ELSA-EPNA 2024 goes to Dr. Renée Harting from University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany
The ELSA-EPNA 2024 goes to Dr. Renée Harting from the University of Tübingen and University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg-University, Germany for her paper:
"A framework and resource for global collaboration in nonhuman primate neuroscience", Current Research in Neurobiology, Vol. 4, 100079, 2023. Neurology, 101, 20, e1970-e1978, 2023.
See the publication here.
The award emphasizes the importance for ethical, philosophical, legal and socio-cultural aspects related to the neurosciences and their recent advances and is designed as a form of support and encouragement for early-career researchers at the early stage of their career. Dr. Hartig was awarded on 24th April 2025 at the International Neuroethics Society (INS) conference “Neuroethics 2025” in Munich, Germany, where she presented her research as special lecturer.
EPNA 2024 Award ceremony at NEUROETHICS 2025 conference | April 24th 2025
For the first call the Excellent Paper on Neuroscience Award (EPNA) in the field of Ethical, legal, and social Aspects of Neuroscience ERA-Net NEURON, a special lecture for the first awardee was enabled at the highly reputated INS conference in Munich, Germany.
The INS conference opened its doors to almost 300 attendees from 43 countries, of which 96 participated virtually.
ERA-NET NEURON liased with the International Neuroethics Society (INS) and could thus provide the awardee with the unique opportunity to present her research at this interdisciplinary conference. The conference was organized by the International Neuroethics Society (INS) in partnership with the Società Italiana di Neuroetica (SINe) in Munich. Using a hybrid format, the conference gave the opportunity to both, senior and junior researchers around the globe to connect in-person or virtually for a fruitful exchange. 72 posters were presented over the course of three days, mostly from early career professionals. The conference promoted a well-received spirit of community and promoted opportunities for mentoring.
Particularly, the topic Neurotechnology and AI received high attention with questions on regulatory and ethical issues, encompassing the global perspective. Not least modern approaches in neuroethics as engagement of embedded ethics and the expansion of methods to digital approaches were discussed.
The awardee Dr Renée Hartig discovered a passion for neuroscience at Stony Brook University, New York, where she completed a bachelor degree in biology. She further pursued this passion at the Graduate Training Center for Neuroscience in Tübingen, Germany. In parallel to her studies, she co-founded Pro-Test Deutschland e.V. to promote science communication on animal research. In 2020, she graduated summa cum laude after defending her doctoral thesis work on the mapping of sensory responses in the cerebral cortex. She received the award for her publication: ‘A framework and resource for global collaboration in nonhuman primate neuroscience", published in Current Research in Neurobiology, Vol. 4, 100079, 2023.
The special lecture and award ceremony was opened by Dr Anna Gossen, representing ERA-NET NEURON on behalf of Dr. Ulrike Bußhoff, coordinator of ERA-NET NEURON, and Dr. Erkki Raulo, the Finnish initiator of the NEURON award program. In her overview of the NEURON network activities she highlighted the various activities and funding related to ELSA. Introducing the EPNA, it was her special pleasure to award this paper prize for the first time for an ELSA topic. The award honors the first authorship of a researcher in an international peer review journal within the first three years after dissertation. This year’s awardee presented an ethical and legal approach to a crucial and sensitive topic in pre-clinical neuroscience, providing a hands-on tool for international collaborations on primate research.
