Psychology
Psychology
The Psychology Pathway is offered at Durham, Newcastle, Queens, Ulster, Northumbria and Teesside
The Psychology Training Pathway, consisting of Durham University, Newcastle University, Northumbria University and Queen’s University Belfast, has an interdisciplinary vision of psychology. Across the entire pathway there are research strengths in typical and atypical psychological development, cognition and perception and social behaviour.
Durham University
At Durham the strategic foci for staff and postgraduate students are developmental science, learning, memory & cognition, perception, awareness & action, and social, evolutionary and affective psychology. At Newcastle, psychology research relevant to the ESRC includes particular strength in developmental psychology (focusing both on typical development and autism spectrum disorders), visual cognition (including eyetracking, EEG and brain imaging work), and the study of social behaviour (focusing in particular on prosocial and antisocial behaviour). At Queen’s University Belfast, the relevant research themes are Cognition, Development, & Education, Perception, Action & Communication and Identities, Groups, & Social Change. Developmental research is conducted across all three of these themes, including basic and applied research on higher-level cognition and its development in both typical and atypical populations and research on the effects of political violence on children and their families.
Northumbria University
The Department offers three Clusters of research activity and expertise: Cognition and Neuroscience, Health and Wellbeing, and Evolution and Social Interaction. Within those clusters are specialised research groups which bring together researchers engaging in work in focused areas, including developmental disability, forensic, health behaviour, hoarding, language and communication, memory, neuroscience, nutrition, perception, psychobiology, psychopathology, sleep and social psychology.
We encourage PhD proposals which will examine the human mind and behaviour, specifically exploring psychological phenomena and practices that are experienced by people across society
The Psychology pathway pulls together the varied expertise of researchers across the institutions, providing collaborative supervision and joint training opportunities. Across all three institutions, there are research foci on typical and atypical psychological development, cognition and perception, and social behaviour that will provide a vibrant research environment to underpin the doctoral training of students.
Students who do not have a Masters will take the full Masters in Research Methods (Developmental Psychology) at Durham University in order to complete their PhD research at either Durham or Newcastle Universities, or will complete the Masters at Queen’s University Belfast in order to complete their PhD research there. Applicants who have a non-ESRC accredited Masters qualification will take a 60 credit PG Cert in Research Methods.
If you would like further information, please feel free to contact departments directly.








