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CAN ANNUAL NEWSLETTER
Issue # 2 February 2023
Welcome to CAN's second Annual Newsletter! To our loyal members we appreciate your continued support. To our new subscriptions, thank you for joining! We are pleased to have you part of CAN's exciting news and updates. Scroll down to get updated with all the latest from CAN. 
 
Exciting news!! CAN is on Instagram! Click here to subscribe.
 

What a breath of fresh air it was to see so many wonderful faces this year at CAN’s 12th Annual Scientific Conference. Our theme this year was Contribution of Neuroscience to Society.

Dr Zacharias Maniadis, ERA Chair in Science & Innovation Policy & Studies in the Economic Department at the University of Cyprus, was our first keynote speaker. He stimulated our guests discussing Meta Science, Research Methodology & Social Policy. His unique technique of using economic tools to research many social science fields fascinated everyone as he does so by utilizing cross-fertilization between different disciplines. This method has achieved him any publications and opportunities to collaborate with many research teams. You can listen to his talk here.

Dr. Alexander Sack, professor of Brain Stimulation & Applied Cognitive Neuroscience, was our second keynote speaker. His talk was live from the Maastricht University, Netherlands. He spoke about “Non-invasive brain stimulation: from basic neuroscience research to mental health policy changes. He captivated the audience’s attention with his extraordinary research on mental health that changed the perception of Netherland policy makers forever. You can listen to his talk here.  

For the first time CAN’s laboratories showcased their research and accomplishments. To listen to their talks, click here.    

We look forward to what the future will bring!


To view all our videos from our conference, click here.  
To view all our pictures and program from our conference, click here.
European Researchers' Night 2023

This year’s event was live! Held at Eleftherias Square in downtown Nicosia, CAN researchers inspired the minds of ages 0-99. There were so many thirsty brains eagerly awaiting their turn to participate in this year’s activities. We would like to send a special thank you to Cyprus Research and Innovation Foundation for such an amazing event. They went against all odds and showcased all of Cyprus’ science community. Thank you to all our wonderful participants who voted for us and honoring us with the privilege of winning Best Booth for the 2nd year in a row!! Booth 48 rocked! CAN cannot wait to showcase our activities with you again at next year's event.  A heartfelt thank you to the Research and Innovation Foundation for organizing these events.

To view pictures of our booth, click here. 
Neurocognitive Research Lab 

Brain Research and Integrative Neuroscience Network for COVID-19

Exciting news for and from the Neurocognitive Research Laboratory (NRL) lead by Professor Fofi Constantinidou! The NRL has received new funding from the European Commission and the UK Research and Innovation Council, for the Twinning Programme published under the “Widening Participation & Strengthening the ERA” Work Programme, of Horizon Europe 2021-2027 scheme.  

Namely, the Brain Research and Integrative Neuroscience Network for COVID-19 (BRAINN) will advance the research and innovation capacity of the University of Cyprus (UCY) by twinning with three advanced partners in brain research, Maastricht University (UM), King’s College London (KCL), and Ghent University (UGent).  

  

Through various networking activities, training and coordinated actions, BRAINN will develop an innovative applied neuroscience approach to characterise the effects of COVID-19 on brain health and to elevate the standards of assessment, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of patients with mental health and cognitive problems due to COVID-19. The knowledge and methodologies produced will extend beyond BRAINN, since they will be applicable to other conditions affecting brain health, even when COVID-19 is eradicated. 

  

For more information click here and for updates, click here.

"The Person Behind Traumatic Brain Injury" 

The Neurocognitive Research Laboratory (NRL), under the direction of Professor Fofi Constantinidou, hosted the first-ever Pancyprian event, "The human behind the Traumatic Brain Injury" on December 7. The event was organized by two key research programs, the Brain Rehab and ACESO projects. With great success, patients with traumatic brain injury, families and many more supported this new initiative. The aim of the event was to inform and raise awareness about the ΤΒΙ issue, as well as to inform the public about the services to which people with traumatic brain injury are entitled in order to improve their reintegration into society and the world of work. Prominent guests from the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Health and University of Cyprus support the goal of the event with their presentations and speeches. As NRL, we believe that research doesn't belong in the laboratory, but in society, and that there will be many more initiatives to come. 

Co-Hosts: 

Department for Social inclusion of persons with disabilities, Melathron Agoniston EOKA, The Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics, Ministry of Health, Cyprus Stroke Association, Research and Innovation Foundation.

For more click here.

Learning Disabilities Group 

Enjoy reading below CAN’s very own Professor Timothy Papadopoulos Scientific Recognition from International Academy for Research in Learning Disabilities at the University of Oviedo in the framework of the 44th Annual IARLD Conference, October 3-5, 2022, in which he also delivered an invited keynote lecture. 

