Sona Participant Hours

Experimental participant hours (VP hours) are allocated electronically via SONA (i.e., Research Participation System). Through https://leuphana.sona-systems.com/, you can create a SONA account, then register online for studies, participate and collect VP hours.

Before using your SONA account, please be sure to read the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). The FAQs can be found below or also in your SONA account in the top menu bar.

Demo video on the use of Sona systems

You can set up a SONA account at https://leuphana.sona-systems.com/. Click on the "Request account" button in the upper right corner. Then enter your first name (e.g. Max), surname (e.g. Mustermann), your desired user ID (e.g. Max.Mustermann) and your e-mail address (double times). In addition, you indicate the course you are studying psychology for (Major Psychology, Minor in Psychology and Society, Minor Business Psychology, Master program or Not a member of the Psychology Program at Leuphana).

When you have checked all the information again, click on "Request account" below. Shortly afterwards you will receive an e-mail with your access data. If you do not receive an email, check your spam folder, as it can sometimes happen that the confirmation email ends up there.

Yes. To do this, you must set up a Sona account for non-members of the Institute of Psychology at https://leuphana.sona-systems.com/. Click on "Request account". Then enter your user information. Under Course, specify "Not a member of the Psychology Program at Leuphana".

To get proof of your collected VP hours, please send the page "My Schedule/Credits" from Sona in a single PDF file by e-mail to the Sona Administrator at Leuphana (sonasys@leuphana.de ). You will then receive an official certificate with signature and institute stamp by e-mail as proof.

If you have received your access data, please change your password under "My profile". You must enter your current password. Then enter your new password (New Password) and confirm this by entering it again (New Password confirm). To make the change, then click Update below. Keep your SONA password strictly confidential.

Log in to your SONA account and go to "Studies" or "Study Sign-up" on the homepage. A list of all studies currently underway at the Institute of Psychology appears for which you can register. In the study list you will find the number of VP hours to be awarded, whether the study is an online study and any participation requirements.

If you click on "Timeslots available" or on the title of a study, you will come to the study description. Here you will find information about the course of the study as well as contact information. To register for the study, click View Time Slots for this Study. There you will see all open dates as well as the location of the study. Click on "Sign Up" to register for an appointment. Do NOT forget that participation is binding by registering. The researchers expect you to appear on the specified date.

If you have registered for an online study, after clicking on "Sign Up", you will come to the "Study Sign Up Completed" page. Click here on "Complete Survey Now" to go to the online questionnaire.

If you do not have time at an appointment for which you have registered in SONA, you can unsubscribe from the study ("My Schedule/Credits" > "Cancel")

If you have to cancel at very short notice (less than 12 or 24 hours before the appointment, depending on the attitudes of the study), an official cancellation is no longer available, as the appointment is imminent and is considered confirmed. Should you nevertheless for compelling reasons (e.g. illness) cannot appear on the agreed date, please contact the researchers immediately directly at the e-mail address or telephone number given in the study description.

The VP hours you receive for participating in a study depend on the actual duration of your participation. The estimated duration and number of VP hours can be found in the study descriptions. If your participation actually takes longer than stated in the description, the investigator can credit you with more VP hours; if your participation actually takes shorter than stated, he can credit you fewer VP hours. If you cancel a study, you will receive the number of VP hours corresponding to the duration of your participation.

As soon as you have participated in a study, those responsible for the study will receive a message on their SONA account that the VP hours in SONA must be credited to you. As a rule, this should be done within a few days. In some cases, participants will receive VP credits 48 hours after the final participation deadline. If you have not yet received VP hours in SONA after several weeks, please contact the researchers at the address given in the study description.

Under "My Schedule/Credits" you can see how many VP hours you have already collected and how many you need in total. You will also find a list of studies in which you have participated here.

As a confirmation of your VP hours at Leuphana, you can get one official certificate from the Institute of Psychology.

To get proof of your collected VP hours, please send the page "My Schedule/Credits" from Sona in a single PDF file by e-mail to the Sona Administrator at Leuphana (sonasys@leuphana.de). You will then receive an official certificate with signature and institute stamp by e-mail as proof.

If you have a problem with your SONA account, please contact the SONA team (sonasys@leuphana.de). 

The SONA team consists of employees working in the Institute of Psychology, who do SONA work voluntarily in addition to other commitments in research and teaching. 

Please consider this volunteer dedication in your communication with the SONA team. The team helps make participating in experiments, recruiting experimental participants, and assigning VP hours fairer and easier for all users of SONA.

Accounts of students will be deleted as soon as the students are exmatriculated or at the latest 3 years after the last login.