The purpose of the workshop is to provide guidelines, tips and tricks, do’s and don’t’s when preparing a paper for submission to an academic journal and when performing a peer review of a paper that was submitted for publication.

Attention will be devoted to demonstrating relevance and fleshing out the contribution of an article, developing a conceptual framework, research questions and hypotheses, developing and describing a research method and the results of empirical work, and writing a compelling discussion section. The purpose of peer reviewing will be explained, and the duties and tasks of an academic peer reviewer will be discussed. All these principles and guidelines will be illustrated by means of real-life examples.

Participants are expected to actively contribute to the discussion and are invited to share their own publishing and reviewing issues with the other participants.

​Prof. Dr. Patrick De Pelsmacker​

Research data form the beating heart of academic research, making solid management of your research data not just an option but a necessity. Above all, research data management (RDM) is about risk management to ensure the quality, sustainability and (re)usability of your data. Good data management includes all steps of the research data life cycle: planning, creation, processing, analysis, storage, preservation, access, sharing, and reuse. All these steps are bound by conditions and regulations at both legal, ethical and technological levels.

During this workshop, we will explore the key principles and best practices of research data management. The workshop will highlight the benefits of proper data management, such as enhancing the reproducibility and transparency of research and ensuring compliance with funding and institutional requirements. However, meeting the expectations and obligations of funders and/or institutions is not the only reason why RDM matters. Proper research data management will also maximize the impact and visibility of your work. It is a crucial aspect of good research practice, providing significant benefits for you, your research and the wider research community.

​Linde Tuybens, Research Data Steward at RIVA, will give this lecture.

Dr. Elke Smeets, a renowned expert in the field of positive psychology, will be leading a workshop aimed at enhancing psychological safety within academic environments. The workshop will cover practical strategies and the latest scientific insights. It's crucial to acknowledge that many PhD students struggle with feelings of self-doubt and incompetence, despite their accomplishments. Imposter syndrome is a psychological pattern that can cause PhD students to doubt their successes, see themselves as underachievers, and fear that they will be exposed as frauds. According to research conducted by Patzak and colleagues (2017), students with low rates of self-compassion tend to report high rates of imposter syndrome, while those with high rates of self-compassion report lower rates of such feelings. Dr. Elke Smeets will offer guidance on how to show oneself greater compassion and understanding when experiencing harsh self-criticism. In addition, participants will be able to discover their character strengths to boost their resilience and confidence.

Dr. Elke Smeets has been teaching Positive Psychology to international students at Maastricht University since 2011. She defended her PhD entitled "Bias for the (un)attractive self: on the role of attention in eating disorders and body dissatisfaction" in 2009. During her post-doc research, she became interested in investigating Self-Compassion and Positive Psychology interventions. She has developed a three-week Self-Compassion intervention for enhancing well-being and resilience among female college students (Smeets, Neff, Alberts, & Peters, 2014). Elke has been working as a clinical psychologist for the last 17 years. Next to her work as a clinician, she’s been training psychologists and other professionals in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC), and Positive Psychology. Elke is one of the world's first certified Mindful Self-Compassion teachers and has been co-teaching with Kristin Neff and Chris Germer in America and Europe. In June 2017, she published her first book in Dutch with Professor Madelon Peters. It’s called “Geluk en optimisme (happiness and optimism).” The book describes a 7-week positive psychology intervention that Elke developed during her Post-doc research at Maastricht University.