Representation of CAN at the 3rd Panhellenic Conference of School Psychology 

The 3rd Panhellenic Conference on School Psychology in Thessaloniki took place during November 10-13 of 2022, with various participations from Universities in Greece and abroad. This conference was attended by Mrs. Anna Arailoudi and Mrs. Andriana Mytides, representing the University of Cyprus and specifically the Centre for Applied Neuroscience.   The young scientists presented their findings on the research project titled: “Reading Difficulties Intervention: Scientific, Technological and New Community Efforts” (acronym: ReaDI-STANCE)., coordinated by the Distinguished Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Cyprus Prof. Timothy Papadopoulos.  Through their research and together with the network of collaborators, they formulated two online therapeutic reading interventions, "GraphoLearn" and "ePREP" in Greek. Their aim was aim to treat/educate children with reading difficulties.  Their research was carried out in the Public Primary Schools of Cyprus and concerned First Grade students. In collaboration with the Special Education Teachers of each school, children who performed poorly in reading assessments were given one of the two educational games to practice their phonological and cognitive skills, depending on their individualized needs and weaknesses. Their findings showed that these children improved significantly in various skills, including reading, phonological awareness and working memory, indicating that these tools are effective for such interventions. At this conference, useful research data regarding updated School Psychology practices were presented for a range of the student population. 

The Experimental Psychology Lab
The director of the Experimental Psychology Lab (EPL) Prof. Marios Avraamides receives "Excellent Science" Horizon 2020 award from Cyprus European Research Council at the European Researcher’s Night 2022.
Sci-Sports Research Bootcamp

The Experimental Psychology Lab in collaboration with MadLab (directed by Dr. Andria Shimi) was delighted to host ten high school students for our two-week Sci-Sports research bootcamp between 11-22 July 2022 with funding from the Research and Innovation Foundation of Cyprus, supported by Coca-Cola and the Cyprus Sports Organisation. The students had the chance to combine sports with science, create their own experiment using specialized software, collect and analyze real data from human participants, and present their results to interested audience. The students acquired invaluable skills which will be useful for them, no matter what career they decide to follow in the future!
European Conference

Irene Petrizzo (visiting PhD Erasmus student between January and August 2022) won one of four poster awards at the European Conference on Visual Perception 2022 in Nijmegen, Netherlands for work she did using Virtual Reality during her PhD period abroad at the Experimental Psychology Lab with Dr. Kyriaki Mikellidou and Prof. Marios Avraamides. The rest of the team included Savvas Avraam (CYENS, Cyprus) who built the VR environment and Prof. Roberto Arrighi (University of Florence, Italy). Irene received a cash award, a free peer-reviewed publication in PeerJ and has been featured in PeerJ’s blog!
The Experimental Psychology Lab in collaboration with the Cyprus International Institute of Management (and soon to be University of Limassol) is organising the European Conference on Visual Perception (ECVP) 2023. The ECVP is an annual international conference that aims to provide a forum for presenting and discussing new developments in the disciplines of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Cognitive Sciences related to the scientific study of visual perception. Empirical, theoretical, and applied perspectives are all encouraged. Every year, the ECVP happens in a different European country and is hosted by a local organizing committee. This year, the ECVP is hosted by Dr. Kyriaki Mikellidou and Prof. Marios Avraamides and will take place in Aliathon Holiday Village in Paphos, Cyprus between the 27th-31st August 2023.
 
Since 1978, the ECVP has been a unique and lively conference that attracts annually around 700 to 900 researchers from Europe, North America, and the Asian-Pacific region making it one of the largest international conferences in the field.
 
The meeting provides a mixture of talks and poster presentations, symposia, tutorials, and a demo and illusion night. The social program will include a Welcome Reception, the ECVP dinner (separate registration at an extra cost), an Illusion night and a Farewell Party. Submissions are encouraged from scientists at all levels through an open-call process, whether established, early career, post-doctoral, or student researchers (abstract submission deadline 1st March 2023). More details can be found at https://cyprusconferences.org/ecvp2023/.
The Experimental Psychology Lab is also contributing to the organisation of the Visual Science of Art Conference (VSAC) 2023 between August 24th-26th 2023, immediately preceding ECVP. VSAC invites all people, both scientist and artists, who connect visual perception and the arts (e.g. empirical, experimental, philosophical, phenomenological, computational approaches) to contribute and attend this exciting meeting. More details can be found at https://www.vsac2023.eu/.
Ernst & Young Award

Maria Photiou (PhD student at EPL) received the Ernst & Young Award for the academic year 2021-2022 in Memory of Christia Rossidou-Sotiriou, worth 2,500 euros. The award is given annually to a final year undergraduate or postgraduate student at the University of Cyprus. Awardees are individuals with high academic performance, who have a vision for a better world and demonstrate the ability to take initiative, inspire and motivate other people in creative ways to bring about change for the common good through group actions. The Evaluation Committee consisted of the Dean of the School of Economics and Administration and members of the academic staff from all Faculties of the University of Cyprus.
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