Announcing the Selection of 15 NEW FENS-Kavli Scholars

(Originally published by FENS)

July 4, 2016

FENS-Kavli Network logo

In 2014, FENS and The Kavli Foundation announced the first FENS-Kavli Scholars: twenty young independent European neuroscience investigators, chosen for their scientific excellence and originality of their research, and promises for the future. The number of FENS-Kavli Scholars will soon rise, since a second round of 15 young investigators has now been selected, bringing the total number of scholars to 35.

The mission of the FENS-Kavli scholars is to promote the advancement of neuroscience in Europe and beyond by putting the young investigators in the driver's seat. "As a group of young scientists that have overcome the many difficulties of establishing a successful career in neuroscience, our vision is to promote Neuroscience through scientific exchange and communication but also through influencing science policy so as to establish a more fertile ground for future generations", says Yiota Poirazi, research director at the Institute for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology in Heraklion, Crete and Chair of the FENS-Kavli Network.

Three meetings have been organized since the creation of this group of scholars, leading to new scientific collaborations, the publication of a series of opinion articles in the European Journal of Neuroscience, and the creation of the Best Thesis and Best Mentor in Neuroscience Awards, which were attributed for the first time during the FENS Forum in Copenhagen this year.

"Through the generous support of The Kavli Foundation and in collaboration with FENS, the first cohort of outstanding young neuroscientists was elected in 2014 as the foundation of the FENS-Kavli Network of Excellence. This group has already clearly revealed through meetings and interactions the potential of the Network and its exceptional value of openness, collaboration, diversity in expertise and geographical distribution within the Network. At the FENS Forum in Copenhagen in July 2016, a further 15 outstanding FENS-Kavli Scholars were elected from an extraordinarily strong pool of talented neuroscientists from across Europe. I am confident that the now fully established Network of Excellence will continue to work with energy and enthusiasm to achieve their goals of fostering scientific interaction and collaboration, advocacy and outreach", says Professor Barry Everitt F.R.S., President-Elect of the FENS.

List of the 15 newly selected FENS-Kavli Scholars

Laura Andreae, King's College London, United Kingdom

Tom Baden, University of Sussex, United Kingdom

Laura Cancedda, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy

Megan Carey, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Portugal

Filippo Del Bene, Institut Curie, Paris, France

Ilka Diester, University of Freiburg, Germany

David Dupret, University of Oxford, United Kingdom

Balazs Hangya, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungary

Pirta Hotulainen, Minerva Foundation Institute for Medical Research, Finland

Gregory Jefferis, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Steven Kushner, Erasmus University Medical Center, Netherlands

Gaia Novarino, IST Austria

Marc Spehr, RWTH Aachen University, Germany

Patrik Verstreken, VIB-KU Leuven, Belgium

Claire Wyart, ICM INSERM UPMC, France

The new Scholars were announced by Monica Di Luca during her welcome to the FENS Forum in Copenhagen and further introduced during a ceremony on 5 July as part of the FENS Forum 2016 in Copenhagen. The names and profiles of all Scholars are available on the FENS-Kavli Scholars webpage at www.fenskavlinetwork.org

Neuroscience