SAVE THE DATES and urgent actions to take around 2026 (contact) conferences

Dear EASP members,

We are thrilled to announce that this year ICRN and the Hamburg EASP-sponsored meeting group on Advances in Intergroup contact will be partnering in organising a joint satellite meeting on and for intergroup contact to follow the EASP General Meeting in July 2026 in its proximity.

Dates and Locations.

Below we show how the upcoming meeting will conveniently complement larger gatherings that are relevant to the research of most of us:
• 30 June-4 July 2026 EASP General Meeting, Strasbourg, France.
• 5 July (afternoon) - 6 July: Joint ICRN/Hamburg group meeting for Intergroup Contact Research, Karlsruhe, Germany (with an option for additional small group work on 7 July)
• 16-19 July 2026: ISPP Annual meeting, Newcastle Upon-Tyne, UK

The joint meeting will be hosted at the Campus Karlsruhe of the FernUniversität in Hagen (University of Hagen). This is a 45-minute train journey from the EASP conference location and within a convenient reach of Frankfurt International Airport.

Objectives and Contents.

The main aim of this meeting is to advance intergroup contact research, to enable international collaboration and support within the field – everyone is invited. Exact details are still under discussion. Yet, we anticipate that for the ICRN people, the joint meeting will offer an adaptation of the annual summit, encompassing research networking, dissemination/presentations, ECR mentoring, and governance design. For those who attended the Hamburg meeting, an opportunity to showcase the collaborative work done and cast the net of future collaborative activities further.

Critically, we believe that this joint enterprise will be more than the sum of its parts: It will offer an unprecedented opportunity to synergise the two groupings together towards bigger and more ambitious future research and research training endeavours.

Format and Fees.

In-person, with remote participation options; attendance of the EASP GM not a requirement. We hope to run the event as cost-neutral and avoid or limit any event fees altogether.
More information on our plans will follow soon, including how to communicate your interest in attending the joint meeting and registration details.

We hope you will join us!

In the meantime, DO NOT FORGET to submit an abstract for the EASP GM by November 7 and for the ISPP Annual Meeting by Nov 24 so that you leave all options open. Watch this space for more info soon!