The EU has presented its first Health Plan for Cardiovascular Health
In December 2025, the European Commission published the first-ever EU cardiovascular health plan, the Safe Hearts Plan. Doctors and professional associations have welcomed it.
CONSCIOUS II training programme shapes the next generation of clinical researchers
The three-year CONSCIOUS II training programme aimed to develop the skills needed to conduct high-quality academic clinical studies and the knowledge to effectively disseminate the results obtained.
The project, co-financed by the European Union's ERASMUS+ programme, brought together six European universities under the leadership of the Faculty of Medicine at Masaryk University. Experts from our faculty collaborated with colleagues from University College Cork, University of Pécs, Université Paris Cité, NOVA University Lisbon and University of Szeged. ECRIN experts were also involved in the collaboration and revised all the materials to support the practical applicability of the curriculum.
Students who completed the CONSCIOUS II training programme had the opportunity to learn about the practical aspects of conducting a clinical trial, how to plan a study, how to set up and manage a team, how to navigate the legislation, where to find the necessary information or who to contact. They gained a better understanding of this complicated area and the necessary knowledge and confidence that their studies will produce applicable results. The authors plan further courses based on the project.
The results of the project also fill a certain gap in education. Many European institutions either do not have such a programme or only implement it in a limited format.
The results of the project were published in the BMC Medical Education journal. The teaching materials are available on the conscious2.eu platform.
