Supporting early-career Epilepsy Experts

An important mission of the ERN EpiCARE is to support education and training of early-career experts already working in the field of rare and complex epilepsies.

The program includes support for participation at scientific congresses in the field of epilepsies and Mentor Mentee program.

Participation at epilepsy scientific congresses and workshops

One of the concrete actions in that aim, recently decided by the Executive Committee following a proposal of the Education and Training Working Group, is to support up to 10 participants per year at major scientific congresses in the field, held in Europe:

The support will not exceed 1000€ and can only cover, based on the presentation of receipts, registration fees, accommodation expenses corresponding to the dates of the congress and travel. The candidate(s) selected will be reimbursed after the congress.

Requirements for candidates: 

The candidates will have to provide one page CV, the abstract submitted and accepted by the congress + letter with a few lines outlining the benefits that attendance at the congress would provide for the candidate as well as his/her desired future involvement in the field of rare and complex epilepsies. 

  • Must be a member of the junior healthcare staff (<3 year since completion of training), residents, fellows or PhD students working in one of the Full or Affiliated members of EpiCARE (Certificate from Head of Dpt requested).
  • Must be the first AND presenting author of an already accepted communication (oral or poster), and physically present at the congress (attendance to the congress will be requested).
  • The topic treated MUST be related to rare and/or complex epilepsies and represent original work (invited lectures are excluded).
  • The candidates will be asked to attest that they did NOT receive full support from their Institution or Pharma. 
  • In case of partial support, candidates remain eligible, but will be requested to provide information on amount received and type of support (ex. Registration fee etc.) 
  • The candidate engages to knowledge ERN EpiCARE support to all future scientific publications related to the topic. 

All applications will be evaluated by the EpiCARE Education and training WG and the Research Council. Only applications received at the latest 6 weeks before the date of the congress will be considered for evaluation. Applications  will be assessed according to scientific content with respect of all the above mentioned requirements. 

 For any questions or help in the submission, please contact Laura Roig, EpiCARE Communication Manager.

European Epilepsy Congress, Geneva, July 9th-13th (2022)

Congratulation Giulia Galati, Alberto Cossu and Samuel Hakansson for their great work. 

European Paediatric Neurology Society , Glasgow, 28th April - 2nd May (2022)

Congratulation to Erica Cognolato, and Evelina Carapancea.

Mentor Mentee Program

The aim of the EpiCARE Mentor-Mentee program is to guide junior neurologists or child neurologists with competence or interest in epileptology in achieving a wide range of objectives. These include acquiring practical skills, personal and professional development, research opportunities, expertise in publishing and grant applications, and academic growth.

Supporting our young members is a core value of ERN EpiCARE. We strive to strengthen professional relationships between different generations of epileptologists, enabling senior neurologists and neuro-pediatricians to share their knowledge with young clinicians and foster a strong epilepsy culture across Europe.

Pilot phase of the Mentor-Mentee ERN EpiCARE program

The Mentor-Mentee ERN EpiCARE program is now underway in its pilot phase, with 5 areas of expertise
currently available.

In this first edition, five mentors and five mentees will be selected, with a limit of one mentee per mentor.

Four mentorships are underway:
– Genotype-Phenotype correlations (Mentor: Rikke MÖLLER, Danish Epilepsy Center, Denmark)
– Neuroimaging, including Functional (Mentor: Giorgi KUCHUKHIDZE, Salzburg, Austria)
– Neurophysiology (Mentor: Elena TARTARA, Fondazione Mondino, Pavia, Italy)
– Pre-surgical evaluation in children (Mentor: Victoria SAN ANTONIO, Freiburg, Germany)

Currently available mentorship area is:
– Neonatal Epilepsies (Mentor: Carmen FONS, Hospital San Juan de Dios, Barcelona)

Contact for more information and application: [email protected]