Scientific Programme Committee
PROFESSOR MOJCA JURIŠEVIČ - CHAIR OF THE SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME COMMITTEE (Mojca.Jurisevic@pef.uni-lj.si) SLOVENIA
Mojca Juriševič, PhD, is a full professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education. Her main research interests lie in motivation for learning, psychological aspects of gifted education and teacher professional development. She is the founder and head of the Center for Research and Promotion of Giftedness at the University of Ljubljana Faculty of Education. She also serves as a member of the European Talent Support Network Council and is a national representative in the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children (WCGTC). She leads a division of psychologists in education at the Slovenian Psychologists' Association (DPS) and represents Slovenian psychologists in the Standing Committee of Psychology in Education at the European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations (EFPA). She is an associate member of the American Psychological Association (APA).
PROFESSOR KARIN BAKRAČEVIČ (Karin.Bakracevic@um.si) SLOVENIA
Karin Bakračevič, PhD, is a full professor of Developmental Psychology at the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Maribor. She graduated in Psychology from the University of Ljubljana and finished her PhD in Developmental Psychology. Her research is focused on cognitive and socio-emotional development, development of self-awareness and self-regulation in children and adolescents, executive functions and cognitive aging. Lately, she has investigated the effectiveness of cognitive training in different populations, especially the elderly.
PROFESSOR PAUL A. BARTOLO (Paul.A.Bartolo@um.edu.mt) MALTA
Paul A. Bartolo is a Professor in the Department of Psychology, University of Malta, where he coordinates the master programme for the preparation of professional psychologists. He holds masters from the Universities of Toronto and Manchester, and a PhD from the University of London. He has two main interests. Firstly, he has promoted professional psychology in Malta and internationally. He was President of the International School Psychology Association in 2013 -15. He also has a special interest in the enhancement of social justice and inclusion in education systems and society. He was coordinator of a European Erasmus project among seven countries on Responding to Student Diversity (2004-07), and a consultant and project advisor on cross-European projects on the development of inclusive education of the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education (2011-18). He was awarded the Tom Oakland Outstanding International Scholar Award by the International School Psychology Association in 2018.
PROFESSOR SHEYLA BLUMEN (sblumen@pucp.pe) PERU
Sheyla Blumen, PhD, is a full professor and
Head of the Department of Psychology at the Pontifical Catholic University of
Peru. Her main research interests lie in psycho-educational assessment,
cognitive and socio-emotional development, and psychological aspects of gifted
education with special interest in the enhancement of social justice and
inclusion in education systems. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of
Psychology (PUCP), the founder of Future Minds Gifted Center, and a senior
consultant to the Peruvian Ministry of Education. She also serves as a member of the European
Talent Support Network Council, a member of the Global Network Council of the
Eisenhower Fellowships, as well as the Peruvian representative in the European
Council for High Abilities.
DR GAŠPER CANKAR (Gasper.Cankar@ric.si) SLOVENIA
Gašper Cankar, PhD, is a researcher and methodology expert working on problems of knowledge assessment. Since 2000 he has worked in a National Examinations Centre (NEC, Slovenia) methodologically supporting general and vocational examinations and national assessments in Grades 6 and 9. His work bridges areas of database management and interpretation of test results (classical test theory and item response theory). He also links national assessment databases with PISA and TIMSS databases which provide valuable insights. Some of the topics he works on include errors in rating processes, value added models of knowledge, interplay between socio economic background and educational outcomes and Simpson’s paradox.
DR AMANDA CLINTON (AClinton@apa.org) USA
Amanda Clinton, M.Ed., Ph.D., is the Senior Director for the Office
of International Affairs at the American Psychological Association (APA). Prior
to joining the APA, Dr. Clinton served as Professor of Psychology at the
University of Puerto Rico where she specialized in culturally relevant
programs, early childhood, social-emotional development, and bilingualism. Dr.
Clinton is a licensed psychologist and a credentialed school psychologist with
experience in community clinics, pediatric hospitals, public schools, academic
settings, and public policy. Dr. Clinton completed a AAAS Congressional
Fellowship in the office of Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) where she helped write
the Mental Health Reform Act of 2016 (passed as 21st Century
Cures). Dr. Clinton’s scholarly work includes publication of “Integrated
Assessment of the Bilingual Child” and numerous peer-reviewed papers and book
chapters, as well as Associate Editorship of both the Journal of Educational
and Consulting Psychology (JEPC) and the Interamerican Journal of
Psychology. Dr. Clinton has won several prestigious awards, including a
Fulbright Scholarship and SPSSI Educator/Mentor of the Year. Dr. Clinton earned
her master’s degree at the University of Washington and her doctoral degree at
the University of Georgia.
