New year, new EMA WOP-P Master Representative!

Good morning to everyone!
It is my pleasure to announce our newly elected Program Representative, Naiara Vidal, a WOP-P Student with Valencia as Home University that will be representing us during the 2018-2019 period!


Naiara is passionate about everything she does and creativity defines her whole personality!
So if you are interested in further information about our program, you need any help, or have any student issue in which you would like to get support, don't hesitate in reaching her at naiara.vidsel7@gmail.com or through this blog, Naiara is always open to help anyone who gets in contact with her!



Wishing you the best and staying available for any further doubts you could have,


Miguel P.

New Call for Papers! (EAWOP Small Group Meeting - Breda, The Netherlands).

Professors Matthijs Bal (University of Lincoln), Edina Dóci (VU University Amsterdam), Xander Lub (NHTV Breda) and Yvonne van Rossenber (Radboud University Nijmegen) are currently planning a Small Group Meeting through the European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology, to be held at Breda, The Netherlands on May 16 - 18, 2018.

The purpose of the meeting is for scholars to discuss feelings, thoughts, frustrations and ideas regarding practice and research within our discipline, in order to create a platform of connections for change!

Also, calls are currently open for scholars interested in participating to submit Abstracts with information about:

1. Presentations of papers or posters.
2. Debates around one of the questions raised above or the theme of the meeting.
3. A new idea or proposed solution, and opportunity to engage in discussion.
4. A practical activity to elicit new discussion (e.g., an exercise or a game). 
5. Symposia/Panel Debates to be submitted to the Meeting. 

Deadline for the application is February 28th 2018!

Follow the links for further information regarding participation and detailed aspects for those interested in submitting their abstracts!

https://www.researchgate.net/project/The-Future-of-Work-and-Organizational-Psychology

http://eawop.org/news/the-future-of-work-and-organizational-psychology

Don't hesitate in contacting me in case of any doubts,

Miguel.

WOP-P Master Program Representative.

Pablo Vilches' WOP-P experience

In this time, we interviewed Pablo, a 2016 - 2018 WOP-P Master Student with Barcelona as Home University and Coimbra as Host University.

Pablo is an enthusiast for tennis and received his Bachelor's Degree in Psychology in the USA.

He's currently in the Master and he shares his experience with us today:

University of Coimbra, Portugal.

a. Where are you from?

Alicante, Spain.

b. Bachelor's experience.

It was actually great. I had the chance of playing tennis and study Psychology at Lindsey Wilson College. It was no easy at the beginning because my English skills were terrible and I barely understood most of the things that teachers said at class. However, once I could communicate and interact with people, everything changed.

My best experiences are related to tennis tournaments with my team, especially when we had to play the National Tournament which was the last tournament of the season. My last year I had the opportunity to be the assistant coach for the men's and the women's tennis team. I like that experience especially because of the responsibility that I had to face, but I enjoyed more playing than coaching.   

c. Why the WOP-P Master?

In my case, I chose to study this master because it is probably one of the best at the European level and the teaching staff is well recognized in their respective areas of study. Another good reason to choose this master was the chance of studying abroad for six months. However, I have to say that I did not know what to expect because I did not have information about the “human resources world”. Now I can say I am glad of taking such decision.

Coimbra, Portugal.

e. How do you see the WOP-P Master?

It is a really dynamic master since you are doing activities and projects constantly. You get the chance to work most of the times in groups which is good because of the different cultures and mindset of the participants. Discussion is an essential part of it, and I think that is really a good point because we can share our ideas and see all possible perspectives in every situation.

f. Exchange experience.

I went to Coimbra, Portugal. It was a good experience especially because of the diversity in class. The city is full of Erasmus students which makes it a city full of life. Even though we did not have to work as hard as we did in Barcelona, it was a time to be more focused on the Master thesis. Besides that, I had the chance of traveling to different cities in Portugal, which I liked a lot.

g. Friendship in the WOP-P Master.

This is the best part of the master. It does not only give you the opportunity to learn but also to make new friends from all over the world. Because of the many projects that we have to share we are constantly in touch, so at the end we get the chance to know each other well. Having a small group like ours, it is not difficult to share a friendship that not only happens inside classrooms but also outside.

Lisbon, Portugal.

Belém Tower, Lisbon, Portugal.

h. Memories from the Master.

Since I am still at my second year of the master I cannot talk openly about my experiences. To date, I only have good memories (I do not take in consideration the long hours of work), especially for being in a new country and meeting great people.

i. Work experience.

Even though I do not have any experience related to the area of human resources, I have been teaching tennis since I was 16 in my hometown. I also worked as a tennis specialist at Pine Forest Camp at Pennsylvania during two consecutive summers (2014 and 2015). During my years at my university, I was a tutor and my duty was to help students pass their classes. I helped them with Spanish, Psychology, and Statistics classes.

j. 5 points of advice to general public or future students.

- Be open-minded to work and share ideas with people with different mindsets.

- Be a good team member or you are going to hate it here.

- Work hard and manage your time well.

- Be open to know new people and make friends.

- Be ready not only to work hard, but also to have a great time.

Coimbra, Portugal.

Erasmus Mundus Graduate (AND students) Impact Survey

Hello guys!

It is again the time of the year when the Erasmus Mundus Graduate Impact survey takes place!
Despite the name, it is not necessary to be a WOP-P Master Graduate to participate, you can also be a student! 

The survey has the objective of getting to know the impact of our program in us as professionals. It takes between 10 and 15 times (it actually took less for me!), and there is the possibility of winning some prices (really attractive ones!) if you are interested.

Find the link below:

 https://surveycenter-bonn.com/GIS2017


Closing day on the survey is October 22^nd, winners being published on October 23rd!

