New Frontiers Meeting

15-16 March 2026, Nice, France, and virtually

From plasticity to recovery: how we can change the brain

Plasticity is defined as the individual’s capacity to modify brain functioning and behaviour. It plays a fundamental role in psychiatry and applied neuroscience, as it is increasingly recognized as pivotal in the reorganization of the neural and mental processes during the transition from psychopathology to well-being. Enhanced plasticity allows the brain—and, consequently, mental states—to be more capable to change, resulting in significant clinical improvement when directed effectively through structured therapeutic interventions. 

By harnessing plasticity, innovative and effective strategies are emerging to foster recovery, making plasticity both a crucial tool and a promising marker for the future of mental health and precision psychiatry. This year ECNP New Frontiers Meeting will explore how plasticity can be leveraged to promote recovery in mental health and how measuring plasticity can guide the development of new treatments.

The meeting will bring together leading scientists, clinicians, and industry experts to explore how a plasticity-focused approach can redefine psychiatric care and open new avenues for restoring brain health and resilience. 

Registration

Registration for in-person and virtual participation will open on 15 September 2025.

The deadline to apply for in-person participation is 11 November 2025. The deadline to register for virtual participation is 11 March 2026 

Virtual participation means you will get access to the virtual platform where all sessions will be livestreamed, and you will also be able to interact by submitting questions using the interactive Q&A platform Slido. More information will be available soon.

Support opportunities

If your company or organisation would like to be an official supporter of the meeting, please contact us.

Committee

Meet the committee members here.

Terms and conditions

For the terms and conditions, click here.

New Frontiers Concept

Neuroscience is facing a crisis in the translation of fundamental advances into new treatments. The crisis has seen a significant slowing-down in the development of new and better therapies, and widespread disinvestment from the field, especially in Europe. The ECNP New Frontiers Meeting was launched to help tackle this critical challenge. As Europe’s leading independent scientific association for the science and treatment of disorders of the brain, ECNP is in a unique position to provide a neutral, precompetitive platform for the exchange of insights and ideas across the spectrum of CNS research and development.

Past meetings

Check the previous meetings here:

ECNP New Frontiers Meeting 2025

23-24 March, Nice, France, and virtually

Targeting neural circuits in psychiatry

More info can be found here.

ECNP New Frontiers Meeting 2024

17-18 March, Nice, France

A consensus roadmap for a new diagnostic framework for mental disorders

Expert speakers together with the participants explored how the new pathways neurobiology is opening to precision diagnostics have the potential to transform neuropsychiatric treatment science.
Scientists, industry leaders, patient representatives, and regulators were invited to join the event virtually through access to the livestreamedsessions on our virtual platform.

Programme  Summary paper 

ECNP New Frontiers Meeting 2023

19-20 March, Nice, France

Psychedelics

This meeting is an essential platform for focused, high-level exchange at the intersection of research science and the development of psychedelics as new treatments for brain disorders. In 2023, the meeting was held in Nice, France, and virtually by livestream.

The major topics of discussion will be molecular mechanisms and pharmacology, neuroimaging, psychological variables, clinical trials, regulatory requirements, and patient perspectives.

Programme

Who is this meeting for?
The meeting is designed for stakeholders interested in exploring how psychedelics are currently re-emerging as therapeutic agents at a much more comprehensively examined level than 50 years ago. The meeting will provide a state-of-the-art overview of where we stand today, and what needs to be achieved in order to move forward with some of these powerful, but scheduled compounds.

Recommended publications

ECNP New Frontiers Meeting 2022

20-21 March 2022, Nice, France

Digital Health

This face-to-face meeting is an essential platform for focused, high-level exchange at the intersection of research science and new treatment development.

Topics of the meeting were:

  • Decentralised trials in CNS
  • Digital (mobile) endpoints
  • Digital therapeutics

Programme 2022

Who is this meeting for?
This meeting is designed for stakeholders from IT, pharma and medical devices industry, regulators, and patient and family associations who are interested in exploring how digital health is going to change the way clinical trials are run and the future of digital therapeutics for brain disorders.