Dear student and early career members of the EAPL,
As our time on the EAPL-S board is coming to an end, we are looking for new EAPL-S board members!
The EAPL-S advocates for the students and early career researchers in forensic and legal psychology, by serving as their voice in the EAPL board. Our tasks include the organization of workshops, travel grants, conference awards and activities, research grant opportunities, and communication in the broadest sense by social media and our website.
Due to the changes in the EAPL constitution there will be a few changes with respect to the new EAPL-S board as well:
- Under the new constitution student members are now eligible to vote in the EAPL elections. Therefore, you can now officially elect your own representatives!
- Furthermore, while the EAPL-S board has previously been filled on an application basis and constituted a somewhat separate entity to the EAPL board, we have now been assigned two board positions in the EAPL board. Therefore, the new EAPL-S representatives will have to be elected by our EAPL members.
- The changes outlined under point 2 mean that the EAPL-S board will shrink to two members who will each be elected and serve as EAPL board members for a period of three years.
- Relating to point 3: Every year there will be an additional student representative from the university/institution hosting that year’s EAPL conference who will support the EAPL-S representatives. This additional student representative will serve on the board for a period of one year – starting after the previous year’s EAPL conference up until the EAPL conference hosted by their institution. This additional student representative will be selected by the elected EAPL-S representatives on an application basis and ensure a smooth conference planning with respect to our students’ needs and interests. A separate call for applications for this position will be launched starting in 2025.
Eligibility: You can nominate yourself for the new EAPL-S board positions if you are currently a Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD student. You are also eligible to apply if you have defended or will defend your PhD thesis this year. The same applies if you can already foresee that you will graduate from being a (PhD) student during your three year board period, as long as you are committed to serve the entire three years on the board. EAPL board members have to be EAPL members.
Further things to take into consideration: According to the new constitution, the board should represent different parts of Europe (you can check the current board here).
How to apply:
- If you are interested in a position, you are invited to nominate yourself by sending us an email at eaplstudent@gmail.com until August 15th, 2024. Elections will be held in autumn 2024. There will be a transition period, in which we will all work closely together towards the EAPL 2025 conference.
- In your nomination, please provide information regarding your affiliation, the country you are based in and tell us a little bit about yourself and your vision for the EAPL as a student and early career researcher representative.
We are looking forward to your nominations! If you have any further questions don’t hesitate to contact us. You can get in touch via e-mail or in person during the EAPL 2024 conference in Caparica, Portugal.
All the best,
Kate, Narcisa & Jana
Kate Miller
Board Member
PhD Candidate, the University of Chester, England.
My name is Kate and I am 47 years old. I received my Master’s degree in Psychology from the University of Chester in 2017. I enjoyed my dissertation on deception detection so much I stayed at Chester, where I am currently working on my PhD under the supervision of Dr Michelle Mattison and Dr Clea Wright. My research is an investigation of real-life homicide suspect interviews, with suspects differing in their truthfulness and guilt for the crimes they are being questioned for. In examining the use and effect of question types and evidence disclosure, the research details differences in the interviews affected by suspect veracity and culpability, and also how the serious nature of a homicide suspect interview affects interviewee and interviewer behaviour. My research interests lie in Investigative and Forensic Psychology. I am particularly interested in research that has a strong applied focus; using real-life data for real-world application. When not immersed in the world of psychology (and murderers!) you will find me spending time with my children, reading crime fiction, dancing with my friends and walking in the outdoors.
I would like EAPL-S to be a channel in which to support each other, learn together and to explore future collaborations. Furthermore, I look forward to extending the student psychology and law network, both socially and academically, at conferences and in the wider opportunities.
Jana Otzipka
Board Member
PhD Candidate, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.
My name is Jana and I am 25 years old. During my undergraduate studies at Maastricht University as well as my semester abroad at Stellenbosch University I was introduced to the field of forensic psychology, which immediately caught my attention. I graduated from Maastricht’s Forensic Psychology master in 2019. Since then, I’ve been working at the Psychologische Hochschule Berlin within a joint research project focusing on wrongful convictions and exonerations in Germany. I am concurrently working on my PhD under supervision of Prof. Dr. Renate Volbert at the Freie Universität Berlin. My research focus is on cognitive biases as well as debiasing strategies in criminal investigations and expert witness evaluations. Additionally, I am also interested in research within the fields of cross-cultural psychology, eyewitness interviewing as well as credibility assessments. In my free time I really enjoy cooking, drawing and taking care of my (admittedly far too many) plants.
As an EAPL-S board member I would like to contribute to the bridge between experienced professionals as well as aspiring students whilst helping to continue building the EAPL-S as a platform to network and connect.
Narcisa Prodan
Board Member
PhD Candidate, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
My name is Narcisa and I am 27 years old. I received my Master’s degree in Legal Psychology from Babeș-Bolyai University in 2018 and I am now working on my Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Laura Visu-Petra. My research focuses on school-aged children’s deceptive abilities in relation to their socio-cognitive development (e.g., advanced Theory of Mind). I am also interested in investigative interviewing with child victims or witnesses. When I am not engaged in research or teaching activities, I enjoy doing yoga, watching true-crime documentaries, and reading.
As an EAPL-S board member, I would like to contribute to the extension of the EAPL-S network, attracting more students and supporting their professional aspirations in the field of psychology and law. Also, I hope we can offer more courses and training opportunities for EAPL-S members.