PROFESSOR MÁRTA FÜLÖP (martafulop@yahoo.com) HUNGARY
Prof. Márta Fülöp (DSc) is scientific advisor and head of the Social and Cultural Psychology Department of the Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HAS). She is also professor of social psychology in the Institute of Psychology of Karoli Gaspar University, Budapest. She was research fellow of Japan Foundation (1996-1997), a Lindzey Fellow (1997-1998) in the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, USA, a visiting professor at the Faculty of Sociology and Social Psychology, Kansai University, Osaka, Japan (2004), and she has been a visiting professor in the University of International Business and Economy in Beijing, China since 2013. She is the Secretary General of the International Association of Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP), Secretary of International Affairs of the Hungarian Psychological Association, president elect of the Children’s Identity and Citizenship in Europe: European Association. Her main research topic is competition and she studies competition from many different aspects: developmental, personality. social, cross-cultural and in relation to giftedness.
DR DAVID GOSAR (DavidGosar@yahoo.com) SLOVENIA
David Gosar, PhD, is a clinical psychologist working at the Department of Child, Adolescent and Developmental Neurology at the University Children’s Hospital in Ljubljana. His main research interests lie in the domains of developmental neuropsychology and neuroimaging. His research is aimed at understanding the neurobiological mechanism with underlie the cognitive, affective and social functioning of children and adolescents with different neurological and neuro-developmental disorders such as epilepsy, autism, neuromuscular diseases and specific genetic syndromes. In his work he also focuses on interventions for patients and families and has a keen interest in the etiology of dissociative and somatoform disorders. In addition to his interest in the field of neuropsychology, he is also pursuing his professional interests in the domains of psychometrics and e-psychology. In collaboration with Slovenian test publishers he has been involved in the development and adaptation of numerous internationally recognised psychological assessment tools. He is also a member of the Slovenian test commission, advising the Slovenian Psychological Society on the practice of psychological assessment. As a member of the European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations (EFPA) Project group on e-psychology he also strives to help incorporate advancements in the field of e-psychology, data science and information technology into mainstream psychology in an ethically responsible and scientifically rigorous fashion.
DR PETER JANJUŠEVIĆ (Peter.Janjusevic@scoms-lj.si) SLOVENIA
Peter Janjušević, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, working at The Counselling Centre for Children, Adolescents and Parents, Ljubljana, where he conducts clinical work with children, adolescents and families and leads the group for research and development. As a clinical psychologist his main work is the assessment and treatment of a wide range of psychological problems and disorders in children, adolescents and their families. This includes conduct and mood disorders, learning difficulties and more recently he has focused on anxiety and comorbid problems. His research and development activity focuses mainly on small scale - clinical research and prevention projects, as well as implementing evidence based practices in mental health care within health and school settings, such as Identification, prevention and intervention in school refusal behaviours (2017-2019). More recently he has been implementing an anxiety treatment programme Cool Kids in the Slovenia Centre for Emotional Health - Macquarie University Sydney, Australia (2020-2022). He is an accredited CBT therapist, supervisor and teacher.
DR BORIS JOKIĆ (boris@idi.hr) CROATIA
Boris Jokić,
PhD, is the Director of the Institute for Social Research in Zagreb. He
holds a degree in psychology from the Faculty of Philosophy, University of
Zagreb and a PhD from the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge. His
scientific career has been strongly rooted in the field od psychology of
education. His most recent research focuses on the effects of pandemic on
aspirations of children and youth, their learning and trust. He was a member of the National Council of Education
and is one of the authors of the current Croatian strategy of education,
science and technology. He was the leader of the Comprehensive Curricular
Reform of early and pre-school, elementary and secondary education in Croatia.
The ideas, processes and values in this reform led to mass protests of support
all over Croatia.
DR TANJA KAJTNA (Tanja.Kajtna@fsp.uni-lj.si) SLOVENIA
Tanja Kajtna, PhD, is an associate professor, employed at the Faculty of sport, University of Ljubljana. She teaches Sport Psychology related subjects, such as Sport Psychology and Psychological Preparation. She is a licensed sport psychologist with 20 years experience in top sports and is the president of the Section for Sport Psychology in the Slovenian Psychologists' Association. She has been working with swimmers, alpine skiers, tennis players, martial arts athletes, paralympians. She attended Beijing 2008 Paralympic games and London 2012 Olympic games as a sport psychologist for the Slovene national team. Her work combines classical approaches to sport psychology such as PST and CBT with ACT approaches.
