Sleep Medicine Examination – Requirements and Application for Somnologists
The European Sleep Research Society (ESRS) Board is pleased to announce the 15th Sleep Medicine Examination for Somnologist Certification.
Please find the requirements and basic credentials as well as information about the application process below.
Format & Date
The 2026 Sleep Medicine Examination for Somnologists will take place online only in November 2026, after Sleep Europe in Maastricht, Netherlands.
Composition
The examination will consist of two parts, both of which must be successfully passed in order to qualify for certification.
1. Theoretical Part
The first part is a written test, consisting of 100 single-choice questions (one out of five).
Duration: 120 minutes
Passmark: 60%
2. Practical Part
The second part is focused on practical skills.
Includes sleep staging, event scoring and interpreting sleep studies of screenshots/pictures from PSG recordings and derived parameters, actigraphy, sleep diary, MSLT/MWT, interpretation of analysis of biological samples relevant for sleep medicine (from blood, saliva, cerebrospinal fluid incl. measures for melatonin, iron, HLA, corticol, hypocretin). Regarding all scoring tasks, candidates are expected to achieve an 80% concordance with the panel of experts.
Duration: 90 minutes
Passmark: 60%
Further details can be found in: Penzel et al. (2021). Sleep medicine catalogue of knowledge and skills – Revision. J. Sleep Research (https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.13394). Please see Table 2 in this article, it outlines the rough distribution of credits re. questions regarding the sections of the examination.
Requirements
Changes have been made to the requirement of providing a written and signed declaration letter. Now, information provided in the application form related to your "Sleep Medicine Centre or Lab" and "Practical Experience "will be sent directly to the professional email of the individual indicated as the Sleep Medicine Centre or Sleep Lab Director upon final submission of the application to be verified.
It is the responsibility of the applicant to follow up with this individual ensure they 1. received the email and 2. complete the verification process by 07 February 2026 23:59 CET. Failure to do so will lead to your application being considered as incomplete and not being evaluated.
** Formal qualifications for all below updated 17.12.2025. Please contact exam@esrs.eu if you’ve submitted a completed (and verified) application before this date that does not adhere to the corrected formal qualification.
Possess a Medical degree (MD / M.D.)
- A minimum of 12 months full-time (or equivalent duration if part-time) spent in the SMC by the end of the application period. If the applicant has worked in more than one SMC, a minimum period of 6 months must have been spent at one of the centres.
- Extensive experience within their specialised field, with sufficient experience across other sleep-wake disorders to ensure safe and competent practice. This includes specialised evaluation and clinical care of at least 100 patients from the different disciplines of sleep medicine (including sleep-related breathing disorder, insomnia disorder, hypersomnia, movement disorder, circadian disorder).
- In relation to the assessment and follow-up of sleep disorders, experience should comprise a range of procedures, including clinical interviewing, use of diagnostic criteria and classification systems, use of sleep diaries, questionnaires and rating scales, psychometric evaluation as well as physiological monitoring.
- Experience of actigraphy and polysomnography (with hook-up, nighttime surveillance and scoring, interpretation and reporting of studies), ambulatory cardio-respiratory recording, and Multiple Sleep Latency Testing (MSLT) or Maintenance of Wakefulness Testing (MWT) procedures.
- In relation to treatment, the applicant should have generic skills, including patient education, treatment delivery, progress review, provision of motivation and support, in addition to having extensive experience within their professional discipline.
- Experience with various treatment modalities including pharmacotherapy and CPAP.
- Of the minimum 100 cases evaluated, at least 75% would have involved active management of a treatment episode or episodes and monitoring of patient progress and outcome.
- Experience working as part of a multidisciplinary team.
- a record of attended courses
- a university or national sleep medicine degree or certification
- a detailed reference letter from another certified-ESRS Somnologist
- Pevernagie et al. EU Guidelines for the Certification of Professionals in Sleep Medicine: Report of the Task Force of the ESRS. J. Sleep Research (2009) 18, 136-141. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2869.2008.00721.x
- Penzel et al. Sleep medicine catalogue of knowledge and skills – Revision. J. Sleep Research (2021) 30, https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.13394. Please see Table 2 in this article, it maps the rough distribution of credits re. questions regarding the sections of the examination.
Posses a Master of Science degree (MSc.)
- A minimum of 12 months full-time (or equivalent duration if part-time) spent in the SMC by the end of the application period. If the applicant has worked in more than one SMC, a minimum period of 6 months must have been spent at one of the centres.
