Announcements

Intergroup contact can reduce prejudice, but majority and minority groups may engage in - or avoid - contact for different reasons. This PhD project investigates the psychological and contextual factors that shape intergroup contact across diverse sociopolitical contexts worldwide. We are seeking researchers, NGOs, practitioners, and Master’s-level or higher graduate students to collaborate on a large-scale, cross-national survey study, with data collection expected in 2027.

The ICRN 2026 Summit begins tomorrow in Karlsruhe, Germany! We are so excited to welcome attendees from across the network for an incredible programme of keynote talks, research presentations, and collaborative sessions. If you’re joining us, here’s a reminder to: ✔️ Tag us in your posts ✔️ Use #ICRN2026 so we can find and share your updates ✔️ Send your photos directly to us and we’ll post them on our new social media channels!

We’re counting down the days until the summit begins in Karlsruhe, Germany for what promises to be an inspiring few days of talks, collaboration, and connection. Whether you’re presenting or attending we can’t wait to see you all there. If you’re sharing photos remember to either tag us and use the official hashtag #ICRN2026 or send your photos directly to us so we can share them on our new social media channels!

We are pleased to announce that the International Contact Research Network (ICRN) is now present on LinkedIn and Bluesky. We encourage members, both longstanding and new, to follow us via the links below to stay informed, alongside our existing YouTube channel: LinkedIn Bluesky YouTube We look forward to sharing information with the network through these channels.

The ICRN Summit will take place from 5–7 July 2026 at the FernUniversität Campus Centre in Karlsruhe, Germany, in a hybrid format, as a post-conference meeting of the EASP General Meeting. The core ICRN programme will run from Sunday afternoon, 2.30 pm, to Monday afternoon, 4.00 pm, with online participation options available for most sessions.

We are looking for a highly motivated student interested in human–animal relations and interdisciplinary research for a funded MSc(Res) degree at the School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews. You will be working on a project that investigates how different modes of communicating animals’ emotional and cognitive capacities and witnessing human-animal contact can reshape public perceptions of animal minds and promote more positive attitudes toward animals.

To coincide with this year’s ICRN summit 5-7 July 2026, we are launching a competition to design a new logo for our rapidly growing research group. If you have a keen eye for design or background in this area, we’d be thrilled to receive your ideas. Brief: A colour visual that represents the ICRN values and mission (see below).

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Post-doctoral Researcher to join Rose Meleady’s Leverhulme Trust-funded research at the UEA School of Psychology. The project examines how intergroup contact shapes prejudice and social cohesion, using experience sampling methods. The postholder will design and program experience sampling studies, coordinate data collection, analyse data using multi-level modelling, and contribute to dissemination and impact work.

February 2026 edition: announcing the joint ICRN & Hamburg Group meeting on intergroup contact (5–6 July 2026, Karlsruhe), upcoming Contact Colloquium talks, recruitment for a voluntary Social Media Officer, and recent member publications. Read the full newsletter

We are inviting expressions of interest for the voluntary role of Social Media Officer, who will also join our Executive Committee at the International Contact Research Network (ICRN). This is an opportunity to help shape how we communicate and connect as an international research community while gaining experience in research communication and digital engagement.

Join us for our next ICRN Colloquium featuring Prof Rose Meleady from the University of East Anglia who will present Stable People, Stable Contexts, Stable Attitudes? Contact Effects Reconsidered. Abstract: Intergroup contact is widely assumed to reduce prejudice by changing individuals over time. Yet recent research has raised questions about whether routine, everyday contact actually produces meaningful change within individuals.

Dear ICRN members and friends, As the current chair of the ‘International Contact Research Network’ and on behalf of its executive, I write to make you aware and praise the publishing by Bloomberg’s Katherine Griffiths of a compelling, detailed, evidence-based, cross-validated, multi-source account of endemic and protracted sexual harassment and power exploitation of students and young colleagues by well-known Miles Hewstone and several other male professors at Oxford University.

We’re excited to share an upcoming event from the Living Library in the Netherlands. On December 11, they will host an online Living Library session, followed by a symposium discussing new findings on the impact of the Living Library on both disadvantaged and advantaged groups, presented by Afreen, Julia and Fani.

Join us for our next ICRN Colloquium featuring Dr. Negusu Aklilu, who will present Building peace before the polls: Political party dialogues to prevent electoral violence in Ethiopia. Abstract: I would like to showcase a closed pre-election political dialogue we conducted in 2021, informed by intergroup contact theory and associated methodologies to address political concerns and associated emotional phenomena.

We’re thrilled to announce that ICRN and the Hamburg EASP-sponsored meeting group on Advances in Intergroup Contact will be joining forces to host a joint satellite meeting on and for intergroup contact! This meeting will take place right after the EASP General Meeting (July 2026) — making it easy to attend both events.

October 2025 edition: the return of the Contact Colloquium series (opening talk by Prof. Jake Harwood on 31 October), recent member publications, the network’s new YouTube channel, and a preview of a contact meet-up at EASP 2026 in Karlsruhe. Read the full newsletter

We are excited to share that we have a new round of wonderful speakers lined up for a brand-new round of the ICRN colloquium! This includes a new section dedicated to the wishes and needs of our early postgraduate researcher community! While we are busy getting a few last details organised before we release the full list of speakers and schedule, we would like to announce that Prof.

