News

Call to organize the 20th International ECHA Conference in 2026

by

International ECHA Conferences were and remain biannual summits in the last more than three decades. Every two years, the International ECHA conference brings together scientists and practitioners who are dedicated to the field of gifted education and talent support. On one hand, organizing an International ECHA Conference is a time-consuming and exhausting task. On the other hand, it is a rewarding, enriching and satisfying mission, which gives the possibility to you, the Organizer team, to show the world that your country and your organization stand up for the highly able people of all ages, and gives many long-term benefits. The General Committee of ECHA invites organizations involved in gifted education and/or care of highly able young people in Europe to submit their application to organize the 20th International ECHA Conference in September 2026. The Guidelines for an ECHA Conference can be downloaded from HERE (ECHA International Conference guidelines). 

You should submit your application using the Application Form downloadable from HERE (ECHA International Conference proposal 2026) before the 30th of February 2024 by email to ECHA Admin <admin@echa-site.eu>. By the end of March the ECHA General Committee will discuss the proposals, inform applicants about each other’s proposal, and the opinion of the General Committee about the proposals. Applicants will be able to withdraw or modify their application until April 30th . The General Committee will announce the time, organizer and venue of the 20th International ECHA Conference to the applicants and on the ECHA website by 30th May 2024. We look forward to receiving your proposal!

Joan Freeman – In Memoriam

by

It is with sadness that we report that on the 2nd of July Professor Joan Freeman passed away. In the 1980s, Joan Freeman was part of a small group of scholars from different European Countries who had a dream to develop more understanding in Europe of high ability throughout the lifespan. In 1987, they decided to create the European Council for High Ability (ECHA), with Joan as founding President. The primary aim of ECHA was to act as a European network. In the words of Joan “we aspired to become a dynamic multinational association.”

And so we did. Now, 36 years later, ECHA continues as the only European organization that strives for better education and psychological services for people with high abilities.

Joan was not only the founding president of our organization. She also was Editor-in-Chief of High Ability studies, and was always an active member, joining all the ECHA conferences, where her lectures were well visited and highly appreciated.

Apart from her work in and for ECHA, in her own country she counselled many gifted children and helped their parents. And Joan was a famous scholar: One of her many publications, a longitudinal study of gifted children growing up – Gifted lives – was famous around the world and showed people the frustrations and achievements of the participating children while they grew up and gave insight in the reasons why some had a lot of successes in life while others did not.

Joan Freeman has been honoured with a Fellowship and a Lifetime Achievement award from the British Psychological Society, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from Mensa International.

We remember Joan as a very intelligent and involved person, with a great sense of humour. We will miss her sharp observations, her incredible stories and the great laughs we had together.

She will be remembered.

On behalf of ECHA, the executive committee,

Szilvia Fodor, Colm O’Reilly, Lianne Hoogeveen  

Call for Papers: Special Issue of Gifted Child Quarterly

by

Call for Papers: Special Issue of Gifted Child Quarterly on Teachable Components of Talent Development in Academic Domains

Gifted Child Quarterly (GCQ) is planning a special issue on understanding the teachable and malleable factors associated with developing talent in academic domains with the purpose of supporting gifted education. The issue is scheduled to be published in April 2025 and is currently soliciting proposals for manuscripts. The first article by the special issue editors will provide a landscape rationale for the talent domain approach to gifted education, including current major models that explore the features of developing talent over time into early careers. We are seeking additional manuscripts that focus on the differing opportunities needed to transform abilities in specific academic domains into potential eminent contributions. Although not every person’s trajectory will lead to eminent contributions, clarifying the pathways and barriers to fulfilling creative potential is arguably an aspirational goal for the efforts of talented individuals and their supporters.   

Manuscripts must focus on a specific field in the academic domain. We especially welcome less explored academic fields (e.g., history, philosophy, expository writing). Authors can submit exploratory to advanced quantitative and/or qualitative studies or reviews of the literature. We are most interested in articles that present or rely on empirical research but will consider proposals for strong theoretical or exploratory manuscripts. We encourage manuscripts from talent development scholars that are co-authored by those who have worked successfully as professionals in the field they are writing about. 

Potential studies may include but are not limited to the following:

  • Evidence regarding pathways, critical experiences, or significant markers of progress, preferably in underreported academic fields.
  • Implementation of psychosocial skills mentoring, teaching, or coaching in developing high performance, preferably in an underreported field.
  • Illustrations of insider knowledge currently shared in a limited way to a limited audience, preferably in an underreported field.
  • Examples of especially crucial experiences that are necessary in particular domains during the school years (anticipating that different domain trajectories may begin in elementary school and some not until post-secondary education)
  • Identification of factors most dependent on financial and social capital and how this disparity might be addressed.

The deadline for proposal submissions is August 1, 2023. Prospective authors will find it useful to consult the general aim and scope for the journal at https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/journal/gifted-child-quarterly#aims-and-scope. This issue will be guest edited by Rena F. Subotnik, Paula Olszewski-Kubilius, and Frank C. Worrell.

Proposals should include a title and a 500–750-word abstract describing the planned manuscript and how it will enhance understanding of a talent trajectory beginning during the pre-collegiate years in an understudied academic field.

