European Students Conference

European Students' Conference
Location Berlin, Germany
Founded 1989
Participants active: 400-600, passive: 200-300
Prize money >1 000 EUR
Official website http://www.esc-berlin.com

The European Students' Conference (ESC) is an international scientific conference held annually for a week in October . Run by a team of mostly medical students, ESC is one of the largest student-run biomedical scientific conferences worldwide. It takes place at the Charité Medical School in Berlin, Germany. From the 21st to the 24th September 2011 the conference will be held for the 22nd time and its theme is: "Perspectives and Challenges in Regenerative Medicine".

History

ESC has become one of the main scientific events at the Charité Medical School. Founded in 1989, at the time of major political changes at the then most prestigious medical school of the German Democratic Republic, it is today one of the largest and well-known conferences of its kind. From the onset, the idea behind the ESC was to foster a better relationship between East and West. German reunification in October 1990 created the opportunity to transfer knowledge and to create a closer relationship between medical faculties in East and West. The role of the ESC now is the support of young scientists and the advance of biomedical science on a more international scale.

Topics

22nd European Students Conference

The topic of the 22nd European Students’ Conference in 2011 is “Perspectives and Challenges in Regenerative Medicine”. The objective of the conference is to present and discuss the newest developments and breakthroughs in this innovative medical field. Researchers from all over the world are expected to present their current projects on tissue engineering and cell-reprogramming as well as their various potential applications in different clinical fields. In the last 6 years, the research landscape of regenerative therapies has undergone a huge change. The induction of embryonic stem cells from somatic cells has made it possible to avoid many ethical issues and pharmaceutical companies recognize the huge potential of this field, investing billions into projects which, one day, will provide ways to cure many of the chronic ailments that people suffer, like Parkinson’s disease or diabetes.

Objectives

The ESC is a platform for scientific exchange, as well as for the interaction of:

Program

Emphasis is put on a high quality scientific and educational program. This is realized in scientific sessions, educational workshops and lectures that cover most fields of medicine. In addition to general subjects, each team selects a priority topic that becomes the focus of the respective ESC, e.g. cardiovascular research, regenerative medicine, neuroscience etc.

Structure

Operative team

The ESC is run by an operative team of 5-8 students who are annually selected and appointed by the steering committee and the preceding operative team. Each of the new team members manages a part of the operational process, including project management, scientific coordination, finances, fundraising, public relations, program, logistics and information technology. The operative team receives knowledge support from the active ESC alumni and institutional support from the faculty of Charité Medical School.

Alumni

As an ESC alumni, every member of previous operative teams is encouraged to support the operative team by their knowledge of the process of conducting ESC, and participate in "across-the-board" discussions regarding the ESC.

Steering committee

The ESC steering committee is a group of ESC alumni. After at a least a year, every member of the ESC operational team can subsequently be appointed a member of the steering committee.

The Steering Committee works to:

External links

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