person participants only.
These interactive sessions offer the opportunity to move from commercial oriented exposure to more focused, scientifically driven engagement with participants. This format allows for close interaction with participants on a specific topic. After a short introduction by the expert(s), the session is focuses on interactive discussion with the audience. The programmes take place in parallel with the official ECNP scientific programme.
- Industry Product Theatre (IPT)
30 minutes; livestreamed; available for in-person and virtual participants, if applicable
These high-value sessions provide a podium for industry to present to participants on a broad range of issues, including new treatment approaches, medical devices, digital health apps, the uses of specific medications, clinical insights, innovative services and product demonstrations. The programmes take place in parallel with the official ECNP scientific programme.
- Industry Case Study (ICS)
30 minutes; not-livestreamed; available for in-person participants only.
These interactive sessions provide participants with the opportunity to discuss the application of medicines, devices, and/or treatment strategies in real-world clinical settings. After a short introduction, the session focuses on interactive discussion and problem solving with the industry expert(s). The programmes take place in parallel with the official ECNP scientific programme.