Share with Your Community: The Brain Conference on Adaptive Mind (27–30 October, Crete)

[The Brain Conferences]

Good afternoon,

I am writing on behalf of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) to kindly ask for your support in disseminating information about an upcoming scientific meeting that may be of interest to your community.

The Brain Conference on Principles of Adaptive Mind – Towards an Integrated Understanding of the Dynamics of Mental Health and Stress Resilience as Adaptation to Uncertainty Across Multiple Nested Timescales will take place from 27 to 30 October 2025 in Crete, Greece.

Given its interdisciplinary theme, we believe this meeting may resonate with the European Network for Brain Evolution Research members, and we would be grateful if you could help share the information through your communication channels. This could include:

• Circulating the email below
• Reposting announcements from FENS social media channels (X, LinkedIn)

We also wish to highlight that early registration fees are available, and several travel grants can support participation.

We would be pleased to welcome any of your upcoming events with a neuroscience component on the FENS Calendar. on the FENS Calendar. 

Thank you in advance for your support. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

Kind regards,

Mihaela Vincze

Mihaela Vincze - Brain Conferences Manager

FENS - Federation of European Neuroscience Societies

11 Rue d’Egmont, 1000 - Brussels, Belgium

T:  +32 2 545 04 55

E: br...@fens.org

www.fens.org

Join the FENS online community:

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There are just 10 days left to register for the upcoming Brain Conference! This October, the Brain Conference will be hosted on the beautiful island of Crete, Greece for the first time ever, and you’re invited! Join leading researchers from a range of disciplines as they explore this edition’s theme: ‘Principles of the Adaptive Mind’. Combining the expertise of neuroscientists, psychologists, biologists, and more, this small-scale event aims to enhance understanding of the brain’s capacity for adaptation and resilience. Register by 10 July! Event details Event dates: 27-30 October 2025 Location: Fodele Beach, Heraklion, Crete, Greece Organisers: FENS, The Lundbeck Foundation, Hellenic Society for Neuroscience Programme Led by scientific co-chairs Roshan Cools, Catherine Hartley, and Isabelle Mansuy, the October 2025 edition of the Brain Conference will focus on the basic principles of healthy adaptation to uncertainty for stress resilience. Topics to be addressed include: The evolution of brain plasticity The development of complex cognition across primates Shifting perspectives on executive function Goal-driven motivational systems in adaptive behaviour Active avoidance and helplessness Individual variability in stress susceptibility Redefining mental health as adaptation to uncertainty across nested timescales And much more! Attendees can expect engaging lectures from outstanding scientists, poster sessions with abstracts submitted by participants, and lively social events. "This meeting is a fantastic opportunity to learn from and interact with a wonderful group of speakers to jointly address one of our field’s more urgent questions:  How do we adapt to environmental variability for survival, while maintaining mental health and stress resilience? Addressing this question requires that we build bridges between research on adaptation across the different timescales of evolution, development, and learning. This Brain Conference is uniquely positioned to inspire such synthesis." Roshan Cools, Scientific Co-Chair – Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, The Netherlands Save your spot! If you’re interested in learning more about the adaptive mind while connecting with international leaders and peers from an array of disciplines, the upcoming Brain Conference is the place to be! Benefit from early bird rates until 10 July 2025. Worried about covering the costs? Good news: If you submit an abstract for the conference, you can also apply for a stipend of 1000 EUR to support your attendance! Learn more and apply here. Find everything you need to know about the upcoming Brain Conference here. Register today!