International Association of Applied Psychology

26th International Congress of Applied Psychology

Athens, Greece

July 16-21, 2006

 

Progress Report to the Board of Directors

Beijing, August 13, 2002

 

 

The Hellenic Psychological Society and the Association of Greek Psychologists are responsible for the organization of the 26th International Congress of Applied Psychology of the International Association of Applied Psychology to be held in Athens, Greece, July 16-21, 2006.

 

The Presidents of the Congress are James Georgas and Marina Manthouli.

 

Organizing and Scientific Committees

 

Organizing Committee

           

Secretaries General:

Elias Besevegis

Vassilike Boukouvala

Treasurers:

Theoni Velli

Zoe Voyatzaki

 

Members:

 

Klimis Navridis

 

Maria Kaila

 

Anastasios Stalikas

Ariana Stogiannidou

 

Stamos Papastamou

Aliki Georgakopoulou

 

 

Aliki Lambidi

Executive Secretary

Penny Panagiotopoulou

 

 

Scientific Program Committee

 

Chairs of the Scientific Program Committee are Anastasia Efklides and Thales Papadakis. The Scientific Program Committee is composed of representatives from each IAAP Division, the officers of IAAP, the Congress Organizing Committee, and members of the Hellenic Psychological Society and the Association of Greek Psychologists.

 

Committee and Sub-Committee Structure

 

            In addition to the existing positions of Secretary General, Treasurer, and Chair of Scientific Program Committee, other committee positions are:

           

  • Promotion of the Congress
  • Sources of international funding
  • Communication with Psychological Associations in low-GNP countries
  • Workshops, for Continuing Education accreditation
  • “Philoxenia:” Organization of housing for psychologists and students from low-GNP countries, at homes of members of the Association of Greek Psychologists and the Hellenic Psychological Society.
  • Organization of social events
  • Public relations, media relations, publication of daily news paper
  • Young Psychologists Scholarships Program

 

Congress Site

 

            The congress site will be the Athens Concert Hall, the Athens Hilton Hotel, and the Divani Caravel Hotel. Both hotels have between 30 to 35 rooms seating between 50 and 300 people. The Athens Concert Hall, the Hilton and the Caravel are located in the center of Athens, and the distance between them is approximately 300 meters. All facilities are airconditioned. The Metro system is close to all hotels making it easily accessible to all, in addition to the bus system. The new Eleftherios Venizelos airport outside of Athens is directly connected to the center of Athens, to the hotels and the congress site, via the new Metro system and buses. 

 

On-Site Visit of the IAAP Officers to Athens

 

            Michael Frese, President, and Charles Spielberger, Past-President met with the Organizing Committee and the Scientific Program Committee in Athens on February 29, 2004. A number of issues related to the organization of the congress were discussed. Also, a number of decisions were taken regarding the Scientific Program. 

 

Preliminary Budget

 

Revenues

 

Revenues, including registration fees, will be in Euros: 1 Euro = approximately 1.20 US Dollars. The main source of revenues will be Registration fees. Another source of revenues will be contributions from international agencies and from institutions within Greece.

 

The congress fee was set at 400 Euros when the 1 Euro = .89 USD. In the past two years, the exchange has reversed so that 1 Euro = 1.20 USD. The Organizing Committee will do its best to reduce the fee by reducing some of the costs that will not affect its quality and functions. In addition, the Congress Organizing Committee is planning to offer packages to participants which will include the early registration fee and accommodation and which will have the effect of indirectly reducing the total expenses for attending the conference.

 

Decisions regarding the registration fees were influenced by discussions among members of the Board of Directors of IAAP regarding sensitivity to the low-income status of psychologists from low GNP countries. The amount of registration fees will be consistent with the idea of IAAP setting the membership fees on a graded basis, according to the annual income of the members. That is, the registration fees for members from high GNP countries such as the United States, Canada, the European Union, Japan will be 400 Euros, while the registration fees for members from low GNP countries will be 250 Euros (62.5% of the full registration fee). Students will pay 160 Euros. We strongly believe that as much as possible should be done to attract students, future psychologists, to IAAP congresses.

 

These graded registration fees, with psychologists from high GNP countries paying a relatively high registration fee, may be negatively perceived as too expensive by some psychologists. It essentially means that psychologists from these countries are in effect subsidizing psychologists from low GNP countries. However, western psychologists with wide international experience and commitment to cross-cultural research are aware of the benefits to psychology as a whole of aiding psychologists from low GNP countries. In addition, one of the criteria set by the EC in 1998 for granting the Congress to Athens was to attract psychologists to the Congress who can become members of IAAP from nations whose psychologists have difficulties, due to economic reasons, in attending major international congresses.

