I look back at our very successful annual congress last month in Milan with great joy: it was a blast! Together with nearly 7,000 participants we were treated to an excellent scientific and educational programme across a diverse array of stimulating formats. In this message I would like to express some words of thanks and highlight the degree to which the success of the congress built on the dedication, energy and creativity of many people.
First, I would like to give a big ‘thank you’ to the Scientific Programme Committee for selecting and implementing the rich variety of content the meeting offered. Many excellent symposium proposals were received, and generating such a complete and balanced programme from them is a challenging undertaking. A special word of thanks to John Cryan, the chair of the committee, who has been driving this important task for the past three years very successfully. Many thanks, John! Thank you too to the more than 300 speakers, chairs and discussants who shared their latest science and knowledge and helped create such a vibrant atmosphere. And a warm welcome to Barbara Franke, who will be leading the Scientific Programme Committee for the upcoming three congresses. Also, not to be forgotten: the External Review Board of ECNP, chaired by Naiomi Fineberg. Thanks for your wise advice and many helpful insights.
Many thanks to the almost 1,900 poster presenters and congrats to the 84 Excellence Award and ten Poster Award winners. In light of that, I also would like to thank the 15 members of the Abstract and Poster Committee, which has been devotedly chaired already for many years by Eric Ruhé. Many thanks, Eric! Also, please be aware that all abstracts are read prior to acceptance by the Abstract and Poster Committee and the members of the Scientific Advisory Panel. I would like to express a special debt to Jaanus Harro, who should be thanked enormously for his work as field editor for all abstracts of the congress, but also of our annual ECNP Workshop on Applied Neuroscience.
Also, as part of the congress Welcome Session, I had the pleasure of congratulating seven prize winners in various categories. These prizes recognise special achievements in the field of applied neuroscience research. Several of them are conferred every year following a careful review process by the Award Committee. Many thanks to the committee for this important task, and especially to the committee chair, Eduard Vieta!
At the congress, I also had the first in-person meeting with the inaugural group of 20 selected Early Career Academy members, which was really great. Excellent ideas to further shape the Academy and to initiate activities were discussed, and I am looking forward to future developments. Please watch out for the application call for the next 20 new members that will be selected for the Academy.
It was exciting to be able to launch the ECNP Knowledge Hub, which is our new online one-stop learning platform. At the congress three new courses developed by the ECNP Networks opened for registration on: resilience, body and brain interactions, and traumatic stress; please make sure to register.
Furthermore, a big word of thanks to the ECNP Office. Their work behind the scenes is enormous, and I believe ECNP can be very proud of what they do for their membership and beyond. Under the excellent leadership of Alex Schubert, the office is blooming and highly determined to realise ECNP’s ambitions.
Finally, many thanks to the Executive Committee members who are so key in shaping ECNP’s future. It is a great pleasure to work with you and I am looking forward to the road ahead of us!