Training of healthcare professionals in infection control and hospital hygiene (IC/HH) is an important part of the Council recommendations and follow-up documents aiming at strengthening the prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and, more broadly, at improving patient safety in the European Union. In 2005, the Improving Patient Safety in Europe (Ipse) project was launched by the Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Consumers (DG SANCO, now Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety - DG SANTE) with the goals of establishing an inventory of existing IC/HH training courses in Europe and developing a core curriculum for training of IC/HH practitioners