Federation of European Neuroscience Societies

The Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) is an international federation of scientific societies for basic scientists and physicians whose research is focused on the brain and nervous system.

History

The FENS was founded in 1998 to coordinate and present, at the European level, the research of members of national and international European neuroscience societies created in the previous 25 years. It succeeded the European Neuroscience Association, an earlier attempt to federate individual European scientists. The FENS federates existing societies which number today 35, and whose membership totals around 18 000 scientists.

Missions

As a Federation, its purposes are

• to promote coordination between its member societies in order to develop neuroscience research in their respective countries and disciplines,
• to facilitate interaction between neuroscientists from all over the world, particularly Europe, by holding scientific meetings,
• to facilitate the diffusion of scientific information by the publication of a scientific journal (The European Journal of Neuroscience), and other electronic communications,
• to support the education and training of young researchers in neuroscience by delivering information, organising schools and other training programmes, and providing grants for young scientists,
• to promote public understanding and engagement in neuroscience and to advise decision-makers on the results and implications of neuroscience research.

Activities

The FENS organises an international scientific meeting every two years, the FENS Forum of European Neuroscience, which is open to scientists from all over the world. Every meeting takes place in a different European country hosted by its national neuroscience society (Berlin, 1998 ; Brighton, 2000 ; Paris, 2002 ; Lisbon, 2004 ; Vienna, 2006 ; Geneva, 2008; Amsterdam, 2010), and bring together around 5000 participants.
The FENS promotes education in the neurosciences through the Network of European Neuroscience Schools (NENS) and an annual series of lecture-based and practical training courses, the Summer and Winter Schools, organised for graduate students and early career researchers.
The FENS also participates every year in the Brain Awareness Week together with the European Dana Alliance for the Brain (EDAB), which is held simultaneously all over Europe during the same week in March, with a view to promoting public understanding of issues raised by neuroscience research.

Publications

The FENS publishes:

* The [http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journals/ejn/ European Journal of Neuroscience (EJN)] , a monthly peer reviewed scientific journal.

* [http://forum.fens.org FENS Forum Abstracts] , proceedings of the FENS Forums of European Neuroscience.

External links

* [http://www.fens.org FENS homepage]

* [http://forum.fens.org FENS Forum homepage]

* [http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journals/ejn/ European Journal of Neurosciences (EJN)]

* [http://www.europeanbraincouncil.org European Brain Council (EBC)]

* [http://edab.dana.org/ European Dana Alliance for the Brain (EDAB)]

* [http://www.ibro.org International Brain Research Organization (IBRO)]