The primary focus of the Stockholm summit was on the training program of a new generation of European neurotechnologists. The meeting, which was attended by more than two hundred participants, included a large-scale conference, two scientific symposia and six specialized sessions. One of the key topics discussed was the social and health integration of technologies ranging from artificial intelligence to wearable devices.
Photo: Per Groth
Secretary General of NeurotechEU Mark Vlek de Coningh highlighted the active on-site presence of the University of Debrecen and its commitment to continuing the joint cooperation. As a consequence of current EU restrictions affecting Hungarian higher education, the University of Debrecen is participating in the activities of the alliance at present only as an associate member. Nevertheless, our delegation arrived at the general assembly following a decision made by the leaders of the partner universities that had formally confirmed that they would continue to regard the University of Debrecen as an essential founding member of the consortium. In fact, the rectors assured our institution of their support, guaranteeing that the involvement of students and researchers from the University of Debrecen in educational and mobility programs would continue at the maximum level permitted by the current legal framework, paving the way for immediate full reintegration as soon as the regulatory obstacles could be removed.
During the course of the professional programs, light was also shed on innovative concepts such as the European digital neuroscience research infrastructure of EBRAINS as well as the importance of entrepreneurial education for deep-tech innovators.
Photo: Per Groth
This event also marked the launch of the digital platform of NeurotechEU Museum of Brain and Technology and a shift in the presidency of the Governing Board. The outgoing vice-rector of the University of Lille Kathleen O’Connor was succeeded by Ilona Carmen Grunwald Kadow of the University of Bonn and Kamilla Rún Jóhannsdóttir of the University of Reykjavík.
Furthermore, it was revealed that Canada’s Western University would join NeurotechEU as its first non-European global partner. This new partnership is expected to reinforce NeurotechEU’s mission to promote interdisciplinary innovation in brain and neurotechnology sciences.
Photo: Per Groth
Recalling the earlier thoughts of Professor Robert Harris concerning the professional and structural challenges facing the alliance, Martin Bergö, Vice President of Karolinska Institutet, summed up the chief message of the summit in his concluding remarks by stating that, in NeurotechEU, “TECH” stands for “Together, Everything Can Happen.”
The representatives of the University of Debrecen at the meeting were Ferenc Kun, our institution’s Commissioned Scientific Vice President; Péter Szücs, Head of the Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology at the Faculty of Medicine; Orsolya Gregán, Head of the Center for International R&D Relations; Zoltán Mészár, Assistant Professor at the Department of Histology and Embryology of the Faculty of Medicine, and Lídia Gömöri, a candidate at UD’s Doctoral School of Neuroscience and a member of the Talent Development Committee of the Hungarian Neuroscience Society.
Photo: Per Groth
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