The World Psychiatric Association (WPA) is the largest organisation active in the mental health field worldwide, with 134 member societies (national psychiatric societies) representing more than 200 000 psychiatrists and 65 scientific sections.

In the WPA Action Plan 2008–2011, one of the institutional goals is to enhance the image of psychiatry worldwide among the general public, health professionals and policy makers. This is to counteract some negative messages y1 often biased by ideological prejudice – which are affecting the motivation of persons with mental disorders and their families to seek psychiatric advice and to adhere to psychiatric interventions, as well as the motivation of medical students to choose psychiatry as a career.

As one of the activities pursuing this goal, the WPA will fund an international project aimed to assess the factors facilitating and those hampering the choice of psychiatry as a career by medical students, and to suggest strategies to encourage this choice.

Proposals from individuals, departments or societies are welcome. They will have to include a description of the project (maximum 1200 words), a list of the participating centres, a timetable, a detailed budget, and a short curriculum vitae of the proposed principal investigator(s). Proposals will have to be sent by email to the WPA Secretariat (wpasecretariat@wpanet.org) by 30 June 2009.