Bursaries for Western Balkan students for the 2021 European Drugs Winter School

Professionals, academics and experts from the Western Balkan region will have an opportunity to participate in the first European Drugs Winter School (EDWS) this year, thanks to six bursaries being offered through the EMCDDA Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance project (IPA 7). The course, running from 1–12 March, will focus on the theme ‘Responses to, and preparedness for, health-related threats (COVID-19 lessons learned).’

Organised by the University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE-IUL) and the EMCDDA, the event follows the success of the European Drugs Summer School (EDSS) in 2020, taught remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The two-week online course will feature live lunchtime lectures, with experts and practitioners, followed by afternoon exercises. Virtual fieldwork tours will also be offered. The sessions will be recorded and made available for subsequent viewing. Completion of exercises and an exam are compulsory for those wishing to obtain credits. The course will be conducted in English and students should have good written and spoken knowledge of the language.

The European Drugs Summer School (EDSS) will take place this year from 28 June–9 July and will explore the theme of 'Vulnerable groups'. Further information available here.

The aim of the three-year IPA 7 project, running until June 2022, is to ensure that the six IPA beneficiaries (1) are able to participate effectively in the activities of the EMCDDA and the Reitox network upon EU accession. Covering drug-related issues in the areas of health and security, it supports methodological work on data collection and provides expert and technical support to drug monitoring at country level. The IPA 7 project builds on the results of previous technical cooperation projects between the EMCDDA and the Western Balkans since 2007.