International Training School for Young Researchers at the First Faculty of Medicine: Infant socio-emotional development, its assessment and underlying biological pathways

From July 16–18, 2025, the First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University hosted an international Training School organized within the framework of the COST Action CA22114 TREASURE – Maternal Perinatal Stress and Adverse Outcomes in the Offspring: Maximising Infants’ Development. The aim of this EU-funded initiative was to provide intensive theoretical and practical training for PhD students and early career researchers focused on infant socio-emotional development and its underlying biological pathways, assessment tools and cultural challenges.

Over the course of three days, participants engaged in a rich program combining lectures and hands-on workshops covering topics such as assessment of infant neurobehavioral and neurocognitive development, caregiver-infant interaction, infant temperament and the role of biopsychosocial pathways in early development. The sessions were led by an international team of experts: Dr. Elif Aysimi Duman (Acibadem University, Turkey/Columbia University, USA), Dr. Raquel Costa and Dr. Tiago Miguel Pinto (Lusófona University, Portugal), and Dr. Lea Takács from the host institution, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, who also served as the local organizer.

The Training School welcomed 22 participants from 10 different countries (including Turkey, the UK, Switzerland, Albania, Croatia, North Macedonia, the Czech Republic, Spain, Portugal, and the Republic of Moldova). The limited group size allowed for intensive practical work and meaningful interaction. Funded by the European Union via the COST programme, this initiative underscores the value of international research collaboration and capacity building in the field of early neuropsychological development.