Pain in Europe XV | 21-23 April 2027 | Glasgow
#EFIC2027 for Early Career Researchers
For most early career researchers, the congress is the place to put your work in front of the field for the first time. #EFIC2027 is built around that: the chance to present your research, a plenary platform of your own, sessions on the practical side of a research career, a dedicated space to meet peers, and the activities that make a first congress easier to navigate. The 2027 theme, Building Bridges in Pain: Thriving Through Communication, runs through all of it.
Everything below is open to early career researchers, and much of it is open to all delegates. Looking for the wider programme? See the all-delegate networking programme.
Present your research
Your work, in front of the right people
Presenting a poster is how most early career researchers make their first mark at an international congress, and at #EFIC2027 it is far more than pinning your work to a board. Posters are woven through the programme, with dedicated time, a thematic structure, and senior researchers in the room. Here is how your research gets seen, and what presenting gives you.
Poster Sessions
Your poster is on display throughout the day, with a dedicated viewing session where you stand by your work and talk it through with everyone who stops by. Sessions are grouped by theme, so the people who find you are the ones working on what you work on. Consistently one of the favourite features of the congress.
Guided Poster Walks
A topic expert leads a small group from poster to poster, moderating the discussion at each stop. It puts your research in front of a senior researcher in your field and the peers walking with them, in context with related work. This is often where the most useful conversations of the congress happen.
What presenting a poster gives you
Visibility
Your work in front of an international audience spanning the breadth of pain science.
Real feedback
Discuss your findings with experienced researchers and sharpen your next step.
Connections
Meet potential collaborators, supervisors, and future colleagues around your own research.
Confidence
A lower-pressure way to present than the podium, and a chance to practise talking about your work.
Every poster starts with an abstract. Submit yours by 30 September 2026 to present your research at #EFIC2027. Financial aid applications close on the same date.
Submit your abstractLearn and grow
Sessions for early career researchers
A plenary platform of your own, plus practical guidance that rarely makes it into a scientific session. The Pain & Pastries breakfast sessions are an EFIC tradition: an early start, good coffee, and an honest conversation about building a research career.
Rising Stars
Three early career researchers take the main plenary stage, chosen from across the field to present their work alongside the keynotes. If you want to see where ECR research is heading, this is the session.
Hanneke Willemen
Netherlands
Lost in Translation: When Sensory Neurons Stop Decoding the Signal to Stop Hurting
Maria Lalouni
Sweden
Feeling Less Is Not Always Better: Brain Networks, Self-Injury, and What fMRI Reveals About Who Develops Chronic Pain
Nicolas Dumaire
United States
NaV1.8 endocytic complex, a dynamic regulatory ballet
Newcomers Orientation Session
First time at an EFIC congress? This Pain & Pastries breakfast session walks you through the programme, the practicalities, and the highlights worth planning for, so you can make the most of your three days in Glasgow.
ECR Advice Sessions
Early-morning discussions on the practical side of a research career, complementing the science of the workshops and plenaries. Recent editions have covered finding post-docs and industry roles after a PhD, staying research-active in clinical practice, and funding and publishing your work. Topics and timings for 2027 to follow.
Meet and connect
Find your people in Glasgow
A research career is built on the people you meet along the way. These are the moments designed to help you find them, from a quiet base in the exhibition area to the congress-wide party.
ECR Lounge
A dedicated space for early career researchers in the EFIC Village, in the exhibition area. Drop in between sessions to meet other ECRs, sit down with your laptop, recharge, and find out what is on for early career researchers that day.
ECR Get-Together
A casual first-evening meet-up for early career researchers in the Crowne Plaza hotel bar, adjacent to the SEC, following the opening ceremony. An easy way to arrive, find familiar faces, and start the congress with a few new contacts.
ECR Scavenger Hunt
Pick up your passport, collect stamps at stations across the venue, and enter the draw for tickets to the ECR Networking Party. A good way to get to know the venue, the exhibition, and fellow researchers in your first hours on site.
ECR Networking Party
A chance to meet others working in pain science, make contacts, and share experiences along a similar career path. Open to anyone who would like to join, not only ECRs. A popular fixture at previous congresses and likely to sell out.
All year round
The EFIC Rising Star Programme
The congress is the high point, but the early career community runs all year. The Rising Star Programme is developed by ECRs, for ECRs, and brings together webinars, a monthly meet-up, a job board, and a community channel. Worth joining well before Glasgow.
Rising Star Programme
The home of EFIC's early career activities, shaped by an ECR working group from across Europe.
Explore the programmeSkills Lab Webinars
The quarterly Rising Stars Skills Lab: Soft Skills for Hard Science, with recordings you can watch any time.
Watch the seriesECR Coffee Club
A relaxed monthly online meet-up to swap research challenges, share ideas, and grow your network.
Join the next oneECR Job Board
Current early career positions in pain research from across Europe, updated as roles come in.
Browse positionsECR Discord Community
Carry on the conversation between events. Ask questions, share opportunities, and meet peers before Glasgow.
Join the channelBring your research to Glasgow
Whether it is your first congress or your first time presenting, #EFIC2027 is built to help you find your footing and your people in pain science. Submit an abstract, then register to join us.
Abstract and financial aid applications close 30 September 2026. Early-bird registration closes 14 December 2026.