EFPA STANDING COMMITTEE ON SCIENTIFIC AFFAIRS Convenor : BJORN RISHOVD RUND REPORT to the GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2007 in PRAGUE Report SC Scientific Affairs GA Prague 2007 1
Report to the General Assembly, EFPA, Prague, July 7-8, 2007 From the Standing Committee on Scientific Affairs Members of the committee are: Ivo Cermak (Czech Republic), Nigel Foreman (United Kingdom), Lars-Goran Nilsson (Sweden), José M. Prieto (Spain), Hannelore Weber (Germany), Nebi Sumer (Turkey), Knud-Erik Sabroe (Denmark), Edward Van Rossen (Belgium), Jan Henk Kamphuis (Netherlands), Michele Carlier (France), Georgia Panayiotou,(Cyprus); Bjorn Rishovd Rund (Norway) as convenor. Rainer Silbereisen (Germany) is the EC Liaison. Report SC Scientific Affairs GA Prague 2007 2
The SA committee have had four meetings after the July 2005 report. The first meeting was held in connection with the Granada conference, 8 th July, 2005. Present were: Knud-Erik Sabroe, Ivo Cermak, Nigel Foreman, José M. Prieto, Hannelore Weber, Bjørn Rishovd Rund, and Rainer Silbereisen. The second meeting was 25 th February 2006, at the offices of the BDP in Berlin. Present at the this meeting were: Knud-Erik Sabroe, Ivo Cermak, Nigel Foreman, Lars-Goran Nilsson, José M. Prieto, Hannelore Weber, Nebi Sumer, Edward Van Rossen, Jan henk Kamphuis, Michele Carlier, Georgia Panayiotou, Bjorn Rishovd Rund, and Rainer Silbereisen. The third meeting was held in Athens, 20 nd July 2006 at the IAAP conference centre hotel. Present at this meeting were: Knud-Erik Sabroe, Nigel Foreman, José M. Prieto, Jan Henk Kamphuis, Roger Lecuyer (vice Michele Carlier), Georgia Panayiotou, and Bjorn Rishovd Rund. The fourth meeting was held in Paris, Rue Serpente, 17 th March 2007. Present at this meeting were: Knud-Erik Sabroe, Ivo Cermak, Nigel Foreman, Lars-Goran Nilsson, Nebi Sumer, Edward Van Rossen, Michele Carlier, Fiona Lyddy, and Bjorn Rishovd Rund. Five main topics have been discussed in these four meetings: 1. Minimal standards for Ph.D programmes in Europe. 2. The 10 th ECP meeting in Prague, July 2007. 3. Evaluation of the annual reports from the Editor of European Psychologist 4. Research Ethics Report SC Scientific Affairs GA Prague 2007 3
5. Guidelines for ECP meetings and criteria for the evaluation of ECP meetings In addition to the five main issues mentioned above, the committee has discussed several other topics and nominated candidates for the scientific committees of the ECP conferences (Prague and Oslo). Ad point 1: Minimal standards for Ph.D. programmes in Europe. Dr. Prieto circulated the first draft of a document entitled Doctoral Degree in Psychology within the European Context in the Oslo meeting in January 2005. This was the main topic for the next meetings in CSA. However, the theme was not pursued in the Berlin meeting and the Paris meeting since Jose Prieto has been too busy with other activities to revise version 1.1 of the document. Consequently, we can report no progress with respect to this task. It was originally intended to apply a form of EuroPsych equivalent criterion, but in science. We have now ended up with a proposal to finalise the work through an invited symposium in the course of the Prague conference. The symposium will have the following title: Variation in doctoral programmes across Europe. Do we need a European Ph.D. in psychology? Drs Michele Carlier and Nebi Sumer will distribute a questionnaire on practices in different countries and present the results in the symposium. In addition, dr. Silbereisen will contribute with some ideas on Ph.D. programmes in psychology. Bjørn Rishovd Rund will be the chair of the symposium. Ad point 2: 10 th ECP in Prague, July 2005. The SA committee has wanted to increase the visibility of this committee in the scientific program of the ECP conference as well as other EFPA conferences. The Report SC Scientific Affairs GA Prague 2007 4
committee have 3 representatives on the scientific committee for the Prague meeting: Bjørn Rishovd Rund, Lars-Gøran Nilsson, and Jose Prieto. Ivo Cermak has reported on the developments in the last three CSA meetings. Dr. Prieto has attended one meting in the Prague scientific committee, dr. Nilsson has attended two of their meetings, and dr. Rund has attended one meeting. CSA has been consulted by the Prague committee in several respects. The CSA expresses admiration for the efforts of the organisers and especially the high number of registrations (around 2800 at this point), which bodes well for a good quality and financially viable meeting. Ad. Point 3: Evaluation of the annual reports from the Editor of European Psychologist The editor has been complimented on the reports that are both informative and well crafted. CSA appreciates the meticulous presentation of the statistics regarding the journal. As in the two years before, the committee is also in 2007 very satisfied with the work the editor has been doing on the journal. Ad. Point 4: Research Ethics A document circulated by Nigel Foreman (BPS, Guidelines for minimum standards of ethical approval in psychological research) has been well received and member associations have been asked to consider the possibility of adopting a similar document, for use throughout EFPA member associations. Ad. Point 5: Guidelines for ECP meetings and criteria for the evaluation of ECP meetings Report SC Scientific Affairs GA Prague 2007 5
Nebi Sumer provided up-dated Guidelines in advance of the Paris meeting. Changes were accepted. The committee has argued that we need to provide information to future organisers. Further, we need to have benchmarks for evaluations. Nebi Sumer will work on the list of criteria for evaluation. The Standing Committee on Scientific Affairs hope that we, through the work carried out through 4 meetings, have fulfilled the recommendations outlined by the EFPA General Assembly in Granada, July 2005 in a satisfactory manner. Oslo, May 6 2007 Bjørn Rishovd Rund Chair, CSA Report SC Scientific Affairs GA Prague 2007 6