Scientific meetings are usually held three times per year. Meetings typically consist of papers submitted by members, symposia, and invited papers and lectures. Symposia on any topic may be proposed to the Committee by members. A meeting early in January is always held in London. The Spring and Summer meetings are held at various institutions around the country. Occasionally, meetings are held in collaboration with other scientific societies either in this country or abroad. The Sir Frederic Bartlett Lectureis given annually. There are also an annual EPS Prize and EPS Mid-Career Award, whose recipients are invited to deliver a lecture to the Society.
Who may attend
Meetings are open to members and their invited guests. Due to reciprocal arrangements with the Dutch Society of Psychonomics (NVP), EPS meetings are also open to NVP members. There is no registration fee. Meeting programmes and accommodation details will be sent to non-members by the Hon. Secretary at the request of a member. Journalists may be invited to an EPS meeting only at the discretion of the Hon. Secretary, who will seek the permission of speakers; the proceedings as such must not be reported. The only events that are open to the general public are the Bartlett, EPS Prize and EPS Mid-Career Award lectures.
Sponsorship of non-member presentations at scientific meetings
The EPS permits non-members to present papers and posters at its meetings so long as a member ‘sponsors’ the presentation. The purpose of sponsorship is to ensure a high standard of presentation. In effect, the sponsor acts as a referee. For junior speakers, the sponsor’s role is as a mentor. For more senior speakers who happen not to be members, sponsorship is just as important; in these cases, the sponsor is introducing the speaker to the Society. The Society views sponsorship as an important feature of its meetings that enables a mix of members and non-members to present their work to the Society.
The Ordinary Member is required to be present when the presentation is delivered. If the sponsor can no longer attend, they must contact the EPS Administrator to organise a replacement sponsor. If the sponsor’s absence is last-minute, the speaker should identify him/herself to the Honorary Secretary at the meeting in advance of the talk.
Identifying a sponsor
Guests and postgraduate members who wish to present at one of the EPS’s scientific meetings, but do not have a sponsor in the Society are invited to contact the EPS Administrator at expsychsoc@kent.ac.uk for help identifying EPS members in their home institution, or a member of the committee, who can provide a nomination prior to submission. However, if a sponsor is not found, the submission can still be made as there is a check-box to identify the need to find a sponsor on the submission portals.