In commemoration of the outstanding contributions of the late Dr. Jürgen Keil (German/Australian, 1930-2024) to the field of parapsychology, and with the cooperation and authorization of the AIPR, Inc., the Keil Azuma Fund was established by Nagato Azuma, a Japanese M.D. certified ophthalmologist with recognized professional expertise in the discipline.
The Fund is intended to facilitate the advancement of parapsychology within Australia by providing financial assistance for travel and accommodation expenses incurred in connection with attendance at relevant conferences and
academic gatherings. Eligibility is limited exclusively to holders of Australian citizenship.Details as follows:
1. The Fund offers travel grants to AIPR members, as well as researchers interested in parapsychology and related fields, enabling them to participate in parapsychology-related academic meetings and conferences (such as the annual AIPR Mini-Conference held in Sydney, NSW).
2. The Fund may be used to cover all or part of the airfare within Australia, as well hotel or motel accommodation expenses.
3. The Fund is administered by the AIPR Committee.
For further details, contact Dr. Lance Storm by email:
The JBM is organizationally connected to the Swedish Society for Psychical Research
Grants are now available for Parapsychological Research from the John Björkhem Memorial Foundation, JBM
The John Björkhem Memorial Foundation announces grants to promote scientifically grounded research in parapsychology. This year, a total of approximately SEK100,000 (AUD$) is available for distribution among larger and smaller research projects. Applications are open from September 1 to October 30, 2026. Applications should be submitted to applications@parapsykologi.se.
Guidelines on what the application should include
Applicant and research environment
A brief presentation of the applicant, including academic qualifications, institutional affiliation or research environment, geographic location, and any previous applications to and grants received from the John Björkhem Memorial Foundation.
Research questions and, where applicable, hypotheses
Clearly formulated research questions and, where relevant, hypotheses.
Research idea and relevance
A description of the project’s purpose, scientific relevance, and originality.
Theoretical framework and previous research
An account of the project’s theoretical foundations and its grounding in previous and current research.
Method and research design
A description of the research design, data collection, and data analysis, including a justification for the methodological choices.
Ethical considerations
An account of relevant ethical issues and how they will be addressed.
Implementation and timeline
A realistic timeline and, where relevant, identified risks and how they will be managed. Also describe the applicant’s or research environment’s capacity to carry out the project.
Budget and funding
A detailed budget showing a clear connection between costs and planned activities, together with information about any co-financing.
Project
significance and outcomes
A description of the project’s expected contribution to the development of the research field, as well as its scientific and societal benefits.
Dissemination and collaboration
A plan for scholarly publication and other dissemination of the results, including communication with the general public where relevant. Also indicate any national or international collaborations and interdisciplinary components.
Gender equality, representation, and diversity
An account of relevant aspects of gender equality, representation, and diversity in the implementation and/or research design of the project.
Stockholm, September 2026
The John Björkhem Memorial Fund
– supports parapsychological research –
There are back issues of A.I.P.R. BULLETIN and Australian Parapsychological Review at the original cover prices (from $2.50 per copy). These date back to the 1980s and a small number of complete sets are still available. To view a list of available issues, and view back-issue covers, click here.
To view the abstracts from articles in all previous issues of the Australian Journal of Parapsychology, click here: 2001-2010; 2011-2020; 2021 onwards
AIPR Information Sheets provide information about specific parapsychological topics. To view the full list of available information sheets, click here.
Dr. Michael A. Thalbourne’s Australian Sheep-Goat Scale (ASGS) has been used by researchers as a predictor of paranormal belief and performance. ‘Sheep’ and ‘goats’ are convenience terms originally devised by parapsychologist Gertrude Schmeidler to describe believers and skeptics, respectively. For the full 18-item Australian Sheep-Goat Scale, click here. For information on the development of the ASGS, go to Thalbourne & Delin (1994). For references on paranormal belief, go to the AIPR Advanced Certificate in Parapsychology course unit: Characteristics of Believers in the Paranormal
Scoring: Using a hard-copy (paper) version of the ASGS with visual analogue scales (VAS), the participant makes a cross or stroke on the horizontal line above each item. Researchers will need the ASGS Ruler to measure item scores: click here. Total score is out of 36.
