Portal opening guidelines to be considered by those wishing to submit abstracts is that the portal for January meetings will open in early September the previous year (i.e. for January 2026, the portal will open in early September 2025). The portals for the Spring meeting will open in early January and for the Summer meeting, the portals will open in early April.
In order to manage demand, we request a maximum of two talk submissions per lab (no limit on poster submissions or non-member sponsorship). After 24 hours, we will check whether submission numbers exceed slots available and if so, will conduct a light touch review of submissions (to check eligibility) then select talks using a lottery system. Where possible, talks that are not selected in the lottery will be offered a poster.
After 24 hours, we will check whether submission numbers exceed slots available and if so, will conduct a light touch review of submissions (to check eligibility) then select talks using a lottery system. Where possible, talks that are not selected in the lottery will be offered a poster.
If talk slots remain after 24 hours, the portal will remain open until full, and restrictions on the number of submissions per lab will be lifted.
The same work cannot be submitted as a talk and a poster, the submitter must choose which of these best suits the work and submit one or the other.
When you submit your abstract, you will see a success message on screen but you will not receive an email confirmation.
EPS meetings do not require registration and are free to attend. Events within meetings (such as mentoring, social events and the conference dinner) do require advance booking.
Voluntary Registration Fee
We have introduced a voluntary registration fee to enable members and their guests who hold research funding (including costs to attend conferences) to opt in to pay a small fee to attend EPS meetings. This fee will contribute to meeting costs, including travel grants.
The optional fee is set at £150 per meeting.
Attendees can opt in to pay the voluntary fee to attend any EPS scientific meeting by contacting expsychsoc@kent.ac.uk. Please state for which EPS meeting the fee is linked to and provide a postal address to be included on an invoice for the fee in the email.
Research Workshop: University College London. 17th June 2026.
Understanding the Role of Reward in Language Learning: A Collaborative Workshop.
Organized by Saloni Krishnan (UCL) and Chiara Gambi (Warwick).
While there has long been interest in how reward and motivation influence learning, this work has had surprisingly little impact on theories of language acquisition. Research on language learning has tended to focus on representations and processing, often neglecting the factors that determine whether learners engage, persist, or benefit from input. As a result, fundamental questions remain about the conditions under which reward-based incentives effectively support language learning. Addressing these questions is increasingly important in light of declining reading for pleasure and ongoing concerns about oracy. It is also timely given the rapid development of conversational AI, which offers new opportunities to harness intrinsic reward at scale, in contrast to earlier technology-assisted interventions that relied largely on extrinsic incentives.
In this workshop, invited talks from Antoni Rodriguez-Fornells (Barcelona), Nivedita Mani (Göttingen), Adam Parker (UCL), Tom Verguts (Ghent), Chris Madan (Nottingham), and Ana Zappa (Barcelona) will showcase recent advances in reward and language learning, drawing on experimental work from developmental, neuroimaging, and eye-tracking studies. The emphasis will be on clarifying the nature of incentives that influence learning and identifying the mechanisms through which they operate.
Participants will take part in structured discussions and a challenge-led session focused on a concrete problem drawn from educational or clinical practice. The aim is to develop testable paradigms that can be taken forward in collaborative projects. A further goal is to produce a jointly authored paper that sets out key questions and areas of agreement and uncertainty.
Early-career researchers are particularly encouraged to participate and will have opportunities to contribute to discussions and outputs.
Further details and registration information are available on our website: https://sites.google.com/view/reward-lang/home
EPS Meeting: University of Essex. 1st – 3rd July 2026.
This meeting will celebrate the EPS’ 80th Anniversary with a symposium entitled, ‘Where is experimental psychology now, and where will it be at 100?
This meeting will include the 33rd EPS Prize lecture by Melissa Colloff (and accompanying symposium organised by Markus Bindemann). This meeting will also include the 15th Frith Prize Talk to be given by Denise Cadete.
The portals for this meeting opened on Monday 13th April 2026 at 10am (UK time) and remained open for 24 hours. We have now checked all submissions and emailed everyone who submitted to the portals to communicate abstract outcomes.
The conference dinner for EPS Essex will be held on 2nd July from 7:30pm at Church Street Tavern, 3 Church Street, Colchester, Essex, CO1 1NF. The Society has arranged a bus to take attendees from campus to the conference dinner, as well as returning attendees to campus after the dinner, if needed.
To reserve your place, please complete the form below. This form will be available until 5pm (UK time) on Monday 22nd June, or until all spaces have been filled (if this is earlier than 22nd June).
For full information, please visit the EPS Essex Conference Dinner Booking Form.
Local Organiser: Maria Laura Filippetti
EPS Meeting: University College London. (Provisionally 6th – 8th) January 2027.
Local Organiser: Adam Parker
EPS Meeting: Cardiff University. 7th – 9th April 2027.
Local Organisers: Rob Honey, Katy Burgess, Patricia Gasalla Canto, Dominic Guitard and Victor Navarro.
EPS Meeting: University of East Anglia. 7th – 9th July 2027.
Local Organiser: Louise Ewing
EPS Meeting: University College London. January 2028.
Local Organiser: Martin Vasilev
EPS Meeting: TBC. Spring 2028.
Local Organiser: TBC
EPS Meeting: TBC. Summer 2028.
Local Organiser: TBC