This award allows the American Psychological Association, in collaboration with the US National Committee for the International Union of Psychological Science, to sponsor U.S. scientists to attend the International Congress of Psychology (ICP) in Cape Town, South Africa. The ICP is a premier international scientific congress in psychology, held approximately every 4 years since 1889. The ICP attracts 6,000-10,000 psychologists, spanning a wide range of scientific psychology and spanning the globe. It offers an excellent venue for showcasing the work of U.S. psychological science, for exposing U.S. psychological scientists to cutting edge ideas being discussed around the world, for fostering a broader international perspective on research and theory across the discipline, and for facilitating international collaboration and exchange.
Early career scientists and graduate students whose research is within the purview of NSF will be given priority for sponsorship. The program will include mentoring and mentor-matching activities to strengthen the capacity building aspects before and during the congress and in later follow-up activities. The emphasis on young scientists strengthens the discipline and fosters the development of U.S. science and scientists.
This award is being co-funded by the Office of International Science and Engineering and SBE/BCS.
The APA-USNC International Travel and Mentoring Program facilitated international networking, research collaboration and exchange for 21 US psychological scientists by providing partial support for their attendance at the 30th International Congress of Psychology (ICP2012) in Cape Town, South Africa, in July 2012. The unique aspect of the program was its mentoring component to pair more experienced international researchers with early career and graduate student scientists to foster interaction and exchange in the context of a premier international congress of psychology. Selected by a review committee, the early career and graduate student psychologists (13 "Mentees") and more senior psychologists (7 "Mentors) met prior to the Congress, and interacted during the Congress to navigate session attendance and promote networking. Participants were invited to two structured activities: a pre-congress breakfast meeting to allow mentors and mentees to make plans for the upcoming week, and an end-of-congress round table discussion of the program, experiences, and suggestions for future activities. In addition to these structured activities, program participants were invited to a number of congress-related social events (receptions, etc.) to afford an opportunity to meet international psychology leaders and colleagues. Following the Congress, all participants were asked to complete an online evaluation survey, requesting both quantitative and narrative responses. As a capacity building effort this program was successful in fostering attendance at the ICP2012 (92% of the mentees indicated they could not have attended the Congress without this program). Mentors indicated they attempted to promote contacts with international scientists and to provide useful research suggestions and ideas for international collaborations. Mentees’ listing of benefits gained included: networking, introductions to senior colleagues, discussions of career development, steps to collaborative research, suggestions for research directions, and specific guidance on how to make the best use of an international congress and which sessions to attend. In addition, several remarked on the value of this program in providing access to a broad range of informal and social settings to broaden their contacts with international and senior colleagues. Both mentors and mentees remarked that they had increased their breadth of understanding of the scope of international activities. Attending the international congress also provided exposure to a broad range of research participants be less likely to encounter in mainstream psychology journals. By the end of the Congress, some of the participants had already laid plans for international collaborative research efforts, and all had plans to do so. See www.apa.org/monitor/2012/11/mentoring.aspx www.apa.org/international/pi/2012/10/south-africa.aspx
