Prof. Panch. Ramalingam, PhD (Psy)
Prof. Panch. Ramalingam is the Director (i/c) of the UGC–Malaviya Mission Teacher Training Centre (formerly UGC-HRDC) at Pondicherry University, India. With over 27 years of experience in teaching, research, and faculty development, he has coordinated numerous academic programmes for teachers and scholars. He holds multiple postgraduate degrees and a Ph.D. in Educational Counselling Psychology from Annamalai University. Prof. Ramalingam has authored or edited over 80 books, published 52 research papers, and organized more than 45 national and international conferences. His research interests include teacher education, school psychology, counselling, decision-making, mental health, and Indian psychology.
Title: Psycho-social Wellbeing among Children
Prof. Cristine Legare
Professor of Psychology, Founder and Director of the Center for Applied Cognitive Science, University of Texas at Austin.
Prof Cristine Legare received her PhD in Developmental Psychology from the University of Michigan in 2008. An author of more than 100 articles, her research examines how the human mind enables us to learn, create, and transmit culture. Dr. Legare’s research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Academy of Sciences, the McDonnell Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the John Templeton Foundation. Dr. Legare is the recipient of the APS Janet Taylor Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions and the APA Boyd McCandless Award for her research on the evolution and ontogeny of cognition and culture.
Title: Preparing Generation Alpha to thrive in an AI world
Dr. Lynda Gibson
Clinical Assistant Professor and Director of the Psychological Services Center at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Dr. Gibson is also the program director for the Safe First Steps School, Parent, and Community Engagement (SPACE) Program, which is a mental health initiative that was developed to support families who are experiencing intergenerational trauma. Dr. Gibson’s research and clinical work focus on risk and resiliency factors in African American and Latinx communities, barriers to treatment for underserved families, early exposure to trauma and community violence, strategies for addressing behavioral health disparities, building of community partnerships, and strategies for creating trauma-informed schools.
Title: Partnerships Between Universities and Community Organizations: Conceptualizing Strategies to Ensure Sustainability
Prof. Sebastiaan (Ian) Rothmann
Industrial Psychology and the director of the Optentia Research Unit at the North-West University (NWU) in South Africa (2010-2023). After completing an M.Com in Industrial Psychology at the NWU in 1986, he completed a PhD in Industrial Psychology (1996). From 1988-2023, 150 Master’s, 73 PhD students, and eight postdoctoral research fellows completed their studies under his guidance. He supervised PhD students from South Africa, Namibia, Jamaica, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Finland. He is a rated scientist by the National Research Foundation. Ian’s research on work-related well-being (job demands/resources, personality, burnout, and work engagement; 2000-2010) moved towards sustainable employability (work capabilities, resilience, decent work, and flourishing; 2011-2024). In the top international research teams, his contributions were influential in positive organisational scholarship applied to the conceptualisation, measurement, and pathways to sustainable employability. His research was published in 277 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. The Society for Industrial/Organisational Psychology of South Africa awarded him a fellowship for his contributions to the science, practice, and organisation of Industrial or Organisational Psychology. He is also a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf). Ian served on various national and international journal editorial advisory committees and is currently the speciality chief editor of Frontiers in Psychology: Positive Psychology.
Title: The Capability Approach, Decent Work, and Flourishing at Work: A Framework for Enhancing Psychosocial Well-being
Prof. Monica Ruiz-Casares, PhD
Professor, School of Child & Youth Care, Toronto Metropolitan University and Adjunct Professor, Department of Psychiatry, School of Social Work, and Department of Equity, Ethics, & Policy, McGill University.For 30 years, Dr. Ruiz-Casares has led mixed-methods studies and evaluations on child protection and wellbeing internationally, mainly with migrants and refugees, and in contexts of parent-child separation including child-headed households, children home alone, in institutions, or in other alternative care arrangements. She is particularly interested in ethical and methodological issues involved in research with and by young people. She is Co-Chair of the International Society for Child Indicators and Leads the Child Care & Wellbeing Collective.
Dr. Roman Stengelin, PhD
Senior Scientist and Research Coordinator in Cross-Cultural Developmental Psychology at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. He has been leading the Cross-Cultural Research Group since 2023. His research focuses on social motivation and cognition in young children across diverse cultural contexts. Dr. Stengelin earned his PhD in Psychology from Leipzig University (2020) and has extensive experience in cross-cultural field research, particularly in Namibia, where he has conducted studies among the Hai||om, Khwe, and Ovambo communities since 2016. In 2025, he became an Affiliated Researcher at the University of Namibia and a Research Fellow in the Jacobs Foundation Research Fellowship Program (2025–2027). With a strong background in academia, Dr. Stengelin has held teaching positions at Leipzig University, the University of Vienna, and the Max Planck School of Cognition. His courses span developmental psychology, cross-cultural psychology, and comparative behavioral research at undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels. Beyond research and teaching, he has contributed to academic program development and ethics committees. His work advances the understanding of how cultural environments shape cognitive and social development in children across the globe.
