• to increase understanding of the European public health roles and responsibilities of ECDC in supporting infectious disease prevention and control and the interplay with expert and competent bodies in the Member States
• to acquaint observers with EU surveillance and epidemic intelligence systems
• to share information about ECDC’s Public Health Microbiology Programme
• to familiarise observers with ECDC’s key outputs and the way they are produced (e.g. risk assessments, scientific advice, support to laboratory network activities.)
• to facilitate networking between ECDC experts and the other observers and to share information on activities.

More information can be found on the ECDC website

ESCMID will assess each application according to the following criteria: The applicant’s focus should be in the infectious disease and public health fields: health services, outbreak detection and control, infection control and infectious disease epidemiology. His/her interest should extend beyond a regional level, e.g. EU or internationally. We will use the following criteria for assessing applications in the public health fields:

• Degree
• Research, publications, presentations at meetings
• Current or past projects
• Experience
• International collaboration
• Active engagement with a public health organization such as ECDC, or use of resources from ECDC (or similar public health organisation) in the course of their work.

Applicants are encouraged to highlight relevant experience and interest in their applications, which will then be used to select participants. As a secondary criterion, a maximum of two participants per country can be represented. As a last criterion, those with an earlier time of submission will receive priority.

Intra-European Observership visits

ESCMID member from Europe visits an ECC in Europe ESCMID subsidises travel costs and subsistence for outside-of-country visits and inside-of-country visits for ECDC as follows:

• EUR 500 max. for travel expenses (air ticket, train ticket, car expenses at EUR 0.30 per km)
• EUR 70 per diem (up to a maximum of 7 days)

ESCMID only supports applications that are submitted and accepted prior to the intended visit; and payment will be made after we receive proof of effectively incurred expenses.

Intercontinental Observership visits

Incoming: ESCMID member from outside Europe visits an ECC in Europe ESCMID subsidises travel costs and subsistence for outside-of-country visits as follows:

• EUR 1000 max. for travel expenses (air ticket, train ticket, car expenses at EUR 0.30 per km)
• EUR 70 per diem (up to a maximum of 7 days)

Payment will be made after we receive proof of effectively incurred expenses.

* A list of countries and respective geographic regions can be viewed here