Provide placeholders in the abstract for inclusion of the following in all final submissions:

  • the name of a collaborator with recognized expertise in the area
  • a discussion of the basic special abilities needed for the movement on the trajectory.
  • opportunities needed to move students from abilities to competency to expertise.
  • indicate how one knows or finds out they are ready to move ahead.
  • how talented individuals keep moving on the trajectory including relevant psychosocial skills
  • samples of insider knowledge
  • advice for those wishing to go beyond expertise into creating eminent contributions.

In keeping with the journal’s submission guidelines, manuscripts should not exceed 9000 words, excluding references, tables, and figures.

The timeline for this special issue is as follows:

  • Authors notified of invitation to submit no later than September 1, 2023. (The acceptance of a proposal does not guarantee acceptance of submitted manuscripts, as final manuscripts will go through masked review and must be accepted through the journal’s review process.)
  • Manuscripts due no later than May 1, 2024.
  • Reviews and action letters to authors by July 1, 2024.
  • Revisions due back from authors within 1 month of receipt.
  • Final accepted manuscripts completed and returned to guest editor by October 15, 2024.
  • The special Issue is scheduled to be published in Volume 69, Issue 2 in April 2025.

Submit proposals as an attached Word document by e-mail to a Guest Editor of the Special Issue, Rena Subotnik (rena.subotnik@gmail.com). Submissions of the complete manuscripts will be via the GCQ online submission page: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/gcq. If you have questions or would like additional information, please contact the Guest Editorial Staff at

rena.subotnik@gmail.com, p-olszewski-kubilius@northwestern.edu or frankc@berkeley.edu

Phoenix International Research

by

And when I Grew Up?

We would like to invite you to join our research team…

Considering the enthusiasm that this project arouses, we decided to open it to other researchers. This project started with a few countries, but now we are about sixteen. All of us are members of various international gifted organizations and universities.

This research intends to study socioemotional aspects of gifted/high ability adults.

The anonymous questionnaire was developed by an international team of researchers led by Dr. Susana Graciela Pérez Barrera, director of the high ability/giftedness research team (GIAHSD) at the Faculty of Educational Sciences at UDE, in Montevideo, Uruguay. The study seeks to obtain data related to the identification process and how adults experienced it, as well as to understand the attitudes and feelings of adults with giftedness already identified or in the identification process from different countries. In addition, we believe this research would help to recognize, accept, and value the entire large community of people with giftedness worldwide. In each country where the research is conducted, a researcher is responsible for collecting the data and answering possible questions that participants may have.

The participants are invited to read the Informed Consent Terms, which guarantees compliance with internationally recognized research ethics standards and then to answer the questions in the most sincerely and utterly possible way.

Minimum number of participants by country: none

Google form questionnaire: 40 questions approximately.

Completion: 15-20 minutes.

Who can join: teachers, researchers, practitioners, students of giftedness willing to develop a serious, and committed work. For the moment, we have no funds, and our work is completely voluntary.

Tasks: translate the questionnaire into the language of your country, send and receive questionnaires, compile results, participate in some Zoom meetings and if you wish, to present the international and/or national results in various international/national conference as a team.

Deadline: February 15th  to join the group. Questionnaires will be sent from March 15th  through April 30th 2023.

If you have access to gifted adults and are interested, please contact Dr. Susana Perez Barrera at sperezbarrera@ude.edu.uy  or Andrée Therrien at ataclinique@hotmail.com and add a phone number to join the group on WhatsApp.

Thank you for your collaboration,

The Phoenix International Research team

Call for applications to organize the 4th Thematic ECHA Conference in 2025

by

International ECHA Conferences have been the biannual summits of European talent support in the last three decades. The 2016 General Assembly of ECHA modified the Standing Orders of ECHA allowing the organization, of a (much) smaller, thematically well-focused, research oriented ECHA Thematic Conference in between the two biannual International ECHA Conferences. The 1st Thematic ECHA Conference was organized in Dubrovnik (Croatia), between 16-18 October 2019 on Creativity Research & Innovation in Gifted Education: Social, Individual and Educational Perspective. The 2nd Thematic ECHA Conference was held online in Budapest (Hungary) between 25-27 March 2021 on Closing the achievement gaps in gifted education. The 3rd Thematic ECHA conference on teaching Highly Able Students will be held in Israel between Feb 28 – March 2 2023.

The General Committee of ECHA invites organizations involved in gifted education or help of highly able young people in Europe to submit their application to organize the 4th Thematic ECHA Conference in 2025. The Guidelines for a Thematic ECHA Conference can be downloaded from HERE. You should submit your application using the Application Form downloadable from HERE before 30th of November 2023. Please send the proposal by e-mail to the Secretary of ECHA, Dr. Colm O’Reilly to: colm.oreilly@dcu.ie  before 30th November 2023. By December 18th the ECHA General Committee will discuss the proposal, inform applicants about each others proposal, and the opinion of the General Committee about the proposals. Applicants will be able to withdraw or modify their application until January 31st 2024. The General Committee will announce the organizer, time and venue of the 4th Thematic ECHA Conference by 14th of February 2024 at the ECHA web-site. We look forward to receiving your proposal!