Title: Global Sampling Disparities and Peer Review Bias in Developmental Science—And Namibia’s Unique Potential to Advance Our Understanding of Child Development
Prof. Amber Gayle Thalmayer, PhD
Assistant Professor for Personality, Mental Health and Culture, Department of Psychology, University of Zürich, Switzerland, Research Fellow, University of the Free State, South Africa. Prof Amber Gayle Thalmayer received her PhD in Psychology from the University of Oregon in 2013. She is principal Investigator of the three-country longitudinal Africa Long Life Study, and previously ofPersoNa: Personality and Mental Health in Namibia, both funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. Her projects advance the understanding of the role of culture in personality and mental health though in-depth collaboration with African scholars and integration of African samples and scholarship. Prof Thalmayer is the recipient of the 2023 Association for Research in Personality Early Career Award
Title: The Africa Long Life Study: Trajectories of psychosocial wellbeing for emerging adults in Namibia, South Africa, and Kenya
Prof. Dr. Phil. Thomas Schack
Thomas Schack is a professor for Neurocognition and Action – Biomechanics at Bielefeld University (Germany). He received his doctorate (PhD) in 1996 for his research on anxiety and mental training at the Technical University in Chemnitz (Germany). Since 1996 he has been working as a researcher and lecturer and since 2004 as a professor in motor control and biomechanics at different universities in Germany. Dr. Schack’s main research interest concerns the cognitive architecture of movement, mental movement representation, mental training and the neurophysiological basis of complex movement. Additional he is interested in research topics like mental control, anxiety, coaching in virtual reality and cognitive robotics. An important component in Thomas Schack’s research laboratories is the combination of experimental and modelling methods from Psychology, Biomechanics, Cognitive Science and Robotics to learn about the cognitive construction and principles of human actions. The research results are checked in high performance sports and rehabilitation.
Thomas Schack received excellence certificates in the fields of sport psychology and movement science, e.g. the TOYOTA-Scientific Award in 2002. Since 2007 he is a principal investigator within the Center of “Cognitive Interaction Technology” (CITEC) at Bielefeld University. He has been Vice President of the International Society of Sport Psychology (ISSP) from 2013-2022. He was involved in different interdisciplinary and international collaboration grants about e.g. intelligent glasses and human-robot-interaction. Thomas Schack has been the head of the CITEC Graduate School from 2008 to 2023 and recently he is an associate professor at University Matanzas (Cuba).
Title: Building Blocks of Human Performance in Memory and Brain – New Technologies for Training and Psychosocial Wellbeing
Prof Stephen B. Gilbert, PhD
Stephen B. Gilbert is Faculty Director for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities at Iowa State University as well as its Honors program. He is also professor in the Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering department. Previously he led Iowa State’s graduate program in Human Computer Interaction. His research interests focus on human-AI teaming and and virtual reality cybersickness. He works closely with industry, NSF, and DoD on research contracts and has also worked in commercial software development. He received a BSE from Princeton in civil engineering and operations research and a PhD from MIT in brain and cognitive sciences.
Title: What do you want from your AI Agent?
As AI agents gain in their abilities, the roles they can play in our lives increase. Do you want an assistant, a librarian, a friend, a therapist? In this talk we’ll explore some human aspirations for AI interactions and some of the issues that can arise. In 1987 Apple depicted an AI butler in the distant future of 2011. What did they get right, and what’s problematic about their vision?
Dr. Roshan Lal Dahiya, PhD
Dr Roshan Lal Dahiya is a distinguished academician and psychologist with over three decades of teaching, research, and leadership experience. Beginning a professional journey at DRDO, New Delhi (1989), Dr Dahiya has served in various academic roles including Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor, and Professor at reputed institutions such as Panjab University, Chandigarh, and the University of Delhi. An RCI-registered Rehabilitation Psychologist, Dr Dahiya has contributed extensively to psychological research, with over 58 research papers, 12 book chapters, and several authored books. Recognized with numerous honors including the Civilian State Award (2021) and multiple Lifetime Achievement Awards, he has been instrumental in advancing psychological science through initiatives like the Indian Psychological Science Congress. A member of several national and international academic bodies, Dr Dahiya continues to promote emotional literacy, mental health awareness, and inclusive education through research, policy, and community engagement.
Title: Work life balance and mental health
Prof. Payal Chandel
Prof. Payal Kanwar Chandel is a Professor and Head of the Psychology Department at the Central University of Haryana, India. She specializes in Positive Psychology, Women Studies, Marital Studies, Mental Health, and Organizational Behavior. Prof. Chandel has almost two decades of teaching and research experience, having served in various academic and administrative roles. She has published extensively, including 02 books and over 90 articles and has been recognized with several awards. She has contributed her expertise as resource person for more than 50 International and National conferences and seminars.
Title: Holistic Development through Panchkoshiya Samvardhan: A Traditional Indian Perspective
Dr. Priyanka Tiwari, PhD
Dr. Priyanka Tiwari is a faculty member in the Department of Psychology, University of Delhi, India. She has taught at Arya Mahila P.G. College, Rishihood University, and Sri Sri University, and has served as a Mental Health Counsellor for the 1090 Women Powerline, Uttar Pradesh.
Her academic excellence has been recognized with awards such as the NITTTR–IAAP Award, Academic Excellence Award (ICPC), and research fellowships including UGC-NET, ICSSR-JRF, and the UGC Research Fellowship. Dr. Tiwari has published over 15 research papers and book chapters, delivered more than 35 lectures and workshops, and is an active member of professional bodies such as the Indian Science Congress and the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology.
Title: Self-compassion: contemporary issues and challenges