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PsyPAG – What is it all about?
You have probably seen the blue PsyPAG Quarterly magazines laying around the department, and hopefully you have picked one up and had a read (if you haven’t, you should do so!), but do you know what PsyPAG is and the benefits you could be getting from being an active member?
Three members of the psychology department here at Kent are members of the PsyPAG committee, in different capacities. Daniel Jolley (@MrDanielJolley) is the Information Officer and Social Psychology Section representative, Lynsey Mahmood (@LynseyMahmood) represents members of the London and Home Counties Branch and Jumana Ahmad (@Jjumana) is a PsyPAG Quarterly editor- so you can ask any of them what it’s like to be on the committee and how PsyPAG can benefit you as a postgraduate student.
PsyPAG itself is a national organization which is funded by the research board of the BPS. It is run on a voluntary basis by postgraduate students (the committee members) with the aim of providing support for postgraduates, aiding communication and representing postgraduates within the BPS.
So for example, if you are a member of the BPS Social Psychology Section, Dan would represent your views at that committee; if you are a member of a University within the London and Home Counties Branch (which Kent is, and any area of Psychology applies) then Lynsey represents your interests within that committee.
Each subgroup of the BPS (branch, section, division) has a PsyPAG representative, so there is always someone on the committee who is looking to represent your needs to the BPS. They also liaise with the Student Members Group of the BPS to raise awareness of postgraduate issues in the undergraduate community.
There isn’t an official membership scheme to join PsyPAG- if you are a postgraduate student at a UK institution; the good news is you are already a member! So, what are these benefits you can start taking advantage of?
For a start, those little blue Quarterly magazines I just mentioned- they are a peer reviewed journal, which is created free of charge for all postgraduate psychology students. You can write for the Quarterly- book reviews, articles, conference reviews; or you can join the committee as an Editor, which means that you will be responsible for putting together an issue once a year, and acting as a reviewer each quarter.
They also run an Annual Conference, which at a reduced rate to most conferences, allows you to present your research in a supportive environment, whilst networking with people that are at a similar point in their career. They also offer several student bursaries, which can be used to fund attendance at conferences and workshops. You can also find a link on the PsyPAG website to a mailing list specifically for other psychology researchers, which reaches over 1,000 postgraduates.
More information can be found at www.psypag.co.uk/ or on Twitter or Facebook @PsyPAG.