DR MARIA KAREKLA (mkarekla@ucy.ac.cy) CYPRUS
Maria Karekla, Ph.D., licensed clinical psychologist, peer-reviewed Acceptance and Commitment Therapy trainer, and Associate Professor, University of Cyprus. She is heading the "ACTHealthy: Clinical Psychology and Behavioral Medicine" laboratory. She received her doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology from the University at Albany, SUNY. She completed her residency at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and Veterans Administration Hospital. Her research focuses on areas of health promotion and the investigation of individual difference factors (especially psychological flexibility parameters) as they relate to the development and maintenance of various behavioural difficulties (especially anxiety, eating, and health related problems). Additionally, she examines the treatment of these difficulties utilizing Acceptance and Commitment-based principles and innovative delivery methods (e.g., digital interventions, virtual reality). Her research (>90 scientific peer reviewed publications) received numerous local, European and international grants, and awards. She is currently the chair of the Clinical Psychology Doctorate committee, University of Cyprus. She is also the convenor of the European Federation of Psychology Associations' Psychology and Health committee and a member of the e-health task force. She recently completed terms in chairing the Cyprus Bioethics Committee on Biomedical Research and being a member of the Cyprus Psychologist Licensing Board. She presently serves as president-elect of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science, from where she received the status of "Fellow" in 2019. In 2021 she became a fellow of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, whereas in 2018 she was nominated as Cyprus "Woman of the Year: Academic/Researcher category." Her first psychotherapeutic childrens' story book was nominated in 2017 for the National Literary Awards in the category Children/Adolescents and also for her illustrations for the book. She is a TEDx speaker and she has been hosted and interviewed for her work by numerous podcasts, newspapers, TV and radio stations nationally and internationally.
DR GENNADY G. KNYAZEV (knyazev@physiol.ru) RUSSIA
Gennady G.
Knyazev, PhD, is a Principal Research Scientist and the head of the laboratory
of Psychophysiology of Individual Differences in the Scientific Research
Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Novosibirsk, Russia. His main research
interests include EEG and fMRI correlates of personality and social behavior.
He is a member of the Russian Physiological Society, Russian Society of
Psychological Assessment, and the International Society for the Study of
Individual Differences, and a member of Editorial Board of Frontiers in
Behavioral Neuroscience.
PROFESSOR CHRISTIAN KORUNKA (christian.korunka@univie.ac.at) AUSTRIA
Christian Korunka, PhD, is a Professor for Work and Organizational Psychology and the head of the work unit Work and Organizational Psychology at the Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna. His current research topics are: quality of working life, work in transition, new job demands, flexible work and home office. Another research topic is psychological aspects of entrepreneurship and family businesses. He is author of about 90 journal articles, 100 book chapters and editor/author of about 10 books. Recently he published a book about flexible work (Flexible Working practices and approaches. Ney York: Springer). Christian Korunka is the Austrian delegate of ENOP, the European Network of Work and Organizational Psychologists. He is the head of postgraduate programs at the University of Vienna.
DR KATJA KOŠIR (Katja.Kosir@um.si) SLOVENIA
Katja Košir, PhD, works as an associate professor at the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts at the University of Maribor. She works with teachers in training, psychologists and (inclusive) pedagogues. In addition, she participates in the teacher education training program (PAI). Her research interests are mainly focused on the non-cognitive factors of academic performance, especially social relationships, i.e. peer relations and student−teacher relations and their role in students’ academic performance and their assessment. She is the head of the Center for lifelong learning at the Faculty of Art, University of Maribor. As an implementer of various training courses for professionals in the field of education, she strives to transfer scientific findings into practice and to integrate effectively and foster co-operation between academic communities and educational institutions. She is an associate editor at the scientific journal Horizons of Psychology. In 2017, she received the award of the Educational Research Institute and The Slovenian Educational Research Association for outstanding achievements in the field of research in education.