The AIPR recommends researchers “Rasch-scale” the ASGS raw scores on SPSS file data using an SPSS syntax file – syntax here: click here
For the online version of the ASGS (range: 0 to 100), the AIPR recommends researchers “Rasch-scale” the ASGS raw scores on SPSS file data using an SPSS syntax file – syntax here: click here
(Contact Lance Storm for details).
Dr. Michael A. Thalbourne’s Transliminality Scale (TLS) has been used by researchers as a predictor of a range of psychological responses. Transliminality is currently defined as “a hypothesized tendency for psychological material to cross (trans) thresholds (limines) into or out of consciousness” (Thalbourne & Houran, 2000, p. 853). For more detailed information on the Concept of Transliminality, including references, click here. For the full 29-item TLS, click here.
Scoring: T (true) = 1; F (false) = 0. Total score is out of 29. The AIPR recommends that researchers “Rasch-scale” the TLS raw scores on SPSS file data using an SPSS syntax file: click here (Contact Lance Storm for details).
Spiritual Emergency (SE; a.k.a. transpersonal crisis) is defined as “critical and experientially difficult stages of a profound psychological transformation that involves one’s entire being” (Grof & Grof, 1991, p. 31). SE can include any number of these: (a) Dark Night of the Soul; (b) the Awakening of Kundalini; (c) Shamanic Crisis; (d) Episodes of Unitive Consciousness; (e) Psychic Opening; (f) Past-Life Experience; (g) Near-Death Experience; (h) Possession States; (i) the Activation of the Central Archetype; and (j) Experiences of Close Encounters with UFOs. The Spiritual Emergency Scale (SES) was devised to help possibly identify spiritual emergency, but users are advised to seek clinical advice. To access the SES, click here. Useful papers on the topic of SE include Storm and Goretzki (2020, 2021).
On November 21, 2013, at the University of Western Sydney, Dr. Rafael Locke, a researcher at the University of Virginia, USA, spoke on the first person science of consciousness which has emerged as a challenging and potentially fruitful approach to investigating the relationship between consciousness, states of consciousness, and psi phenomena. His lecture “Navigating to the Inside”, can be downloaded, click here: LOCKE LECTURE.
“Is there a Paranormal Explanation for Past Life Information?”: On August 4, 2009, at Deakin University (Burwood campus) Dr. Jürgen Keil, a former psychology lecturer of the University of Tasmania, and currently one of Australia’s best-known psi researchers, presented his recent research into apparent reincarnation cases from field work undertaken in Turkey and Asia. Dr. Jürgen Keil elaborated on a theory which explains such cases as anomalous communication rather than ‘past lives’. To hear the lecture (duration: 34 mins.), click here: KEIL LECTURE (left click to play; or right click to save).
The AIPR has donated over 300 books pertaining to parapsychology, and other related fields, to Willoughby Library in Chatswood, Sydney. These can be borrowed by the general public in person at the library or through inter-library loans in your local area. The address is: 407 Victoria Ave, Chatswood, NSW 2069.
The Sutherland Library at Eton St, Sutherland, NSW 2232, is a public library which specializes in philosophy and psychology (including parapsychology). Interlibrary loans are available.
Other libraries which have a good selection of books are:
Swedenborg Lending Library, 4 Shirley Rd, Roseville NSW 2069, and Theosophical Society, 128 Russell St, Melbourne 3000.
AIPR has an extensive list of recommended publications that cover a vast number of specialist topics.
The full list of AIPR recommended reading can be found here.
Project Alpha was a hoax masterminded by the magician James Randi in the early 1980’s. It involved a number of scientists, including AIPR past President Dr. Michael Thalbourne (1955 – 2010).
For more details, and to access The Project Alpha Papers, click here