The U.S. National Committee for Psychology (USNC), which is supported by the National Science Foundation, reaches out to and coordinates international activities with the U.S. psychological science community. Committee members represent U.S. interests in the International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS) and, along with the representatives of other member countries, help shape the agenda and activities of the unions. U.S participation in the union is important and fulfills a unique role in the national science infrastructure. Over the course of the next four years, the USNC will conduct four major activities:
1 Survey and Workshop on International Collaboration The USNC will convene an international workshop in which participants will assess the barriers, challenges, and opportunities for international collaborative research in the social and behavioral sciences that involve human subjects and identify possible creative solutions for facilitating such research. The workshop will result in a "best practices" guide that will help to enhance international collaborations among social and behavioral scientists. 2 Conference on Scientific Access in Psychology The committee will convene international scientists to discuss access issues in the conduct of research and policy regulation in their respective fields. This discussion will also provide the framework for a pilot project that will eventually lead to a database that provides information about scientific access for social and behavioral scientists. 3 Symposium on Social and Behavioral Aspects of Technology and Information Systems The national committee will sponsor a symposium, perhaps at an AAAS meeting, on the social and behavioral aspects of science and technology information communication. The symposium will feature scientists who are conducting research on interactive machine learning, human and machine learning, and human-computer interaction. 4 Collaborative Workshop on Capacity Building The USNC will collaborate with the International Union of Psychology in convening a workshop to enhance and increase the scientific workforce in psychological sciences.
The results of these activities as well as the other activities of the USNC will be broadly disseminated to have the largest impact possible on the field of psychology.