Collaborative research

To engage in collaborative research both nationally and internationally:

Funded collaborative research links exist between the APRU and several national and international institutions. As stated, the Bial Foundation (Portugal) awarded Professor French 36,000 Euros (approximately £23.5 K) in November 2002 to fund a part-time RA to work on a project entitled “Psychological and Parapsychological Investigations of Alleged Alien Abductees”. Dr Michael Thalbourne (University of Adelaide) is involved in this project.

The Bial Foundation also awarded over 45,000 Euros (approximately £28 K) to Dr Kevin Allan (University of Aberdeen) for a project entitled “On the Relationship Between Reality Monitoring and Belief in Parapsychological Phenomena: Neurophysiological Studies” with Prof French and Dr Fiona Gabbert (University of Aberdeen) as named collaborators. This project is aimed at using neurophysiological (i.e., evoked potential) measures to investigate possible differences in brain activity between those who believe in the paranormal and those who do not while engaged in reality monitoring tasks.

Architect Usman Haque was awarded £14,985 in the form of a Sciart award, with Prof French named as scientific adviser, for a project entitled “Haunt” which is investigating possible environmental factors associated with anomalous experiences. Based upon previous research suggesting that certain environmental factors (e.g., fluctuations in the electromagnetic field, infrasound, etc.) tend to be associated with anomalous sensations typically associated with “haunted” locations, the aim was to see if it is actually possible to build a “haunted” room.

Other active collaborative research links between the APRU and other institutions include the University of Portsmouth (Dr James Ost, on false memories) and the University of Swansea (Dr Mark Blagrove, on cognitive biases and paranormal belief/experience). Dr Susan Crawley carried out two collaborative research projects with Michael Thalbourne (University of Adelaide) and James Houran (University of South Illinois).