european psychiatric association

EU-funded Projects

For many years now, the EPA has been involved in different projects funded by the EU.

For the EPA these projects are an excellent opportunity to collaborate with key stakeholders, share our knowledge and learn from others. With our expertise in many different fields, the EPA is a valuable partner and consortium member and with growing experience the EPA established a network of partnerships in the field of research and (mental) health on EU-level. Find an overview of our partners on the dedicated Partners page.

Current EU Projects with EPA involvement:

psypal Project (2024 – 2027)

The PsyPal project aims to study psilocybin to treat psychological distress in people with progressive incurable illnesses requiring palliative care.

The randomised controlled trial (RCT) PsyPal, coordinated by the University Medical Centre Groningen in the Netherlands, and in collaboration with HumanKindLabs, marks the first-ever European grant to fund clinical research into psychedelic-assisted therapy. The trial will investigate whether psilocybin therapy can help ease psychological and existential distress in patients suffering from one of four different progressive diseases: the lung condition chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), multiple sclerosis (MS), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as MND), and atypical Parkinson’s disease (APD).

Commencing in early 2024, the PsyPal study will launch with the aim of treating over one hundred patients across four distinct clinical sites where each focuses on a specific condition: COPD at the University Medical Centre Groningen (UMCG) in the Netherlands, APD at the Champalimaud Foundation in Portugal, MS at the National Institute of Mental Health in the Czech Republic, and ALS, jointly at the University of Copenhagen and the Bispebjerg Hospital in Denmark. The EPA participates in the PsyPal project as a dissemination and communication partner.

Read the PsyPal press release to learn more about the project.

VIRTUAL BRAIN TWIN PROJECT (2024 – 2028)

The “Virtual Brain Twin for Personalised Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders” project, initiated on 1 January 2024 and coordinated by EBRAINS AISBL, introduces an innovative approach to psychiatric care. It aims to generate virtual brain twins for psychiatric patients, through an ecosystem that utilises neuronal microcircuit simulation, mathematical analysis, innovative AI tools, and insights from psychiatric care and clinical studies. Funded by a 10 million Euro grant from the European Commission under the Horizon Health Europe Calls 2023 initiative, this open access and open-source four-year project plans to stand at the forefront of personalised medicine in psychiatry.

The goal of the Virtual Brain Twin platform is to guide clinicians in optimising medication type and dosage, and exploring alternative treatments like brain stimulation and lifestyle changes.

The EPA participates in the Virtual Brain Twin project as dissemination and communication partner.

Read the Virtual Brain Twin press release to learn more about the project.

TRUSTING PROJECT (2023 – 2028)

The TRUSTING project is aimed at developing a user-friendly, trustworthy AI application that can be used from home to deliver a message when speech deviations predictive of psychotic relapse are detected. The objectives of the project are:

  • To create an accurate speech predictor for relapse in psychosis that is validated across languages, speech tasks and subgroups;
  • To build a trustworthy speech-based AI monitoring tool for relapse prediction and test its efficacy in a randomized controlled trial;
  • To evaluate cost-effectiveness of the AI monitoring tool and define a protection and commercialization roadmap.

Funded under the Horizon Europe Programme, the TRUSTING Project is coordinated by the University Medical Center Groningen with universities and organisations from all over Europe. The EPA participates in the TRUSTING project as a communication and dissemination partner.

Learn more about the project by visiting the TRUSTING website and by following its X Account.

COMET Project (2022 – 2024)

The COMET project aims to provide an ambitious, exhaustive examination of the measures put in place to address the mental health impact of Covid-19 on healthcare workers. Started in 2022, COMET will conduct a survey among representatives of the health sector, to provide an overview of the various responses undertaken by unions, workers and hospitals as a way of preventing, reducing or addressing mental health consequences emerged during and after the Covid-19 crisis. Afterward, the project will identify and analyse successful measures in the form of case study research, providing more in-depth information on factors influencing the success and sustainability of initiatives as well as the dimensions and scope of examples of good practice, in order to identify useful lessons.

COMET will use a targeted approach in disseminating the research findings and policy lessons to various groups, including healthcare trade unions, mental healthcare professionals and policy makers. The COMET project is coordinated by AIAS-HSI of the University of Amsterdam in close cooperation with EPSU (European Public Service Union) and the EPA as a dissemination partner.

Past EU Projects:

The EASMH Project (2021 – 2023)

The European Alliance for Sport and Mental Health (EASMH) project

The Erasmus+ European Alliance for Sport and Mental Health (EASMH) project aims to create a European network capable of promoting the benefits of sport for psychiatric prevention, treatment and rehabilitation – with appropriate training materials and tools for sports instructors and health professionals.

Coordinated by ECOS, in cooperation with international partners such as University of Constanta, “Faculty of Physical Education and Sport” (Romania), Finnish Sport Federation Tampere Region (Finland), EPSI (Belgium), Everton in the Community (United Kingdom), University “L. Vanvitelli” (Italy) and European Psychiatric Association (France), EASMH is currently working to realise a series of activities aimed to promote sport as a tool to promote mental health. The EPA participates in the project as dissemination and communication partner.

The EASMH Project has produced the following Intellectual Outputs on the topic of Sport and Mental Health:

In the frame of the EPA Congress 2023, a Workshop on “Sport and physical activity in people with severe mental disorders: myth or reality?” was organised on Sunday 26 March. The Workshop was held in-person in Paris, and it was also web-streamed for online Congress participants. During the Workshop, EASMH partners presented the project, its activities, objectives and achievements to the EPA Congress delegates.

Learn more about the project by visiting the EASMH official website and by following its Facebook account. Relevant resources and publications on “Sport and Mental Health” are compiled and included in a dedicated webpage.

The EBRA Project (2018 – 2022)

The European Brain Research Area

The EBRA consortium aims to promote coordination and collaboration among research networks and projects that share the common goal of understanding the brain and its disorders. Funded by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 framework and led by the European Brain Council, the EBRA project started in November 2018.

EBRA Clusters
The EBRA consortium launched Call for Clusters to promote cooperation and international exchange between research projects and networks. A cluster is understood as an association of research projects under a common topic, and disease and/or thematic area such as neurology or psychiatry. Within the EBRA project, the following clusters were established:

Do you need more information? Visit the project webpage and read the brochure.

 

The Recover-E project (2018 – 2021)

LaRge-scalE implementation of COmmunity-based mental health care for people with seVere and Enduring mental ill health in EuRopE

RECOVER-E is a European Commission Horizon 2020-project led by the Trimbos Instituut, with 16 partners from 11 countries. Launched in 2018, the project complements numerous ongoing efforts in mental health service delivery transformation and innovation in Europe. In particular, the RECOVER-E goal is to implement and evaluate an evidence-based community-based service delivery model for recovery-oriented care in five sites in middle-income countries in Europe (Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania) to improve the quality of life and mental health outcomes for people with severe and enduring mental illness.

The EPA activities

As dissemination partner, the EPA contributed to the communication and dissemination of the project’s activities and outcomes. The EPA has also supported the organisation of three Recover-E workshops:

  • on 6 April 2019 during the 27th European Congress of Psychiatry in Warsaw, Poland, focusing on the Recover-E project. Read more about the workshop on the project webpage.
  • on 7 July 2020 in the frame of the virtual 28th European Congress of Psychiatry. This workshop was centered around the advancement and challenges encountered in Community-based Mental Health care in the EU.
  • on 12 April 2021, within the 29th Congress of Psychiatry. Read the following press releases to learn more about the workshop:
    – Press Release
    – post-event Press Release