During the first round of our Early Career Researcher (ECR) Conference Fund scheme we invited ECRs to apply for up to £250 to support costs for presenting at academic conferences. This included national or international events that contribute to research visibility, professional development, and engagement with the academic or policy community.
Two successful applicants travelled to European Association of Psychology and Law (EAPL) conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, and the European Conference on Artificial Intelligence (ECAI) in Bologna, Italy.
Read on for their reports and photographs, and look out for round two opening in March 2026!
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Ellie Ball
EAPL Conference, Vilnius, Lithuania
My name is Ellie and I am a third year Psychology PhD student and my research focuses on QR code engagement and QR code scam susceptibility. I recently attended and presented my research at the European Association of Psychology and Law (EAPL) conference held in Vilnius, Lithuania, between the 6th-8th August.
The EAPL conference this year focused on technological advancements and applications in legal psychology. The sessions included talks from legal practitioners and researchers pertaining to AI and new technology approaches, virtual reality applications in forensic psychology research, and scams and predatory publishing.
This was my first time attending an international conference and the focus of this year’s EAPL conference provided a fantastic opportunity to discuss my research with influential and international researchers in the field of legal psychology. QR code scams are becoming an increasing problem not only in the UK, but worldwide. Discussing my research at this conference increased awareness of such fraudulent attacks, highlighted its prevalence in other European countries, and sparked interesting conversations about how we might improve victim rates of QR code scams.
The NABS+ ECR conference funding facilitated travel to the conference, helping to cover the cost of flights and trains. I am so grateful to have received this funding, as attending and being involved in this EAPL conference has not only improved my confidence in presenting my research, but it has also afforded me with the opportunity to, and experience of, networking with successful researchers in my field.
I am so grateful to have received this funding ... this EAPL conference has not only improved my confidence in presenting my research, but it has also afforded me with the opportunity to, and experience of, networking with successful researchers in my field.
(Above, Ellie Ball presenting at the European Association of Psychology and Law Conference (EAPL), Vilnius, Lithuania)
Alexis McGuire
ECAI, Bologna, Italy
I have just entered my third year at Lancaster University as a Psychology PhD Student. My research interests lie in the human perception of AI-synthesised faces. On the 25th and 26th October 2025, I attended the European Conference on Artificial Intelligence (ECAI), where I presented my work at the Doctoral Consortium.
I presented my work on the effectiveness of human training interventions for identifying AI-synthesised faces via a poster presentation. I also presented an oral talk highlighting the PhD work completed so far, and future directions. The conference was held in the beautiful Bologna, Italy. I was delighted that my extended abstract was accepted to present at the Doctoral Consortium, as this offered a unique experience to help facilitate networking between early career researchers and more established academics.
Despite the acceptance, I was apprehensive as to whether I would be able to attend the conference as I did not have enough funding to pay for travel. I therefore applied to the NABS ECR Conference Fund Grant, and I am delighted to have been accepted for this. With this funding, I was able to attend the conference, the grant contributed towards transport and accommodation.
Attending this conference was an invaluable experience for me, in addition to increased confidence, I was able to hear about new and exciting research being conducted around AI. The Doctoral Consortium facilitated the opportunity to network with other PhDs who offered new perspectives on my research.
Attending this conference was an invaluable experience for me, in addition to increased confidence, I was able to hear about new and exciting research being conducted around AI.
I am grateful to be able to add this experience to my CV and my LinkedIn profile, to expand my professional development. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to travel to new countries and present my work. A huge thank you to NABS for this opportunity, I really appreciate the continued support.
(Above, Alexis McGuire presenting her work at the European Conference on Artificial Intelligence (ECAI), Bologna, Italy)