- Extensive experience within their specialised field, with sufficient experience across other sleep-wake disorders to ensure safe and competent practice. This includes specialised evaluation and clinical care of at least 100 patients from the different disciplines of sleep medicine (including sleep-related breathing disorder, insomnia disorder, hypersomnia, movement disorder, circadian disorder).
- In relation to the assessment and follow-up of sleep disorders, experience should comprise a range of procedures, including clinical interviewing, use of diagnostic criteria and classification systems, use of sleep diaries, questionnaires and rating scales, psychometric evaluation as well as physiological monitoring
- Experience of actigraphy and polysomnography (with hook-up, nighttime surveillance and scoring, interpretation and reporting of studies), ambulatory cardio-respiratory recording, and Multiple Sleep Latency Testing (MSLT) or Maintenance of Wakefulness Testing (MWT) procedures.
- In relation to treatment, the applicant should have generic skills, including patient education, treatment delivery, progress review, provision of motivation and support, in addition to having extensive experience within their professional discipline.
- Experience with various treatment modalities including cognitive behavioural therapy, other related therapeutic procedures.
- Of the minimum 100 cases evaluated, at least 75% would have involved active management of a treatment episode or episodes and monitoring of patient progress and outcome.
- Experience working as part of a multidisciplinary team.
- a record of attended courses
- a university or national sleep medicine degree or certification
- a detailed reference letter from another certified-ESRS Somnologist
- Pevernagie et al. EU Guidelines for the Certification of Professionals in Sleep Medicine: Report of the Task Force of the ESRS. J. Sleep Research (2009) 18, 136-141. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2869.2008.00721.x
- Penzel et al. Sleep medicine catalogue of knowledge and skills – Revision. J. Sleep Research (2021) 30, https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.13394. Please see Table 2 in this article, it maps the rough distribution of credits re. questions regarding the sections of the examination.
Possess a Masters degree (MPAS / MSPAS)
- A minimum of 12 months full-time (or equivalent duration if part-time) spent in the SMC by the end of the application period. If the applicant has worked in more than one SMC, a minimum period of 6 months must have been spent at one of the centres.
- Extensive experience within their specialised field, with sufficient experience across other sleep-wake disorders to ensure safe and competent practice. This includes specialised evaluation and clinical care of at least 100 patients from the different disciplines of sleep medicine (including sleep-related breathing disorder, insomnia disorder, hypersomnia, movement disorder, circadian disorder).
- In relation to the assessment and follow-up of sleep disorders, experience should comprise a range of procedures, including clinical interviewing, use of diagnostic criteria and classification systems, use of sleep diaries, questionnaires and rating scales, psychometric evaluation as well as physiological monitoring.
- Experience of actigraphy and polysomnography (with hook-up, nighttime surveillance and scoring, interpretation and reporting of studies), ambulatory cardio-respiratory recording, and Multiple Sleep Latency Testing (MSLT) or Maintenance of Wakefulness Testing (MWT) procedures.
- In relation to treatment, the applicant should have generic skills, including patient education, treatment delivery, progress review, provision of motivation and support, in addition to having extensive experience within their professional discipline.
- Experience with various treatment modalities including CPAP.
- Of the minimum 100 cases evaluated, at least 75% would have involved active management of a treatment episode or episodes and monitoring of patient progress and outcome.
- Experience working as part of a multidisciplinary team.
- a record of attended courses
- a university or national sleep medicine degree or certification
- a detailed reference letter from another certified-ESRS Somnologist
- Pevernagie et al. EU Guidelines for the Certification of Professionals in Sleep Medicine: Report of the Task Force of the ESRS. J. Sleep Research (2009) 18, 136-141. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2869.2008.00721.x
- Penzel et al. Sleep medicine catalogue of knowledge and skills – Revision. J. Sleep Research (2021) 30, https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.13394. Please see Table 2 in this article, it maps the rough distribution of credits re. questions regarding the sections of the examination.
Possess a Master’s degree in science, e.g. biology, physics or other relevant areas
- A minimum of 12 months full-time (or equivalent duration if part-time) spent in the Sleep Medicine Centre or Sleep Lab by the end of the application period. If the applicant has worked in more than one Sleep Medicine Centre or Sleep Lab, a minimum period of 6 months must have been spent at one of the centres.
