About the department
Psychology
The Department of Psychology has built an excellent reputation both for its teaching and innovative research. By investing in people at the top of their subjects we’ve created an exceptional and richly resourced environment for learning. But our activities also focus on sharing knowledge and expertise with professional practitioners, and benefiting the whole community.
- We’re one of the country’s larger university psychology departments.
- The latest national assessments rated our teaching quality as ‘excellent’ and we achieved one of the highest research ratings of any psychology department in a new university.
- The Department supports teaching and learning with advanced information and communication technology and specialist facilities, including an observation laboratory.
Learning environment
The Department has grown tremendously since opening its doors in 1972 and now employs a staff of 80 at the modern College Lane Campus.
We currently have over 500 undergraduates and postgraduates taking full-time or part-time degree courses, as well as a number of PhD students doing specialist research.
Programmes range from a BSc Honours Psychology degree to higher-level degrees in occupational psychology, psychological research methods, and clinical psychology. Recent additions to the curriculum are a PgD/MSc conversion course for graduates and MSc qualifications in research methods in cognitive neuropsychology, business psychology and health psychology.
Our joint Honours degree students have the option of broadening their career horizons or pursuing a special interest by pairing psychology with another subject. Electronic music, financial mathematics, human biology or sports studies are some of the many and diverse choices available.
21st century resources
Research funding has enabled us to invest in extensive computer facilities and specialist laboratories.
Our computers and workstations run a variety of advanced software, including statistics, graphics, databases and neural net packages. Network connections provide fast access to central computing services, allowing staff and students to communicate easily across the campus or across the world.
We have an observation laboratory complete with a studio housing remote-controlled cameras. It is equipped with the latest sound and video technology including a digital edit suite.
Several other laboratories provide specialist facilities for human computer interaction, group interaction and innovation.
Undergraduates, postgraduates and staff all have dedicated resources rooms. On campus they also have access to the Faculty Research Building, which came on stream in 2006, and a 24/7 Learning Resources Centre, the largest of its kind in the country.
Enterprise partnerships
The Department's psychologists have high levels of expertise in testing and evaluation, behaviour change, questionnaire design and effective methods of assessment. Our partners can access this specialist knowledge through consultancy, applied research and training courses.
We work with commerce, industry and the public sector on a variety of projects, developing new psychological tools or improving services in different environments, for example. Recent partnerships have informed OFCOM on alcohol advertising regulations, changed occupational stress management and helped to identify deception and fraud.
Our short courses and consultancy also help businesses in managing change and coping with stress.
Research focus
The Department has an extensive research programme and is recognised internationally for cutting-edge work in the fields of neuroscience, and cognitive, developmental and applied psychology. We are constantly building on this reputation and have created a vibrant research culture supported by excellent research facilities.
Projects in our areas of expertise are managed in specialist centres. They include:
- The Centre for Personal Construct Psychology
- The Gestures and Communications Centre
- The Centre for Life Span and Chronic Illness Research.
Our Health Research and Development Support Unit provides support and expertise to health researchers in the East of England and North London.
Professional accreditations
British Psychological Society (BPS) for Graduate Basis for Registration (GBR)