Workshop Committee

Members 2023-2026
Roger Adan, The Netherlands, Chair
Igor Branchi, Italy
John Cryan, Ireland
Livia De Picker, Belgium
Suzanne Dickson, Sweden
Iria Grande, Spain
Jaanus Harro, Estonia
Sabine Hölter-Koch, Germany
Gitte Knudsen, Denmark
Kim Kuypers, The Netherlands
Anthony Vernon, United Kingdom
Gregers Wegener, Denmark

Purpose and goals
The Workshop Committee is charged with shaping the programme of the ECNP Workshop on Neuropsychopharmacology for Early Career Scientists in Europe, held annually in Nice, France. The committee designs the programme and reviews all abstract submissions, with a view to encompassing forward-looking perspectives on specific topics, and fostering the scientific development of European (pre-) doctorates and medical residents.

Composition
The committee is usually composed of six to eight members. The terms of service is three years. Members can be asked for a second term.

Format of the Workshop
The programme is organised around three recurring topics – molecular and cellular, behavioural and systems, and experimental clinical neuroscience – and one variable topic, with a half-day session devoted to each topic. In each session two senior scientists address specific themes (30 minutes, followed by 10 minutes of discussion). Five shorter presentations by Early Career Scientists follow (10 minutes each, followed by five minutes of discussion).

Tasks
The members of the Workshop Committee are asked to review abstracts, attend the whole Workshop, chair sessions and review posters onsite (see below). Speakers are asked to participate in the whole Workshop and to engage actively in discussion with the Early Career Scientists. The Early Career Scientists are obliged to attend all sessions.

Participants are selected on the basis of the abstract they submit for poster presentation.

Workshop Committee members and speakers can nominate one Early Career Scientist (ECS) to attend. The steps of the nomination and selection process are:

• Abstracts will be reviewed
• An Editorial Board member of the ECNP journal Neuroscience Applied (NSA) will receive the names of the nominees when he/she reviews all abstracts for the selection of participants
• Rejection is possible, if the abstract has an average score lower than 3 (in this case, each individual abstract concerned will be discussed by the chair of the Workshop Committee and the Editorial Board member of NSA responsible for the Workshop abstracts)

The maximum number of participants is 100.

Procedure and timetable
One and a half years ahead of the event, the committee establishes the programme, based on the three recurring topics and the selected variable topic.

In the autumn before the event, the committee, together with members of the Award and Poster Committee (APC), review the abstracts. Based on this first review, the Editorial Board member of NSA decides which abstracts are accepted for publication in a supplement of NSA, with a maximum of 100, in co-operation with the chair of the Workshop Committee. From this list the chair of the Workshop Committee selects the 20 Early Career Scientists (five per topic) that will be invited to give an oral presentation.

All participants have to present a poster during one of the three poster sessions. During the poster sessions at the Workshop, the committee is requested to review the posters presented by the Early Career Scientists to determine who will be:

• Invited to give a presentation during the New Findings Symposium at the next ECNP Congress
• Invited to give a presentation during ECNP's Got Talent Session at the next ECNP Congress
• Awarded a Travel Award to attend the next ECNP Congress

Each poster should preferably be reviewed by two people. Based on the review scores, the chair of the Workshop Committee will make the final selection. A participant can only receive one of the three benefits.

Time commitment
In addition to attendance at the Workshop itself (every year in mid-March, from Thursday evening to Sunday afternoon), the Workshop Committee meets as a committee twice a year: during the Workshop itself in Nice, France; and during the annual ECNP Congress (September/October). If needed Zoom calls are scheduled during the year. Members of the committee commit to attend all meetings and give input by e-mail on specific topics, as needed.

In return, Workshop Committee members receive three nights’ accommodation at the hotel in Nice, France, during the Workshop, plus travel expenses, as well as registration, travel expenses and one night’s accommodation at the ECNP Congress.