Highly rated School

The School was

• First for student satisfaction out of all UK Psychology departments in the National Student Survey 2010
• 8th in the UK in the Guardian University Guide 2009
• ranked within the top 20 UK Psychology departments for 4* (world leading research) following the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise

We are a leading centre of excellence for Social Psychology, with complementary strengths in Cognitive and Forensic Psychology.

22% of our publications are in journals ranked in the top 5% of their field. Additionally we were 17th nationally for research council income and the School includes chief editors of two international journals (Abrams: Group Processes and Intergroup Relations; Stoeber: Anxiety Stress and Coping) and senior editors of two major society journals in Social Psychology (Crisp: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Douglas: European Journal of Social Psychology).

Our staff also sit on various national committees including the British Psychological Society Research Board (Crisp, Randsley de Moura) and the ESRC Training Board (Rutland).

In the whole of 2009 and the first part of 2010 we have been awarded new grants and enterprise tenders amounting to over half a million pounds.

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Research strengths

Research in the School is structured around the two main themes of Social Psychology and Cognition.

Research in Social Psychology is focused mainly on four topics:

• Prejudice and Social Categorisation
  How contact between members of different social groups is represented psychologically; how intergroup contact affects prejudice in school children; how cognitive interviews affect children’s use of stereotypes; why organizational mergers sometimes fail
• Social Inequality and Cohesion
  The well-being of the elderly population in Britain; work participation and motherhood; prejudice against and social exclusion of different groups in society
• Group Dynamics and Social Influence
  The evolutionary origins of cooperation in social dilemmas; the influence of leaders; the role of social norms in communication; subjective group dynamics; the dynamics of prison gang activity; the impact of alcohol on group processes
• Personality, Social Motivation and Health Behaviour
  The adaptive functions of perfectionism; personality and values; consequences of mortality salience; psycho-social predictors of health decision-making (e.g. vaccinations); eating disorders and dysfunctional exercise.

Research in Cognitive Psychology is focused mainly on three topics:

• Visual Cognition and Attention
  Research on this topic focuses primarily on the role of vision and visual perception in human performance. The fundamental aim of this work is to identify the cognitive processes and neurological mechanisms underlying various visual tasks
• Language and Communication
  Research questions on healthy populations include the role of executive functions in successful language use and communication, how language influences attentional processes and perspective taking, anomaly detection, and the effect of interruptions on reading.

Postgraduates and research staff participate equally with teaching staff in the activities organised in any of the areas in which they share an interest. There are weekly informal workshops convened especially for students, together with regular research colloquia to which distinguished external speakers are invited.

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Wide choice of programmes

The School offers five coursework Masters degrees:

• MSc in Cognitive Psychology/Neuropsychology
• MSc in Forensic Psychology
• MSc in Group Processes and Intergroup Relations
• MSc in Research Methods in Psychology
• MSc in Social and Applied Psychology
  

These consist of advanced training in statistics and methodology, specialist courses, and an empirical project. They are excellent training courses for those intending to pursue higher degrees by research or careers in the human services.

We also offer supervision for full-time or part-time research degrees (MSc, MPhil and PhD) in the following areas:

• Cognitive Psychology/Neuropsychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Forensic Psychology
• Health Psychology
• Social Psychology (including Group Processes and Intergroup Relations)

We have ‘1+3’ accreditation from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) for all taught MSc programmes

We are recognised for ‘plus 3’ awards for students who wish to follow PhD programmes with us after an ESRC accredited taught Masters programme elsewhere

 

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Facilities

Our facilities for both laboratory and field research are excellent. They include:

• a new building housing state-of-the-art laboratories and teaching facilities
• a social psychology suite containing three fully equipped colour video studios and 39 research laboratories all containing networked computers
• a fully-equipped suite of cognitive laboratories, complete with EEG/ERP (event related brain potential) equipment, eye tracking equipment, four Dell workstations, and soundproofed cubicles
• a dedicated health psychology suite equipped with Biopac computing equipment to allow for a range of physiological measures to be taken during stressful and other tasks
• constantly expanding library resources. As well as one of the country’s largest collections of books in social psychology, almost all psychology journals are available online
  

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Location

• Based on an attractive and friendly campus overlooking the city of Canterbury, 90 minutes from London and 30 minutes from ferry, Eurostar and Channel Tunnel links to mainland Europe.
  
  
• It is only a short walk into the city centre where you will find shops, bars and restaurants. The picturesque coastal town of Whitstable is five miles to the north.
  
  
• Situated on 300 acres of parkland in the midst of the Kent countryside, the campus combines modern architecture with open green spaces, courtyards, gardens, ponds and woodland.
  
  
• The University was founded in 1965 and today has 16,000 students of over 120 different nationalities.
  
  
• Accommodation is available on campus and throughout the city.
  
  
• As well as excellent support, health and welfare services, the campus offers a wide range of leisure activities including sports, cinema and music. There is a well–equipped sports centre, with a fitness suite, dance studio, squash courts and sports halls. The Gulbenkian Theatre hosts a variety of performances including many well known comedians, actors and musicians. There is a cinema on campus and a range of bars and cafés.
  
  
• Degree ceremonies take place in the historic setting of Canterbury Cathedral.

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