DR ANA KOZINA (Ana.Kozina@pei.si) SLOVENIA
Ana Kozina, PhD, is a researcher, assistant professor and Head of the Centre for evaluation studies in the Educational Research Institute. Her work is in the field of developmental and educational psychology. She focusses on the developmental and time related trends of aggression and anxiety (in childhood and adolescence) their interplay and the role anxiety and aggression play on individual level, on a school level and on the community level (with possible prevention and intervention designs). In the field of education, she is interested in the factors related to student’s achievement and well-being (social and emotional learning, school climate, motivation...). Currently she is a leading researcher in a European project: HAND IN HAND, empowering teachers across Europe to deal with social, emotional and diversity related career challenges. She is actively involved in an international research project Positive youth development across cultures (led by Bergen University). Her work has been presented on national and international levels (e.g. conferences, journals, monographs) on regular basis. She is a member of Editorial board: Educational Research Institute Press and a vice-president of Slovenian Educational Research Association (SLODRE).
PROFESSOR GORDANA KUTEROVAC JAGODIĆ (gkuterovac@ffzg.unizg.hr) CROATIA
Gordana Kuterovac Jagodić, Ph.D. is a full professor of developmental psychology at the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Croatia. Her main research interests are in the field of parenting and developmental risks such as war, peer violence, digital technology, and pandemic. She has been a collaborator in numerous scientific projects, member and president of several scientific conferences and is the author of numerous scientific papers. She was awarded the Marulić: Fiat Psychologia Croatian Psychological Society award for contribution and development of applied psychology in Croatia (2013), the annual state award Ivan Filipović for improvement of pedagogical theory, research, and practice (2015) as well as the Croatian Psychological Association’s Ramiro Bujas Award for Social Affirmation of Psychology (2021). Gordana Kuterovac Jagodić is a member of the Croatian National Committee for EUROPSY diploma and Croatian representative in the Board of Scientific Affairs in the European Federation of Psychologists' Associations.
DR BEATA KRZYWOSZ-RYNKIEWICZ (beata.rynkiewicz@uwm.edu.pl) POLAND
Beata Krzywosz-Rynkiewicz, PhD, is a psychologist, associate professor at University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, head of Department of Clinical, Developmental and Educational Psychology. She is author and co-authors over 80 articles and 7 books on the field of social and educational psychology. Her special interests are active citizenship and self-responsibility. She was a member of Scientific Committee of European Science Foundation in 2006-10. Currently she is a President of Polish Association of Human Development Psychology, Polish EFPA representative, Head of NAC Europsy and Principal Editor of Polish Psychological Review. She is also active on the field of practice as Coordinator of University Centre for Therapy EMPATHY.
PROFESSOR MARGHERITA LANZ (Margherita.Lanz@unicatt.it) ITALY
Margherita Lanz, PhD, is full Professor of Psychometrics at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, Italy where she is member of the board of Family Studies and Research University Centre. She is the coordinator of the research unit on research method of the department of Psychology of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan. She is currently a collaborator of the APLUS project, a research study that finds emerging adults’ pathways to happiness, started in 2007 in USA. She is member of the editorial board of Emerging Adulthood Journal and TPM (Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology) Journal. Her main research topics concern research methods, emerging adulthood, family relationship, financial well-being. She has published in the last 10 years more than 50 papers on international and national journals.
DR BOJAN MUSIL (Bojan.Musil@um.si) SLOVENIA
Bojan Musil, PhD, is an associate professor at the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Maribor (Slovenia) and Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies, University of Primorska (Slovenia). His primary research interests are cross-cultural studies of values and value orientations, personality concepts, health, educational studies, and computer-mediated communication.
PROFESSOR VLASTA NOVAK ZABUKOVEC (Vlasta.Zabukovec@ff.uni-lj.si) SLOVENIA
Vlasta Novak Zabukovec, PhD, is a full professor of Educational Psychology at University of Ljubljana and University of Primorska. The main field of research is communication and climate in educational settings. She was active in the field of sports psychology, where she studied the role of various psychological factors in school physical education, such as motivation, perceived effectiveness and attitudes towards physical education. In the field of traffic psychology, she studied the role of different pedagogical approaches in developing traffic-safe behaviour of children and adolescents. She has participated in the development of rehabilitation programmes for drivers who drive under the influence of alcohol and other psychoactive substances. Recent research is related to the development of information literacy and the transfer of these findings into libraries. She is active in the field of the EuroPsy certificate.
