Dr Keith J Topping is MSc Course Director in Educational Psychology at the Department of Psychology, University of Dundee. He is also director of the Centre for Paired Learning, which develops and researches the effectiveness of methods for non-professionals (such as parents or peers) to tutor others - in fundamental skills (eg in reading, spelling, writing, science, maths, information technology) and at higher order levels, across a wide age range and in many different contexts. He directed the Higher Education Effective Learning Project (peer assisted learning between students in college and university). He is co-director of the Read On project (cross age peer tutoring in reading and thinking with 7 and 11 year olds). He has interests in problematic behaviour in schools, leading the Scottish Executive project on Promoting Social Competence in schools and co-directing the international IDA (Intervening with Disturbed Adolescents) project. He also has interests in electronic literacy and computer aided assessment, and current work includes LISP (the Learning Information Systems Project). He is also director of postgraduate professional training in educational psychology at masters and doctoral levels