How does data sharing actually work?

Many colleagues welcome these developments, but there is still a lot of uncertainty regarding the specific benefits and the potential dangers and pitfalls of data sharing. Many wonder how data sharing actually works, how they know whether or not a repository is trustworthy, whether data sharing conflicts with data protection and privacy regulations, and whether they can keep a certain amount of control over who is using their data and whether people are using them in a responsible way.

To address these concerns and to support the idea of data sharing in the German scientific community, the German Psychological Society (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Psychologie, DGPs) has developed recommendations for sustainable data management and data sharing practices in psychological science. These recommendations have been developed together with members of our society in a thorough and iterative process over the last year. Our recommendations are compatible with the German Research Foundation’s (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) data sharing guidelines and with open data initiatives pursued by the Alliance of Science Organizations in Germany and by the European Research Council.

More specifically, our recommendations emphasize the importance of sustainable data management practices; they define standards and restrictions regarding both the publication of one’s data and the use of these data by third parties; and they specify rights and duties of researchers who share their data and those who use shared data. Our experience from developing these recommendations and from discussing them with our members is that such practical questions can be quite complex. But it is our duty to face this complexity, to find practical solutions, to monitor these solutions, and revise them if necessary. All these aims are more likely to be achieved in a collaborative effort, that is, together with our own members, with other science organizations in Germany, with German and European scientific funding agencies, and with other psychological associations and societies all over the world – including yours.  

German colleagues invite to discuss the paper

The DGPs has established a task force, consisting of Felix Schönbrodt (University of Munich; Center for Open Science - Felix.Schoenbrodt (at)psy.lmu.de), Andrea Abele-Brehm (University of Erlangen-Nürnberg; former DGPs President -  andrea.abele-brehm(at)fau.de), and Mario Gollwitzer (University of Marburg; DGPs Secretary - mario.gollwitzer(at)uni-marburg.de).

The English version of the recommendations  

Parallel to this campaign, OPP also created the Seal "Healthy Schools & Minds" - Good Practices in Psychological Health and Educational Success, which seeks to recognize and distinguish Portuguese schools, whose policies and educational practices demonstrate a strong and effective commitment to promote development, learning, and psychological health of the entire educational community.

Schools, public or private, are thus invited to submit their application to the Seal "Healthy Schools & Minds" - Good Practices in Psychological Health and Educational Success. After the submission of the application, educational policies and practices promoting the development, learning, behavior and psychological health of the school community will be evaluated by a jury (to be announced shortly). This evaluation will be done through the analysis of a checklist available online and intended to be both a checklist and an institutional improvement tool, stimulating the schools' self-assessment of their strategies, practices and activities.

The application process for the "Healthy Schools & Minds" Seal is made through an electronic platform at escolaseudavelmente.pt, accepting applications until the deadline of April 30, 2017.

The "Healthy Schools & Minds" Seals will be awarded in a ceremony to be held on June 2, 2017, which will be attended by João Costa, Secretary of State for Education (briefly announced).

For more information, please send an email to escolasaudavelmente@ordemdospsicologos.pt.

In this regard, and taking part in the commemoration of World Health Day - this year dedicated to the theme of depression - the Order of Portuguese Psychologists, joins the World Health Organization and organizes the conference "Depression: Let's Act!", April 6, 2017, at 4:30 p.m., at the António Almeida Santos Auditorium, at the Assembly of the Republic.  

Teresa Caeiro, Vice-President of the Assembly of the Republic, Adalberto Campos Fernandes, Minister of Health, José Matos Rosa, President of the Health Commission of the Assembly of the Republic (to be confirmed) and Francisco Miranda Rodrigues, President of the Order of Portuguese Psychologists, will be present at the opening session of this conference.   The speeches will be made by João Salgado, ISMAI, with the communication "To better take care of depression in Portugal: Contributions of psychology and its challenges" and Telmo Mourinho Baptista, President of the European Federation of Psychologists Association whose presentation will be titled "Depression in Europe: The Role of Psychology ".  

