BAPS organizes several activities among which:

• an annual meeting gathering 200 to 300 researchers, professors and students working in the Belgian universities (as well as international speakers and participants)
• the publication of the "Psychologia Belgica" journal
• an email list
• the Best Master Thesis award

Any person interested in scientific research in psychological sciences is invited to affiliate to BAPS. The affiliation is advantageous for master and PhD students and involves among other stuffs:

• free access to the annual meeting
• free reception and web access to Psychologica Belgica
• automatic affiliation to the Belgian Federation of Psychologists

Presidential Address

From time to time it is good to look back. At present, Belgian psychology enjoys a thriving research community in psychological science, with lots of exciting findings and initiatives. However, few of us realize that this situation is very recent. Up to 20 years ago, the position of Belgian psychology in the world was very modest, as can be seen from Figure 1. Whereas up to 1992 the number of articles was well below 100 per year, in 2008 it has risen to over 600 (although it looks like we will have difficulty keeping up the pace in 2009!).

Figure 1: number of articles published by Belgian Psychology Researchers in the Web of Science (up to May 2009)

Probably even more important is the number of citations made to our work. As can be seen in Figure 2, these are healthy as well, meaning that Belgian psychologists not only publish more but also see their work used more often by other researchers.

Figure 2: number of citations to the articles published by Belgian Psychology Researchers in the Web of Science (up to May 2009)

The increase of psychology research in Belgium is in line with a higher share of publications from non-American countries. A look at Table 1 shows that the share of USA publications in the Web of Science has declined from two thirds in 1975 to less than half in 2005. On the other hand, Table 1 also shows that even though Belgium is doing well (certainly when the size of the population is taken into account), there is still some headway to be made relative to some of our neighboring countries.

Table 1: Number of articles published by authors from different countries in ISI Web of Science, plus the share in the total number of articles published. The last column corrects for differences in number of inhabitants, by dividing the number of articles published in 2005 by the size of the population (in millions).

All in all, these are very rewarding and exciting times to be President of the Belgian Association for Psychological Sciences, because it means that we are in a better shape than ever to fulfil our major roles. These are:

1. The organization of an annual conference for Belgian researchers to share their latest findings and for young researchers to give their first “real” presentation.
2. To continue and improve Psychologica Belgica, the only journal dedicated to scientific psychology in Belgium.
3. To support young researchers by organizing a Best Thesis Award for the best master’s thesis and by providing best poster awards at the annual conference.
4. To inform Belgian psychologists about talks, seminars, conferences, job openings, etc. This is done via our mailing list.
5. To be the national and international representative of Belgian psychology research and to take part in the organization of joint initiatives.

Needless to say, your help in any of these is very much appreciated. Please distribute this information among your colleagues and students. And if you have an idea or a comment, please do not hesitate to contact me.

The Belgian Psychological Society was founded in 1946 on the initiative of A. Michotte (read about the short review of the history of the society). Its purpose was and is still to bring together all persons living in Belgium who are interested in the scientific development of Psychology and its applications.

The previous constitution dated back to the mid seventies. So much had changed in the society at large that an update was badly needed. Therefore, the society considered the transition from a constitution to a non-profit organisation.

To conform the Belgian Law, a non-profit organisation needs to have its statutes published in the official government publications. The new statutes or constitution were voted for at the general assembly meeting, on May 5th, 2005. You can download the english version of the text. The rules of procedures are also available (click here).

Full membership in BAPS also makes you a member of the Belgian Federation of Psychology. This organization was founded in 1979 and coordinates the existing associations of psychologists. Its purpose is to safeguard the rights and professional interests of its members. Under the impulse of the Federation, the statute of the psychologist is now regulated by law, and rules of ethical conduct have been issued. The Belgian Federation of Psychology acts as a representative for its members when dealing with official bodies and other associations. Our organization has actively participated in the creation of the Belgian Federation of Psychology. As the task of the latter concerns the professional interest psychologists, the Society was able to concentrate better on its scientific task. The representatives of BAPS in the BFP are Celine Bayens (French side) and Frank Van Overwalle (Dutch side).

BAPS is officially represented in the National Committee for Psychological Sciences at the Royal Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts of Belgium. This comittee aims to promote Belgian cooperation with international and interdisciplinary projects initiated by the International Council of Scientific Unions and the International Union of Psychological Science. The Belgian Psychological Society is also a founding member of the International Union of Psychological science (I.U.Psy.S.). The I.U.Psy.S. was founded in 1951 and at present unites 51 national associations of psychology.

Up to two members of BAPS have been chosen as chairman of the I.U.Psy.S. The current president of the I.U.Psy.S. is Géry d'Ydewalle, the past-president of our society. The I.U.Psy.S. organizes the International Congress of Psychology every four years (1992 in Brussels, 1996 in Montreal, 2000 in Stockholm). All members of the Society are invited to take part in this conference. The I.U.Psy.S. also takes other initiatives to promote the international collaboration for the development of psychology as a science. As a member of the Society, you can purchase publications of the I.U.Psy.S. at a reduced price (International Directory of Psychologists, International Journal of Psychology, etc.). In July 1992, the Belgian Psychological Society organized the 25th International Congress of Psychology in Brussels. At that time, it had been well over a century ago that psychological science had begun to settle itself independently in Europe - notably in Belgium too (Brussels, Gent, Louvain, Liège). This meeting of considerable scientific importance was highly stimulating for the further growth of psychology in Belgium, from a societal as well as from a scientific point of view.

General BAPS mailing list

Members of the Society can exchange information through an electronic mailing list called "baps". At this point, the mailing list is essentially used to let interested parties know about seminars and conferences organized by members.

To subscribe to the BAPS mailing list, send an email to majordomo@vub.ac.be with the text Subscribe baps@listserv.vub.ac.be in the subject and the message part.

To unsubscribe from the BAPS mailing list, send an email to majordomo@vub.ac.be with the text Unsubscribe baps@listserv.vub.ac.be in the subject and the message part.

Send your messages of general interest to members of the Association by mailing them to: baps @ listserv vub ac be