Memberships in professional associations

Researchers should be members of professional associations. Membership in the association gives you the opportunity to participate in its governing bodies and vote in board member elections, allowing you to influence the association’s development policy and vision. Also, membership allows you to get a discount on conference registration fees. In some associations, the membership fee also provides access to electronic versions of the association’s journal. Often, professional associations organize summer schools, workshops and seminars – we invite you to follow their announcements!

Membership is generally renewed annually (the exception is ISSID where membership is renewed every other year). In some associations, students’ membership fee is waived (e.g. EAPA organizes free student membership once a year), while in many associations the membership fee for students and researchers from lower income countries is significantly reduced (SPSSI, EASP, ISPP, WAPP, EAPP, EAPA, ISSID).

Professional associations relevant to our associates:

Participation in National and International Conferences

There are numerous conferences in the fields of individual differences and social psychology, both nationally and internationally, in which our members and associates actively participate. Conferences provide an opportunity to gain the latest insights in your field, as researchers often present findings that have not yet been published in scientific journals. They also offer valuable networking opportunities to meet colleagues from different parts of the world and establish new collaborations. Such experiences can later help you take on roles in organizing committees and scientific boards of conferences.

We encourage you to follow announcements related to upcoming conferences and plan your participation

Empirical Studies in Psychology (EIP) – Annual conference organized by the Laboratory for Experimental Psychology and the Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade.
Contemporary Trends in Psychology (STUP) – A biannual conference organized by the Department of Psychology, University of Novi Sad.
Days of Psychology in Zadaru – A biannual conference organized by the Department of Psychology, University of Zadar.
Rijeka Days of Experimental Psychology (REPSI) – A biannual conference organized by the Department of Psychology, University of Rijeka (participation is free).
Bujas Psychology Days – A biannual conference organized by the Department of Psychology, University of Zagreb.
ISPP conference – Annual conference of the International Society for Political Psychology.
EASP conference – A European Association of Social Psychology conference is held every three years.
European Conferences on Personality (ECP) – European Conferences on Personality (ECP) – A biannual conference organized by the European Association of Personality Psychology.
International Society for the Study of Individual Differences (ISSID) – A biannual global conference on individual differences.
World Association for Personality Psychology WAPP – A conference held every three years.
Psychonomics – An annual conference of the Psychonomic Society focusing on general experimental psychology.

Keep in mind that students of all academic levels are eligible for reduced registration fees at these conferences. Additionally, some conferences (e.g., ECP, ISSID, ISPP, EASP) offer association-funded scholarships to support participation with minimal personal expenses. Keep track of official association websites for announcements.

You should also check the website of the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technological Development of Serbia for potential scholarships for scientific conference participation.

Reputable Journals in the Field

There are numerous so-called “flagship” journals in the fields of social, clinical, and psychology of individual differences:

This list, of course, is not exhaustive. When assessing the quality of a journal, the following may be helpful:

Impact factor (although an imperfect metric, it still serves as a quality indicator).
Indexing in relevant databases (SCI, SSCI, WoS, PsycInfo, SCOPUS, DOAJ, PubMed, EBSCOhost).
Position on the ScImago list.
Presence and ranking in the Kobson journal database

Policy on open access (our position is to support open-access journals, especially those that charge neither authors nor readers – so-called diamond open access).

Policy on research transparency (we advocate for journals that adhere to open science practices and offer the option to submit preregistered research reports—so-called registered reports – a category that is growing daily).

International Training Opportunities

LIRA maintains a tradition of supporting junior researchers in gaining international experience. Young associates are sent to prestigious universities and research institutes with established collaborations, such as: University of Ulm, University of Utrecht, University of Leiden, University of Konstanz, University of Nicosia, University of Trieste…

We encourage associates to apply for funding to support their stays abroad. International training opportunities are funded through Short-term research missions under COST Actions Erasmus and Erasmus+ programs, The Borisav Lorenc Scholarship (Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy), European Association of Social Psychologists’ research fellowships. Efforts are ongoing to expand collaboration networks and increase funding opportunities.

Participation in Student Competitions and Collaborations

We encourage students and associates of LIRA Lab to participate in student competitions such as Falling Labs (organized by DAAD), EESTech Challenge (hosted at the Microsoft Development Center in Belgrade), and LabVIEW (organized by the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Belgrade).

We also support the participation of students and junior researchers in the global initiative Junior Researcher Programme (JRP). JRP supports six research projects in the fields of psychology and behavioral sciences each year. Within this program, you can apply for participation either as a junior researcher or as a supervisor.

Additionally, we encourage students to engage with international student organizations in psychology, such as the European Federation of Psychology Students’ Associations (EFPSA). This organization offers various initiatives for students, including an annual congress, an annual conference, and a summer school. One of the key highlights of EFPSA is the student scientific journal, Journal of European Psychology Students (JEPS), where students can submit their research papers as authors or take part in the journal’s editorial management.

EFPSA is a European community dedicated to enhancing the quality of psychology education for students. Association of Psychology Students “Stimulus” at our Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade is a member of EFPSA. Apart from JEPS, EFPSA also facilitates scientific exchanges through the Study and Travel Abroad team and conducts research projects through the Research Summer School and the Research Programme team. For further details, please contact serbia@efpsa.org.

There are also initiatives for the participation of master’s and PhD students in an international project focused on collaborative replications of significant scientific studies (Collaborative Replications and Education Projects, CREP). So far, Ljiljana Lazarević has been involved as an executive reviewer and a member of the CREP board, while Iris Žeželj and Danka Purić have contributed as experts in evaluating student research papers.