The presentation of the National Program for the Prevention of Depression will be carried out by Isabel Trindade, Vice-President of the Order of Portuguese Psychologists. This conference will also be attended by representatives of the 7 political parties with parliamentary seats, in a debate that will address the Role of Policies in the Depression, moderated by Mésicles Helin.  

It should be noted that this position defended by Francisco Miranda Rodrigues is in line with the program of the current OPP Directorate, which argues that the prevention and promotion of people's development are central to social cohesion and economic growth. In fact, the high costs of non-investment in prevention place an unsustainable social, economic and political burden on Portuguese society, as well as causing enormous suffering to people and their families. The development of people, involving the promotion of their skills, the alignment of attitudes and self-knowledge, is essential for the balance and well-being of individuals and for the proper functioning of organizations and communities.

These two dimensions are thus essential for a society seeking increased social cohesion, the sustainability of its public services and social and economic development. The Psychologist is the central reference professional in these dimensions and his services must be known and be accessible to citizens if we want to develop and implement a National Agenda in this area.  

It should be noted, for example, that the lack of psychological health of children and young people is reflected not only in individual and social consequences (in the health, education and justice sectors) but also in an enormous economic burden. Just in Europe and according to studies carried out in recent years, the direct cost of childhood and adolescent disorders reached € 21.3 billion per year. In education, for example, through a greater emphasis on vocational guidance, the more than 60 million euros that the Portuguese State spent annually on students who change course or drop out of the first year of university can be considerably reduced. With regard to organizations, and also as an example, psychological intervention can reduce more than 300 million euros – which the Portuguese companies lose because of problems related to psychosocial risks.

Over 300 participants had the opportunity to participate in workshops and lectures held by renowned speakers in the field of psychology, including Prof. Jamie Hacker Hughes, among other influential speakers from across Europe. Participants were also invited to contribute to the scientific programme via workshops, lectures and poster presentations. We were honoured to have welcomed EFPA Secretary General, Robertas Povilaitis to our Event, who kindly delivered a presentation about EFPA and all the wonderful work being done for psychologists, as well as psychology students, on a European level. EFPSA is very grateful for the support from EFPA and we look forward to continue to develop our collaboration in regards to EuroPsy, advocacy and representation.  

The EFPSA Congress also marked the start of the new mandate and hosted two General Assemblies, where we saw the election of the Board of Management and approval of the Executive Board for the upcoming year. We are honoured to present to you

the Board of Management for 2017-2018:

• President | Clara Chetcuti (Malta)
• Vice President | Nicola Falzon (Malta)
• Secretary General | Monica Duarte (Portugal)
• Finance Officer | Luc Horvat (Slovenia)
• Marketing Officer | Tiago Moderno (Portugal)
• Member Representatives Officer | Erika Kajatiova (Slovakia)
• Events Officer | Andreas Anthimou (Cyprus)  

The Board of Management and EFPSA Working Community are very enthusiastic about the upcoming mandate which promises great opportunities for the development of our Services and a variety of Events, starting with the European Summer School 2017 which will be held in Cyprus! We are currently looking for Junior Researcher Programme (JRP) 2017 Advisors. The team of Advisors will be constituted of three experienced professionals within the field of psychology who are actively involved in research and have relevant experience in working with students. The main roles of the JRP Advisors involve monitoring the scientific progress and quality of the European Summer School (ESS) group projects and providing support and guidance to the teams and their Supervisors throughout the twelve-month Junior Researcher Programme following the Event. For more information about the responsibilities, tasks and functions of the JRP Advisors or for any questions or queries, contact vicepresident@efpsa.org .  

The 32nd EFPSA Congress will be taking place in Malta in April 2018 with the theme of “Exploring Personality - Diversity & Individual Differences”. Should you wish to contribute to the Scientific Theme of this edition of the Congress, do not hesitate to contact the Scientific Team on congress2018@efpsa.org.

We look forward to our collaboration and to seeing you at the European Congress of Psychology in Amsterdam this coming July!

Clara, Nicola, Monica, Luc, Tiago, Erika & Andreas

Board of Management 2017-2018

www.efpsa.org