Good luck!

Don't hesitate in contacting me in case of any doubts,

Miguel.

WOP-P Master Program Representative.

EMA General Assembly + Call for Program Representatives

Hello everyone! I will start from the end and tell you that the call for Program Representatives (PR) is now open and that any of you who would like to participate should apply before December 9th.
Being PR is a great opportunity to participate in EMA and you'll meet a lot of cool and interesting people who may become important contacts later in life. I personally haven't decided yet whether I'll apply or not for a second term, but I definitely encourage you to apply!

So now a brief summary of what has happened this past weekend. I arrived on Friday to Lugano at about 14.00 and we went with some people for a walk and to grab a bite even if it was pouring. Then we returned to the hotel, took a shower, and went to the pier to catch a boat that gave us a ride on the lake while we ate, drank and did a little bit of networking. On Saturday morning we went to Università della Svizzera Italian which was the host institution for the event. We had an opening session in which key persons were introduced and gave a speech. Then we had lunch and during the afternoon we had a forum of inspiration in which some Erasmus Mundus alumni shared their success stories, we had a World Coffe Break in which everyone brought something from their homeland and then we participated in diverse workshops (Emotional Intelligence in my case). Then we returned to the hotel, took a quick shower and put on our gala clothes because we had an event in the coolest restaurant ever. It was on a cliff by the lake and it had windows all over to see the city lights. We ate, drank and celebrated EMA's 10th anniversary!
Finally, on Saturday there was a voting session to correct some points in the statute and add some new ones. This is because, as some of you might know, EMA became a legal entity and they are supposed to update their statute on an annual basis. The last thing we did was to meet with the regional chapters (Latin America in my case) and then with different service teams (the PR network in my case).

That is all guys, I salute you and leave some pictures!

Information regarding the Erasmus+: Erasmus Mundus European Master in Work, Organizational and Personnel Psychology (WOP-P)

This post is dedicated to those future students of the Master that have not yet applied for admission to the programme. It's for you, out there in front of your computer screen. Wherever you live, however old you are, whichever your skin color is, you are planning your future but also dreaming about new adventures. The WOP-P programme awaits for you. Don't be afraid, gather what you need and apply!

Before anything, the main reference for information should always be the official programme web-page hosted by the University of Valencia which is the coordinating institution of the consortium. Refer to http://www.uv.es/erasmuswop/ for the official information. This is just an informal guide in which I hope you'll find additional useful information from the perspective of someone who, as of today, is already starting the second year of the programme.

So here it goes:

First, since I've seen that the website has not yet been updated in regard to the Applications for the 2017 - 2018 academic year, I'll fill you in with some new information. As you might have read the consortium is composed of four European Universities: Coimbra (Portugal), Valencia (Spain), Barcelona (Spain), Bologna (Italy); and two non-european universities which are the University of Guelph (Canada) and the University of Brasilia (Brasil). Your home and host universities will be one of the european ones. If you've checked the official web before, you'll also notice that I haven't mentioned the University of Paris as part of the consortium.  The reason is that it's highly probable (almost certain) that this university will not be part of the consortium anymore and would no longer an option.

Second, in regard to the Master thesis this program is a little bit different from other programs since you'll be doing most of your research during the mobility period in your host university. Then on the third semester you return to your home university and for the fourth (last) semester there may be additional mobility for the professional stage. It is here when you'll be most likely to go to the University of Brasilia or the University of Guelph if you choose to.

Third, you'll be interviewed by one of the professors at one of the european universities. During the interview you'll have to demonstrate the use of the languages you know and you'll also be asked questions about psychology in general and WOP psychology in particular. You'll also might be asked to do little exercises like reading an abstract of a scientific paper and answering some question. DO NOT BE AFRAID! Just go ahead and do your best!

Fourth, I would like to call to attention at something that usually goes unnoticed: you can upload additional documents while your application is being processed. This is a good opportunity to upload, for example, a language certificate of a course you are doing or a test your are planning to take (like IELTS or TOEFL). You also have to let them know that you've uploaded it!
Despite not being compulsory to apply, having a recognized English certificate is a really good investment. In the criteria ponderation for you application English accounts for 20 percent. And even if you finally are not accepted these certificates are really valuable.

Fifth, in the Universities of Valencia and Barcelona you'll be going to classes with your fellow woppers. However in Coimbra and Bologna you'll be sharing some classes with students involved in the "national track". This means that there is a national curriculum and a master that resembles the WOP but without the mobility schemes and more international orientation. You must know that because you are a wop student you'll always be asked for more and expected to give your best. Additionally, In my case being able to interact with a really nice bunch of Italian students has been one of the best things of my time in the Master.

Sixth, this program has a very good equilibrium between fun and work. I promess that you'll have to work really hard and be good at time-management to be able to get things done. But I also promess you'll also have a lot of time for fun moments. Not only on your free time, when you'll be able to hang out with your fellow woppers and go for an aperitivo or tapas but also during lessons. Because this program has a strong focus on the development of soft skills. This is why in addition to the regular lessons in which you'll acquire conceptual knowledge there will be a lot of opportunities for cool exercises such as role playing, intervention proposals, case discussions, etc.

For the moment that would be all, but I'll update the post if I think of something else! Good luck!

EMA Professional Guide Webinar

Hey Woppers! Ever thought yourselves as leaders?

If you are free on October 29th at 12.00 Central European Summer Time (CEST) you should register for the webinar "You as a future leader" by Anna Zakharova.

Follow this link for more information: http://www.em-a.eu/en/home/archive-activities-to-join/newsdetail-activities-to-join/ema-professional-guide-webinars-october-29-1957.html