Creation of a Mediterranean Neuroscience Society (MNS)
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1
Alexandria University, Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Egypt
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2
CNRS -Universite Aix-Marseille, INCM, France
We are a number of neuroscientists who think that time has come to create a Mediterranean Neuroscience Society (MNS). Thanks to Y. Ben-Ari, M. Bennis and M. Moftah who have volunteered to organize the three editions, we are now in a position to move a step forward. Clearly, volunteers for organizing this conference under difficult conditions (especially in the south), will become rapidly as rare as diamonds! The existence of a “Mediterranean Neuroscience Society” will make the organization of events more professional, resting on elected colleagues for handling all related issues.
Why create a MNS? The mediterranean conference of neuroscience will be organized for the 3rd time next December in Alexandria (Egypt), after two previous successful editions (Montpellier 1997; Marrakech 2006). This conference gathers now more than 200 participants, and offers a rich program with lectures, symposia and poster sessions. It is with no doubt a major event that we should sustain for not only the exchanges that it creates, but also the training opportunity it provides for students.
The Society will contribute to the realization of the Barcelona Declaration which states that “The participants recognize that the traditions of culture, civilization throughout the Mediterranean region, dialogue between these cultures and exchanges of human, scientific and technological level are an essential factor in bringing their peoples closer, promoting understanding between them and improving their perception of each other”.
Objectives and mission of the Society: Research on brain function in health and disease is among the priorities for today’s societies, and several indicators put the mediterranean research area among strategic issues for EU. Many South-North collaborations and networks have emerged in recent years through bilateral and multi-lateral actions, supported by the EU or by regional actions, whether for setting up teaching curricula (Tempus programs), or building human potential (FP7 programs). The creation of the MNS will help strengthen initiatives that bring together mediterranean neuroscience researchers.
More specifically, the mission of the Society is to:
1. Advance the understanding of the brain and the nervous system by bringing together scientists of diverse backgrounds, and by encouraging translational research and the application of new scientific knowledge to improve disease treatments and cures.
2. Provide professional development activities, information, and educational resources for neuroscientists at all stages of their careers, including undergraduates, graduates, and postdoctoral fellows, and increase North-South exchanges of scientists.
3. Promote public information and general education about scientific discoveries and implications of the latest neuroscience research.
4. Inform legislators and other policy-makers about new scientific knowledge and new developments in neuroscience research and their implications for public policy, societal benefit, and continued scientific progress.
Collaborators: Abdelhamid Benazzouz, Driss Boussaoud and Marc Landry, France; Marie Moftah, Egypt; Mohamed Bennis and Mohammed Errami, Morocco; Yazid Cherfa, Algeria; Yehezkel Ben-Ari, France.
Conference:
3rd Mediterranean Conference of Neuroscience , Alexandria, Egypt, 13 Dec - 16 Dec, 2009.
Presentation Type:
Oral Presentation
Topic:
Satellite Events
Citation:
Moftah
M and
Boussaoud
D
(2009). Creation of a Mediterranean Neuroscience Society (MNS).
Front. Neurosci.
Conference Abstract:
3rd Mediterranean Conference of Neuroscience .
doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.01.2009.16.187
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Received:
30 Nov 2009;
Published Online:
30 Nov 2009.
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Correspondence:
Marie Moftah, Alexandria University, Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Alexandria, Egypt, marie.moftah@alexu.edu.eg