PROFESSOR ANJA PODLESEK (Anja.Podlesek@ff.uni-lj.si) SLOVENIA
Anja Podlesek, PhD, is an associate professor of Psychological Methodology at Department of Psychology, University of Ljubljana. Her research includes psychophysics, measurement in psychology (development of psychological tests), and cognitive psychology (especially cognitive training and cognitive control). She is the head of the research programme Psychological and neuroscientific aspect of cognition at the Slovenian Research Agency. As a practitioner she has participated in studies in the field of educational psychology and suicidal behaviour. She is an associate editor of the journal Horizons of Psychology.
Assistant: NEŽA PODLOGAR (Neza.Podlogar@pef.uni-lj.si) SLOVENIA
Neža Podlogar is teaching assistant of educational psychology and PhD student at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Her research interests focus on psychological aspects of gifted education, video game impact on cognition and intelligence.
DR SAŠKA ROŠKAR (Saska.Roskar@nijz.si) SLOVENIA
Saška Roškar, PhD, is an assistant professor in the field of clinical psychology at Department of Psychology, University of Ljubljana. She is employed at the National Institute of Public Health. Her field of interests include mental health promotion, prevention of mental disorders and in particular suicide prevention. From 2009 to 2017 she was the national representative for Slovenia in the International Association for Suicide Prevention. She is the author and co-author of scientific papers published in national and international peer reviewed journals.
PROFESSOR POLONA SELIČ - ZUPANČIČ (Polona.Selic@mf.uni-lj.si) SLOVENIA
Polona Selič - Zupančič, PhD, is a full professor of Criminal Investigation and Clinical Psychology. As a young researcher, she was interested in coping and psychosomatics, but became intrigued by psychophysiology applied in criminal investigations. After a detour in the Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office, where her focus on domestic violence prevention faced many obstacles, she found fulfilment at the Department of Family Medicine at Faculty of Medicine Ljubljana and finally became head of Department of Psychology at Faculty of Medicine Maribor, with additional involvement in Primary Healthcare Research And Development Institute in Community Healthcare Centre Ljubljana. A storyteller by nature, she has been grateful for these opportunities to share knowledge and ask questions.
PROFESSOR SIDÓNIO SERPA (sidonio.serpa@campus.ul.pt) PORTUGAL
Sidónio Serpa is a licensed sport psychologist (SP), PhD in SP, currently Invited Full Professor at Lusofona University (Lisbon, Portugal). He graduated in Physical Education and in Psychology, and has worked until his retirement at the Faculty of Human Kinetics of the University of Lisbon for 45 years where he became Full Professor and chair of Sport Psychology. His main interests are psychology of top performance and history of international SP. As a sport psychologist he was a member of the staff of the Portuguese Sailing Team at the Atlanta and Sydney Olympics. For twenty years, he was a member of the Managing Council of the International Society of Sport Psychology-ISSP and its President in the period 2009-2013. He is also a member of the European “Forum of Applied Sport Psychologists in Topsport-FAST”. He received the “AASP Distinguished International Scholar Award-2009” from the Association of Applied Sport Psychology-AASP (USA), the “Ema Gueron Award-2019”, from the European Federation of Sport Psychology and the “Academic Merit Diploma-2009” from the Technical University of Lisbon. In 2012 Dr. Serpa became Invited-Member of the Iberian-American Society of Sport Psychology and in 2018, he was awarded the “Inaugural Fellowship” of the International Society of Sport Psychology. The Sports Secretary of the Portuguese Government nominated him “Ambassador for the Sports Ethics”.
DR SARA TEMENT (Sara.Tement@um.si) SLOVENIA
Sara Tement, PhD, is an associate professor at the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Maribor. She holds a doctoral degree in occupational psychology from the University of Vienna. Her current research interests include work-family conflict, recovery from work, job demands and resources, and burnout. She has published many scientific articles in international scientific outlets, hold lectures nationally and internationally and conducts employee training on topics related to work, personnel and organisational psychology.
PROFESSOR MAJA ZUPANČIČ (Maja.Zupancic@ff.uni-lj.si) SLOVENIA
Maja Zupančič, PhD, is a full professor of Developmental Psychology at the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, and the chair of Developmental Psychology Division. She was also a visiting professor at the Centro Studi Universitari Internazionali in Lugano, the University of Rijeka and the University of Vienna. She has been the leader of the research programme Applied Developmental Psychology since 2004 and has represented the research field in Psychology over the past decade at the Slovenian Research Agency. Her current research interests focus on psychosocial development and adjustment in emerging adulthood.