A call for contributions to the Contact Colloquium series: nominations for upcoming speakers and recruitment of a PhD/postdoc co-lead to work alongside Patrick Kotzur on the programme and early-career sessions. Read the full newsletter

An episode of the Contact Research Now podcast on using virtual reality and avatar embodiment to reduce prejudice and build empathy, weighing the benefits and risks, featuring Cassandra Crone and Dr Matilde Tassinari. Listen to the episode

July 2025 edition: highlights from the 2nd ICRN Summit at Oxford (56 participants, 24 presentations), the ‘Contact Research Now’ podcast and monthly Contact Colloquium, recent member publications, and achievements including Rita Guerra’s SPSSI Fellow nomination. Read the full newsletter

One part-time (0.5 FTE) Postdoctoral Research Fellow Position available in the School of Psychology, funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) and led by Professor Fiona White. A 0.5 (FTE) Postdoctoral Research Fellow Position in Social Psychology is available to develop and evaluate a new set of ‘RESPECT against racism e-resources’ for primary school-aged children.

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join a Leverhulme Trust funded project, led by Professor Rose Meleady, investigating the impact of intergroup contact on prejudice and social cohesion. The goal of the project is to use novel experience sampling methods (ESM) to capture intergroup interactions in real-time and explore their immediate impact on intergroup attitudes.

We invite conceptual and empirical contributions from all disciplines represented in the broad field of peace psychology and neighboring disciplines outside psychology, scholars at different career stages, and others situated in peace psychology more broadly. Submission Deadline: 22 April 2025 Location: Constructor University Bremen, Germany Travel Stipends: Limited support available for participants from low- and middle-income countries (contact organizers early).

Birkbeck, University of London, is seeking a Postdoctoral Researcher to join the project, ‘Overcoming Societal Tensions in Europe: Can Age Diverse Friendships be the Solution?’. This exciting opportunity is funded by the Volkswagen Foundation and investigates how intergenerational friendships at work can foster cooperation and tolerance within Europe’s diverse society.

Announcing the launch of the ‘Contact Research Now’ podcast and introducing the new ICRN Committee and its roles, with an invitation to fill open positions such as Secretary and Treasurer. Read the full newsletter

An episode of the Contact Research Now podcast examining whether negative contact outweighs positive contact and the nuances between contact types, featuring Stefania Paolini, Sarina Schäfer, Giulia Rosa Policardo and Jasper Van Assche. Listen to the episode

January 2025 edition: the launch of the monthly Contact Colloquium series, the upcoming 2nd Annual Research Summit (2–3 June 2025), a forthcoming podcast on positive and negative contact, a spotlight on Lukas Wallrich, plus a call for collaborators on a mega-analysis of intergroup contact and several job openings. Read the full newsletter

The British Journal of Social Psychology will issue a special issue on ‘Contact seeking, contact avoidance and the enduring challenge of segregation’, edited by a range of ICRN members (John Dixon, Stefania Paolini, Chloe Bracegirdle, Patrick Kotzur, Marie-Therese Friehs) alongside Anna Stefaniak. Both empirical and theoretical papers are welcome; abstracts should be submitted as an expression of interest by the end of March 2025.

We invite you to participate in an exciting international meeting – Peacebuilding through Conflict Transformation: Intraindividual, Interpersonal, Intergroup, and Global Processes – that will be held June 20-22, 2025 in Nonh Chock, Bangkok, Thailand. The conference will be hosted by the International Institute for Peace and Development Studies and limited in size (50 participants or less).

The inaugural ICRN newsletter: a recap of the first Annual Research Summit (May 2024, 17 researchers) and the EASP small-group meeting in Hamburg, a spotlight interview with co-founder Michèle Birtel, and recent member publications and achievements. Read the full newsletter

The ICRN will start a monthly Contact Colloquium from the 18th of October, where we will hear from leading researchers on intergroup contact and related fields and get a chance to discuss with them. The sessions are open to all; the schedule and registration links are now available here. View schedule and register

Applications are invited for two posts of Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Institute for the Study of Power, Crime, and Society, Royal Holloway, University of London. Location: Egham, UK Salary: £39,233 per annum - including London Allowance Post Type: Full Time Deadline: 23.59 hours BST on Thursday 22 August 2024

Applicants are invited to apply for a full time post doctoral position commencing October 1st 2024 at the Department of Social Psychology at the Friedrich-Schiller-University, Jena, Germany. The department of social psychology is strong in research on intergroup relations, cooperation and conflict within and between social groups, moral emotions, political ideology/ authoritarianism, recognition and reconciliation.

Applicants are invited to apply for a fully funded PhD studentship in Organisational Psychology at Birkbeck in the Birkbeck Business School. The funding is provided by the charity Volkswagen Foundation and the title of this international project is ‘Overcoming Societal Tensions in Europe: Can Age-Diverse Friendships be the Solution?’ The research will use dyadic and social network analysis to explore secondary transfer effects of intergenerational workplace friendships to other groups and their conditions/mechanisms (Application deadline 25 July, 2024).

The Durham Psychology Department got approval to advertise the position of an Assistant Professor in Psychology (Research & Education) open to all areas. The post is advertised as ‘open to all areas’ because we currently do not know the exact number of finally approved posts. The outcome of the current planning round will be announced when student numbers are confirmed in autumn.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Postdoctoral Research Associate to join the UEA School of Psychology to conduct studies on the drivers of intergroup contact engagement. In that role, you would work with Rose Meleady, Shelley McKeown-Jones, George Leckie and Belong, the Social Cohesion and Integration Charity. The project aims to identify structural and psychological antecedents of intergroup contact

🌟 We just completed the inaugural summit of the new international Contact Research Network - thanks to the amazing colleagues who spent the last 2 days with us in London at Birkbeck!🌟 Our conversations highlighted some priorities and opportunities for future research👇 💡Contact interventions can promote understanding in schools (Lindsey), at work (Libby) and in conflict situations (Orkun), and reduce political polarisation (Michèle).