2011 Anniversary Yearbook - EUFEPS today and history

12. The Pharmaceutical Sciences Fair and Exhibition
PharmSciFair
The Pharmaceutical Sciences Fair and Exhibition – PharmSciFair – is a unique event in
Europe, co-organised by EUFEPS and a number of Partner Organisations. They are Member
Societies of EUFEPS, Sister Organisations, Learned Societies, and Special Interest
Networks and Institutions. The first PharmSciFair, in June 2005, in Nice, France, was attended
by over 1200 delegates. It pioneered this new platform, which allows the best and
newest European pharmaceutical achievements to be presented, and provides an excellent
spirit of collaboration between academia, the regulatory field and industry.
A second PharmSciFair and Exhibition was held in June 2009 in Nice, France, with a lot of
students among the attendees and a young scientist meeting, partly on its own and partly in
the PharmSciFair. The 3rd Pharmaceutical Sciences Fair and Exhibition was held in June
2011 and, for the first time, in Prague, Czech Republic. It was co-organised, as previously,
by EUFEPS and a broad partner representation of 30 national and international organisations
and networks in pharmaceutical sciences, around the common theme: Pharmaceutical
Sciences for the Future of Medicines. In Prague, after the Welcome Reception, the scientific
programme comprised over forty Parallel Sessions, focusing on topics of the pharmaceutical
sciences in Europe, a Plenary Session and Panorama Sessions for overview, Young
Scientist Sessions, and a EUFEPS 20 th Anniversary Session and Reception.
The PharmSciFair is unique because it encompasses all aspects of pharmaceutical
sciences from discovery tools, over drug delivery in the body and drug processing, to
medicines usage. EUFEPS is convinced of the need to carry the pharmaceutical sciences
forward in this kind of global event; it should be the ‘Olympia’ of pharmaceutical
sciences, enabling all involved to think and to consult together and to share experiences,
different approaches, perspectives and sensitivities among the different players in
pharmaceutical sciences as represented by delegates from the academic, industrial and
regulatory domains. Building on the strengths of each and every actor, it ensures a consolidated
movement towards common goals and targets and creates synergy within the
array of different disciplines, all having the objective to better serve the health of populations.
The pharmaceutical science, as a multi-faceted concept, is reflected at this event,
which is wide-ranging in terms of scientific content, activities and participating parties.
Furthermore, EUFEPS wants to see a powerhouse in Europe, able to match other
international organisations at the equivalent level. Partnership of equals can only occur
if there is a strong, well organised interaction between national, regional and international
organisations, which are of relevance to pharmaceutical sciences. Instruments such as
PharmSciFair are needed to introduce partners, foster future interactions and generate a
European ideal. This combination of the diverse learned societies and networks of interest
and focus groups, associated with the pharmaceutical sciences in Europe into one assembly,
shows the combined strength of European pharmaceutical sciences in a way, which will
gain recognition globally.
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