- While Sleep Scientists may not have a clinical licence, or may have different roles within a Sleep Medicine Centre or Sleep Lab, equivalent levels of experience and expertise across other sleep-wake disorders from the different disciplines of sleep medicine (including sleep-related breathing disorder, insomnia disorder, hypersomnia, movement disorder, circadian disorder). This should be clearly demonstrated in the application and letter of support.
- In relation to the assessment and follow-up of sleep disorders, experience should comprise a range of procedures, including use of sleep diaries, questionnaires and rating scales, psychometric evaluation as well as physiological monitoring.
- Experience with various treatment modalities through peer-reviewed articles on sleep.
- Experience of actigraphy and polysomnography (with hook-up, nighttime surveillance and scoring, interpretation and reporting of studies), ambulatory cardio-respiratory recording, and Multiple Sleep Latency Testing (MSLT) or Maintenance of Wakefulness Testing (MWT) procedures.
- Experience working as part of a multidisciplinary team.
- a record of attended courses
- a university or national sleep medicine degree or certification
- a detailed reference letter from another certified-ESRS Somnologist
- Pevernagie et al. EU Guidelines for the Certification of Professionals in Sleep Medicine: Report of the Task Force of the ESRS. J. Sleep Research (2009) 18, 136-141. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2869.2008.00721.x
- Penzel et al. Sleep medicine catalogue of knowledge and skills – Revision. J. Sleep Research (2021) 30, https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.13394. Please see Table 2 in this article, it maps the rough distribution of credits re. questions regarding the sections of the examination.
Some of the aforementioned experience and competencies may be demonstrable through periods of formal study and training on approved Sleep Medicine courses which have a practical component. Such experience and/or qualification should be specified by the applicant.
Main Readings
The ESRS Sleep Medicine Textbook 2nd Edition (2021) is the main recommended reading for this examination. Additional readings may be provided in advance by the Examination Subcommittee. All interpretations in the practical part and some questions in the theoretical part will be based on the 2023 AASM Scoring Manual Version 3.
Additionally, applicants must also:
- Provide names and email addresses of 2 references, who are not applying for this examination at the same time, preferably from another European country. One should be an ESRS member.
- *Submit a detailed CV with relevant education and employment history.
- *Submit scanned copies of relevant qualifications, and meeting attendance certificates as above.
- Be a current ESRS member at the time of application and examination. (If you are not an ESRS member please visit https://esrs.eu/register/).
- Pay the examination fee (payable by credit card, PayPal or bank transfer). The online examination fee is € 600.- EUR (included is a non-refundable 90.- EUR administration fee, payable on submission of the application). Once you are notified that your application has been accepted, you will be registered bindingly by paying the remaining examination fee of 510.- EUR.
- Read and accept the examination rules and settings.
Please prepare the aforementioned required documents (marked with *) before starting the application. Using the "Save and Continue Later" feature will not save uploads to the system, so only upload your files when ready to submit. The documents can be uploaded as PDF-files or JPEG-files only. Any other file formats, f.ex. MS WORD-files will be automatically rejected by the system. The name of the PDF-file must include your name and the content of the document. The size of each file should not exceed 5 MB). Other candidates that feel they may fulfil the eligibility criteria, please email the ESRS Examination Office at exam@esrs.eu.
Application Guidelines
Submission:
Applications will only be accepted from the online application form.
Application Period:
Applications will be accepted from 01 December 2025 until 31 January 2026.
Evaluation:
Applications will be evaluated by the Examination Subcommittee.
Notification:
Applicants will be notified of their application status by the end of March 2025.
Special Cases
Repeaters:
Any examinee who missed the examination passmark in one or both parts of the examination, are allowed to repeat the failed part(s) of the examination once, at the next examination date free of charge and without a renewed application.
Shifters:
Any accepted applicant, who did not sit the examination for personal reasons, is allowed to postpone their participation once to the next available examination, free of charge and without a renewed application.
Both Shifters and Repeaters must still be a full or reduced ESRS Individual Member at the time of re-sitting the examination and are required to confirm their participation by email.
Qualification
Successful candidates will be awarded the ESRS qualification title of “Somnologist” with one of the following specifications:
- Somnologist – Expert in Sleep Medicine
- Somnologist – Expert in Behavioural Sleep Medicine
- Somnologist – Sleep Scientist
- Somnologist – Physician Assistant
Examination Grant
Six grants will be awarded to support accepted examinees. Interest in this should be indicated on the same online application form for the examination during the application period. More details on the grant conditions and requirements can be found here.
Contact
Email the ESRS Examination Office at exam@esrs.eu for any further questions.