ESRS 2022 Meetings & Courses Fellowship and Travel Grant Report by Adriana Michalak

Sleep Europe 2022 was a very special event for me for several reasons. During the congress, I was elected as a new member of the Early Career Researcher Network (ECRN). I have also presented some exciting results of my freshly submitted PhD thesis. The constructive and friendly feedback received after my oral presentation has really helped me to boost my confidence before my PhD viva.

Further, the scientific program was fantastic! I especially enjoyed the session focused on the impact of napping on neurobehavioral function across the lifespan which was chaired by Dr Christina Schmidt and the talk about sleep in spiders given by Dr Daniela Rößler. I was also very happy to see the symposium “Brains are not born gendered” organized by the Gender Equality Forum (GEF). I believe that it was a wonderful addition to the program as the discussed topics are of high importance. Moreover, it was great to learn about the ESRS GEF Childcare Support Grant which is a beautiful initiative facilitating inclusion and diversity in the society.

Last but not least, after three years of gloomy, isolating Covid-19 pandemic, it was amazing to meet in-person my ESRS friends, colleagues, former supervisors and lab mates. Networking over a cup of coffee or a glass of wine during the social event was great! I have also really enjoyed the pub quiz organized by the members of the ECRN and GEF. I hope that it will be organized again during Sleep Europe 2024 as was a great networking opportunity and lots of fun.

Best Regards,

Dr. Adriana Michalak
Post-Doctoral Researcher at MoMiLab Research Unit,
IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, Italy