• 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. Application opens in January 2025 and the deadline to submit your lecture is 13 May 2025.

• 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. Application opens in January 2025 and the deadline to submit your lecture is 13 May 2025.

• 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. Designed especially for Early Career Scientists, these sessions conclude with an interactive Q&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.

• 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 maximum interaction between experts and participants on a specific topic. In these unique sessions, participants gather in a circle — as if around a campfire — without slides or screens. The expert, supported by a moderator, introduces the topic before opening the floor for an engaging, interactive conversation.

The campfire format provides a perfect opportunity to ask your burning questions directly to a leading expert. Limited to a maximum of 80 participants, Campfire Sessions operate on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.

• Educational Update Sessions (E)
  80 minutes; livestreamed; available for in-person and online participants
  These interactive sessions are designed to provide an educational update with an emphasis on new information relevant for clinical practice. During their talks, the speakers engage the participants repeatedly by inviting them to take part in multiple interactive polls on the presented topics. Questions to speakers can be asked from in-person and virtual participants, using the Slido automated system. One of the Educational Update Sessions is hosted by the European Psychiatric Association (EPA).  

Poster Sessions
Once the submitted 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 (AL)
  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. Further details on the ALBA Network can be found here.

• ECNP’s Got Talent – a Contest in Storytelling (T)
  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 (EI)
  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 (NS)
  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 (NFR)
  45 minutes; livestreamed; available for in-person and virtual participants
  A session dedicated to the outputs of the ECNP New Frontiers Meeting 2025 held in March. The New Frontiers Meeting 2025 focuses on the potential for targeting neurocircuitry in mental disorders, and explore how a circuit-based understanding of psychiatric illness is challenging the traditional diagnostic classification.

• Panel discussions (PD)
  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. Some 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. 

• Patient Session (ES)
  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 (RS)
  45 minutes; livestreamed; available for in-person and virtual 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.

Industry Sessions

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)
  80 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.