 

These lower registration fees will also be in accordance with the IAAP policy that 7.5% of the total budget will be allotted for psychologists from low-income countries. In addition, Scholarships for a number of psychologists from low-income countries will be sought through grants from international organizations. These scholarships will be awarded primarily to young psychologists on the basis of merit. Grants will also be sought for participants in the ARTS Seminars.

 

There is still the problem of travel expenses and living expenses of these psychologists. Travel expenses will be relatively low because of proximity for psychologists from the Balkan countries, the Eastern European countries, the Middle East, and North Africa. The problem of travel expenses of psychologists from East Asia, most of Africa, South and Central America is more intractable for large numbers of these psychologists, except for the scholarships and grants discussed above. Regarding accommodation expenses, one solution is the “Philoxenia” project, a Greek word meaning “hospitality to foreigners.” We will organize a program for housing of psychologists and students from low-GNP countries, at homes of members of the Association of Greek Psychologists and the Hellenic Psychological Society. In addition, we have selected a number of low cost hotels, and other low-cost facilities in Athens. The prices will be announced in 2005.

 

 

 

Following is the table of registration fees in Euros, according to the different categories, and the projected income.

 

 

Registration Category

Euros

IAAP member

400

Non-member applying for membership

445

Non-member

500

Accompanying Persons

70

Participants from low-income countries

Participants from low-income countries applying for membership

250

 

 

 

275

Students

160

 

 

Promotion of the Congress

 

  • Promotion of ICAP26 at Congresses. This has already been done at: 2000 IUPsyS Congress in Sweden; 2000 IACCP Congress in Pultusk, Poland; 2001 European Congress of Psychology, London; 2001 IACCP Congress in Winchester, UK; 2002 ICAP26 in Singapore; 2003 European Congress of Psychology, Vienna; 2003 Regional Congress of IUPsyS, IAAP, and IACCP in Dubai; 2004 APA in Hawaii; 2004 IACCP Congress in Xi’an; 2004 ICP Congress in Beijing.
  • Promotion programmed: 2004 BPS in UK; 2005 Germany Psychological Society; 2005 European Congress of Psychology in Spain; 2005 APA; 2005 BPS in UK; ISPA in Athens, among other psychological meetings.
  • Membership lists from national and international psychological associations
  • Advertising in psychological association newsletters and journals in 2005.
  • Advertising in psychology departments.
  • IACCP, STAR and ECP will organize conferences before and after the IAAP congress, and two or three other associations are in process of making decisions.
  • Second Announcement – Call for Papers will be distributed beginning July 2004 and will be continually updated on the ICAP26 website.

 

Synopsis of the Second Announcement-Call for Papers

 

Issues Related to the Organization of the Scientific Program

 

            The Scientific Program has been organized in close cooperation with the Divisions. The program consists of keynote lectures, symposia, poster symposia, oral presentation papers, workshops, and video presentations. At the time of printing of the Second Announcement-Call for Papers, the number of presentations for each category were:

 

  • Keynote lectures proposed by the IAAP Divisions: 12 presidential addresses, 13 state-of-the-art lectures, 13 keynote addresses.  
  • Keynote lectures proposed by the Organizing Committee: 43
  • Invited Symposia proposed by the IAAP Divisions: 29
  • Invited Symposia proposed by the Organizing Committee: 9
  • Workshops (some with proposed continuing education credits): 18
  • Meet the speakers program. One hour informal discussions with distinguished psychologists for young psychologists and students.

 

The Second Announcement-Call for Papers includes information regarding Submission Deadlines, General Policies and Guidelines concerning the Scientific Program. In addition, there is information concerning meetings of IACCP, STAR and ECP, the social program, foreign exchange and banking, accommodation, transportation, visas, climate, clothing, etc.

 

Language of the Conference

 

Official languages of the congress are English, French, and Spanish. Some presentations in Greek will be permitted. All the abstracts must be submitted in English.

 

Professional Site Visits during the Congress

 

            Professional site visits to institutions in Athens will be organized.

 

Publications: Program Book and Abstracts

 

            A program book and book of abstracts will be published. The option of a book of abstracts or a CD will be offered in the Registration form.

 

Services for Persons with Special Needs

 

            Services will be available for persons with special needs. The registration form will enable the Congress to prepare in advance for aid for persons with specific needs, e.g., wheelchairs, medical needs. Medical staff will be available at the Congress site for first aid.

 

Commercial Exhibits

 

            Commercial exhibits will be organized in the Congress site.

 

Tourist Visits

 

            A program of tourist visits to archaeological sites, the Greek islands, and resort areas in Athens and other places in Greece for accompanying persons and conference participants, before, during, and after the congress will be arranged.

 

 

Summary of important congress dates

 

  • Congress dates: July 16-21, 2006

 

  • Early submission: September 15, 2005

 

  • Notification of early acceptance: December 1, 2005

 

  • Regular submission: November 15, 2005

 

  • Notification of regular acceptance: February 1, 2006

 

 

Registration, submission of abstracts, hotels and other information