Community Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The open exchange of ideas, the freedom of thought and expression, and respectful scientific debate are central to the goals of CCN; this requires a community and an environment that recognizes and respects the inherent worth of every person. As a community, we welcome scientists from all around the world. We acknowledge that each of us may hold diverse intersecting identities, including but not limited to training, expertise, gender, race, nationality, ethnicity, geographic location, sexual orientation, age, religion, neurodiversity and disability status. We are aware that our identities influence how we engage in scientific exchange. We hold the obligation to build an environment that fosters respectful scientific exchange for all. We are committed to taking actions that facilitate the participation and belonging of all individuals in scientific exchange, at all levels of the conference. We firmly believe that this commitment will both strengthen our community and improve our science. And we pledge to create a responsive culture and to address harms and inequalities if they occur. If you have concerns related to your participation at CCN, or observe someone else’s difficulties, or have any other concerns related to inclusion, please contact the organizers.

Current Initiatives

A standing committee, formed in 2024, ensures that initiatives that uphold our commitment are supported and updated each year. Ongoing efforts include:

• We are organizing and awarding travel awards. One of our newest initiatives, beginning 2025, is a community travel award. This $500 award aims to help researchers overcome personal, financial, regional, or societal barriers to attending the CCN. The CCN organizers hope this effort will expand the conference's reach beyond Europe and North America, to ultimately make CCN a more globally inclusive community. The application can be found here.
• We are organizing and awarding caregiver awards. Providing affordable childcare during the meeting is a priority for CCN. Beginning with CCN 2025 in Amsterdam, we are actively examining several options for providing access to childcare. We will offer caregiver support through a number of $500 caregiver awards. Attendees with children can apply for these to offset childcare costs, e.g. booking a babysitter during the conference (booking information provided on the website). The application can be found here.
• Continuing a valued CCN tradition, we are hosting an annual lunch at the conference—an informal and safe space to discuss the future of our community. By dedicating time to important conversations, we aim to inspire concrete actions, foster internal reflection, and work toward a more inclusive scientific field at all career levels. Registration for the lunch is open during main registration. Details about the event can be found on the Diversity Lunch webpage.
• We are making the talks publicly available on our YouTube channel to increase accessibility. The link can be found here.