A Reflection on 2025 Activities by DCs

As 2026 has already started, we, the Doctoral Candidates (DCs), would like to reflect on our activities over the past year.

Most importantly, we held two network-wide trainings. In Brussels in June, we explored evidence-informed policymaking at the Joint Research Centre. In Amsterdam in November, we had hands-on training in data visualisation and media communication (pictured here with the trainers). During the Amsterdam visit, we also held a conference day to discuss our research with fellow academics and practitioners working at the intersection of youth and politics.

Many of our DCs completed their secondments at non-academic partners: the European Youth Parliament, Public First, the Joint Research Centre, and Gallup International. These experiences offered valuable insights into applying scientific methods outside the university context. Several DCs have written blog posts reflecting on their secondments, which you can read on our website. We also presented our project and research within these partner institutions.

Our DCs continued to share their work at various conferences. Many attended ISPP 2025 in Prague, where we organized panels and a reception, as well as additional conferences in the Netherlands, the UK, the US, and Greece on topics ranging from social psychology and extremism to developmental psychology and polarization. We also engaged in broader outreach, for example at the Anna Lindh Foundation Annual Forum in Tirana, the Democracy Rally by Our Common Future in Luxembourg, and a panel on children’s rights in Vienna.

In addition to IP-PAD trainings, DCs participated in other professional development opportunities, including the EASP summer school in Canterbury, the ISPP Academy, and visiting stays at institutions such as the University of Maryland and the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), as well as in exchanges between the different project universities.

Our research output this year includes 10 published papers and book chapters, along with two preprints, in outlets such as the European Journal of Political Research, Journal of Experimental Psychology, Cognition, Political Psychology, and Social Neuroscience.

This overview captures only part of what we have accomplished in the past 12 months. As we enter the final phase of our project, much more is ahead: further publications, including cross-national collaborations, additional conference presentations, dissemination activities, and our final meeting in London this summer, which will be partly open to the public.

For now, we thank all our collaborators and supporters and wish everyone a joyful New Year 2026!