Dear Members of the EGPA Community,

I am delighted to share several important and encouraging updates with you that reflect the vitality, resilience, and renewed momentum of our EGPA community.

(1) Firstly, I am happy to share with you the updated list of:

• Permanent Study Groups (18 PSGs),
• Ad Hoc Groups (5 AHGs), and
• Specialized Panels (6 SPs)

for our upcoming EGPA Annual Conference in Rome (see table below). The response to our Call for Groups and Panels was truly outstanding. We received over 50 submissions from more than 50 countries, involving almost 80 universities and institutions worldwide. This remarkable engagement demonstrates not only the continued relevance of EGPA, but also the growing international interest and intellectual vibrancy of the public administration community within and beyond Europe. The Calls for Papers will be published soon in February. Please check here: https://www.iias-iisa.org/egpa/

(2) Secondly, I am very pleased to announce that two new EGPA Grants have now been officially published; see: These include both the Travel Grant for Early Career Researchers see: (https://www.iias-iisa.org/news/call-for-egpa-travel-grant-applications-2026/) and the new “EGPA Booster Grant” (https://www.iias-iisa.org/news/call-for-applications-egpa-2026-booster-grant/), which aim to further support participation, inclusion, and academic development within our association. I warmly encourage you to disseminate this call widely and to consider applying yourselves. We very much hope to receive a strong pool of excellent submissions.

(3) After a year like 2025, which confronted EGPA with significant challenges, it is particularly encouraging to see that the new year clearly marks a turning point. The reforms initiated by the new EGPA Steering Committee, in close cooperation with the President of IIAS, are beginning to show tangible effects. Together, we have made important progress and have either launched or already implemented key elements of our reform agenda. These include:

• strengthening EGPA’s financial autonomy and strategic capacity
• expanding EGPA’s administrative autonomy within IIAS
• modernising and increasing the flexibility of conference formats
• enhancing (financial) support for early-career scholars and Study Groups
• improving communication and interaction with our community
• revitalising international partnerships, in particular
  
  
  • with NISPAcee, through the joint organisation of the Trans-European Dialogue (TED) in 2027, and
  • with ASPA, in the context of the Transatlantic Dialogue (TAD) to be co-organised in Rome 2026

Taken together, these developments give us strong reasons for confidence as we move forward. Finally, it is a great personal pleasure for me to warmly welcome Dr. Dmytro Panchuk as our new EGPA Executive Secretary. From 1 March, Dmytro will take over EGPA Secretariat responsibilities. We very much look forward to working closely with him.
Welcome to the team, dear Dmytro!

Let me conclude by expressing my sincere thanks to all of you for your continued support, engagement, and dedication to EGPA. Your commitment—whether as scholars, convenors, reviewers, organizers, or active members—is truly impressive and forms the backbone of our association. I am confident that, together, we will continue to strengthen EGPA as a vibrant, inclusive, and forward-looking academic community.

With my very best wishes,

Prof. Dr. Sabine Kuhlmann (EGPA President)

List of Permanent Study Groups, Ad Hoc Groups and Specialized Panels (as of 12 February 2026)

PSG = Permanent Study Group; AHG = Ad Hoc Group; SP = Specialized Panel